Victorian Literature: Madwomen & Decadent Men

Catalog description

Literary figures and their works against social and political backgrounds from the start of Victorias reign through the start of World War I, a period marked by rapid social change impelled by industrialism and imperial expansion. Examines canonical authors (e.g. the Bronts, Charles Darwin, Christina Rossetti, and Oscar Wilde) as well as lesser-known writers (e.g. the early feminist new women and writers who documented the consequences of colonialism). Explores how authors negotiate nineteenth-century anxieties regarding class conflict and the industrial condition of England; shifting conceptions of gender and sexuality; tensions between science and religion; the ethics of imperialism; and evolving theories of the modern arts. Prereq ENGL 110.