English 373DH - Housewives in American Lit.

This course will explore visual and literary images of nineteenth through early 20th-century marriage and motherhood. Discussion of Virginia's Woolf's 'A Room of One's Own' and Barbara Welter's essay 'The Cult of True Womanhood' will serve as the springboard for our focus on representations of women in the home. We will incorporate a visit to the art museum, and will analyze film adaptations of some of the texts we read. The course will focus primarily on American literature, film, and art, with the exception of Ibsen's A Doll's House; selected written texts will include works by writers such as Hawthorne, James, Stowe, Gilman, Freeman, Chopin, Hurston, and Wharton.

This course is open to juniors and seniors; Prereq: 8 credits from the English department.