ENH2330

Victorian literature

Proposed to be offered next in 1999

A Dilnot

8 points
* 2.5 hours per week
* Second semester
* Clayton

Objectives Students successfully completing this subject should have developed a recognition of what distinguishes Victorian literature and a grounding in the nature of the cultural conditions in which Victorian literature was produced.

Synopsis This subject examines some of the major works to emerge during the Victorian period (1837- 1901). Reference will be made to social changes and to the trends of thought accompanying these changes, wherever this helps to suggest the chief characteristics of Victorian sensibilities. Certain topics will receive special attention: childhood and education, women and marriage, industrialisation, class-consciousness and concepts of social interaction.

Assessment Seminar report (20 minutes; 1500 words): 20%
* Essay (1500 words): 20%
* Essay (3000 words): 50%
* Seminar participation: 10%
* Students whose written work and participation in tutorials are unsatisfactory will be required to take an examination worth 50%

Prescribed texts

Abrams M H and others (ed.) The Norton anthology of English literature 6th edn, vol. 2, Norton
Barrett Browning Aurora Leigh OUP
Bront` C Jane Eyre OUP
Dickens C Our mutual friend Penguin
Eliot G Middlemarch OUP
Hardy T Jude the Obscure OUP