English 323 - The Victorian Novel

This course will explore the project of realism in the Victorian novel, watching tensions between a desire for guidance and a desire for mimesis. One critic has said the Victorians brought a sense of social duty to Romantic world-awareness, creating a 'duty of awareness' that was almost overwhelming for the novelist and novel. We will explore this 'duty of awareness' as we investigate representations of gender, class, and feeling as structuring principles in the novel. Novelists may include Dickens, Eliot, Gaskell, C. Bronte, and Hardy. Supplementary readings in literary criticism and theory.

This course is open to Juniors and Seniors.; Prereq: 8 credits from English, including English 220.