GSC2402

Romanticism: nature and the city

Patrick Morgan

8 points
* Second semester
* 3 hours per week (2-hour lecture, 1-hour seminar)
* Gippsland and distance
* Prerequisites: GSC1401 and GSC1402 or equivalents

Objectives On successful completion of this subject students will have examined a selection of literature from the period of romanticism of that of Victorian literature so that they will be able to examine the theme of the awareness of the natural world and its impact upon the aesthetics of the texts; identify the literary depiction of the themes of industrialisation and urbanisation; recognise the importance of context in the study of themes and aesthetics; and analyse the genres of the works in relation to the context.

Synopsis The works prescribed for study comprise a selection of the verse of the period, from Wordsworth to Arnold, and three works of prose, including two novels which have been chosen in order to illustrate the contrasts in contemporary experience. The selection of texts will serve to illustrate central themes of the nineteenth century, and particularly to encourage analysis of the awareness of the natural world and the experience of urbanisation. The literature will be placed in its broad social and cultural context and attention will be directed to the emergence of new forms of creative expression.

Assessment Essay (3000 words): 40%
* Examination (3 hours): 60%

Prescribed texts

De Quincey T Confessions of an English opium eater ed. A Hayter, Penguin, 1988
Dickens C Hard times ed. K Flint, Penguin, 1970
Eliot G The mill on the Floss ed. A Byatt, Penguin, 1981
Bloom H and Trilling L (eds.) Romantic poetry and prose OUP, 1973
Trilling L and Bloom H (eds.) Victorian prose and poetry OUP, 1973