ENG 420 - The Victorians

Semester Hours: 4

In the Victorian era-the mid to late 1800s-the sun never set on the British Empire. Evidently this abundance of daylight was good for writing, because the authors of this period are numerous, prolific, and enduring. The dominant literary form of the period is the novel, and we will choose texts from among those by Austen, Dickens, Eliot, and Hardy. Poets of the period are just as well-established within the literary canon and include Tennyson and the Brownings, Arnold and the Rossettis, and both Hopkins and Hardy. We will read a variety of their innovative and experimental verse. We will also trace the Victorian fascination with several issues-including the role of the artistic, the impact of science, the “woman question,” and the reach of empire-that continue to be significant in our era. In addition to readings and film, the course will include a study of painting, with emphasis on the Pre-Raphaelite movement.