ENGL 208

Spring 2016 All Classes

All Classes

Victorian Lit and Culture

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Credit: 3 hours.

Study of literature, philosophy, visual arts, and social criticism of the British Victorian period, with attention to broader cultural issues.

Prerequisite: Completion of the Composition I requirement.

This course satisfies the General Education Criteria in Fall 2022 for:

Humanities – Lit & Arts

Cultural Studies - Western

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ENGL 208 class schedule data for spring 2016
	CRN	Type	Section	Time	Day	Location	Instructor	Section Details
	31992	Lecture-Discussion	P	11:00AM -12:15PM	TR	131 English Building	Saville, J	Part of Term: 1 Date Range: 01/19/16-05/04/16 Degree Notes: Humanities - Lit & Arts, and Cultural Studies - Western course. Section Info: Literally, “the Victorian Age” refers to the historical period 1837-1901 when the island nation of Great Britain, under the rule of Queen Victoria, extended its power to become “the Empire on which the sun never sets.” The growth of industrial capitalism and commodity culture in Britain was both a motivation and an effect of imperialism and with it came numerous other cultural changes: a gradual extension of the franchise and the shift of political power from hereditary landowners to the middle class; the rise of the popular press and expansion of the reading public; the construction of radical gender difference with the separation of public and private spheres; challenges to the Established Church by reform, dissent, and freethinking. The literature of this period does not simply reflect these shifts and changes, but actually participates in them, sometimes in spite of itself. Sometimes literature takes an active role in transforming or inventing concepts (such as “Englishness,” “character,” “manliness”). These become powerful tools for the advancement of industrial capitalism; sometimes it attempts to distance itself from commodity culture by emphasizing its status as art; sometimes it censures commodification while at the same time complying with the demands of a market economy. Our task will be to study works of Victorian literature as cultural forms and as social acts with ethical and political weight. Course requirements will include two critical papers, a mid-term examination, a final examination and a series of in-class quizzes. Our readings will include poetry from such figures as the Brownings, Alfred Tennyson, Matthew Arnold, and Arthur Hugh Clough; a serialized novel, Oliver Twist, by Charles Dickens; selections of prose by Harriet Martineau, John Stuart Mill, and Walter Pater; and Oscar Wilde’s satire, The Importance of Being Earnest.