This seminar offers the opportunity for in-depth study of a range of novels from the Victorian period (named after the reign of Queen Victoria 1837–1901), frequently subsumed under the auspices of ‘realism’. Next to the poetics of the Victorian novel, its philosophical, political and ideological concerns will be addressed, as will be gender and authorship. In the light of the recent prominence of material cultures in Victorian studies, we shall also be looking at modes of publication and reception (serial publication) etc.
Core reading (please obtain your own copies):
- Charles Dickens: Oliver Twist (1837–39) (Penguin Classics)
- George Eliot: Middlemarch (1871–72) (Penguin Classics)
- Thomas Hardy: Tess of the D’Urbervilles (1891) (Penguin Classics)
A further title is to be announced. Reading at least one of these novels in advance of the course is recommended. |
