ENGL 281

Spring 2015 All Classes

All Classes

Women in the Lit Imagination

Credit: 3 hours.

Study of the way various writers, both male and female, have portrayed woman's image, social role, and psychologies in British, American, or Anglophone literature.

Same as GWS 281. May be repeated with permission of English advising office to a maximum of 6 hours if topics vary. Prerequisite: Completion of the Composition I requirement.

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ENGL 281 class schedule data for spring 2015
	CRN	Type	Section	Time	Day	Location	Instructor	Section Details
	32109	Lecture-Discussion	P	11:00AM -12:15PM	TR	English Building	Baron, I	Part of Term: 1 Date Range: 01/20/15-05/06/15 Section Title: British Feminist Novel Section Info: Topic Section P: Marriage and Maternity in the British Feminist Novel In 1796 Jane Austen finished an early version of Pride and Prejudice, entitled First Impressions. Two hundred years later, author Helen Fielding published Bridget Jones?s Diary, a modern adaptation of Austen?s classic novel about a young woman who refuses to be forced into marrying the wrong man despite the prospect of future penury. But for much of British history, women of all classes were expected to maintain the social hierarchy through marriage and to fulfill their personal destiny through motherhood no matter how they felt about their sexual orientation, their husbands, their job prospects or married life. In this course, we?ll explore the evolution of women?s marital choices, sexual practices and economic rights in the UK over a two hundred year period from Austen to Fielding, viewing the changes that came along the way. We?ll begin during the Regency period by examining the nuances of 18th century marriages, zeroing in on how women regarded courtship and how the rise of the mercantile class began to restructure rules about marriage and property in England. Then we?ll see why in spite of their many accomplishments and a powerful female figurehead to lead the nation, Victorian women were barred from owning property, barred from voting, and forced into submissive marriages that could leave them vulnerable and depressed or curiously satisfied with their constrained lives. Next we?ll explore the pre and post WWI and WWII periods to see how women fared in the UK after war had permanently altered the gender lines and altered skirt lengths with the normalization of reconfiguring undergarments and modern make-up lines. We?ll end the semester on a lighter note with Bridget Jones?s Diary, focusing on the liberated late 20th century woman as she struggles to find just the right guy, battles bad hair days, unwanted cellulite, poor career choices and non-committal boyfriends. Course requirements include an oral report, three short papers and a final project or exam. Texts and films may include: Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice; Emily Bront�, Wuthering Heights, Oswald Wynd, The Ginger Tree, Jean Rhys, After Leaving Mr. McKenzie, Barbara Pym, Excellent Women, Made in Debenham (film), Helen Fielding, Bridget Jones?s Diary.