History of British and Irish literature 2

Supplementary reading:

As regards historical-literary and critical studies, students are advised to consult David Daiches’s A Critical History of English Literature (vol. 2); The New Pelican Guide to English Literature (vols. 5 and 6); or numerous one-volume histories of English literature available in our library, such as The Short Oxford History of English Literature by Andrew Sanders.

Critical commentaries and interpretations of literary texts are also available online, free of charge, on websites such as:

SparkNotes – Literature Study Guides.

One more useful reference book in our library is The Penguin Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory by J. A. Cuddon.

Course objectives:

- familiarity with the successive stages in the history of British and Irish literature

- familiarity with major authors and works within the successive epochs

- ability to analyze and interpret literary texts – poetic, dramatic and prosaic

- ability to formulate critical judgements

Introduction to the The Romantic Age (1798-1832).

Analysis and interpretation of selected works by the principal Romantic poets and prose writers.

Introduction to the Victorian Age (1832-1901).

Analysis and interpretation of selected works by the principal Victorian poets, prose writers and dramatists.

Course content:

1. Introduction to the course.

Homework: read Wordsworth’s Preface to the Second Edition of “Lyrical Ballads” and “Tintern Abbey”.

2. The Romantic Age (1798-1832). The French Revolution of 1789 and its impact.

A new idea of the poet, materials and subject of poetry, poetic tools, and the aim of poetry.

The Lake School of William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

Classroom discussion: Wordsworth’s Preface to the Second Edition of “Lyrical Ballads” as a critical manifesto of Romantic poetry, “Tintern Abbey” as a poem about growing in communion with nature.

Homework: read S.T. Coleridge’s “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”, “Kubla Khan”, and “Christabel” (Part I).

3. Classroom discussion: S.T. Coleridge’s “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” as a successful imitation of medieval ballad, the poem’s symbolism and message; “Kubla Khan” as a poem about artistic creation; “Christabel” as a Gothic poem, and the matter of versification.

Homework: read Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice”.

4. Prose fiction in the Romantic Age.

Classroom discussion: Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice” as a domestic novel, realistic observation of characters, elements of satire, technique of presentation.

Homework: read Lord Byron’s “The Giaour” and P.B. Shelley’s “Ode to the West Wind” and “To a Skylark”.

5. The Satanic School of Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley.

Byron’s life and poetic & dramatic output. Classroom discussion: “The Giaour” and the Byronic hero.

Shelley’s prose romances, dramas, and finest lyrics. Classroom discussion: P.B. Shelley’s “Ode to the West Wind” as a metaphor for the poet’s own art and the liberation of mankind. Mankind’s limitations vs embodiment of true joy and perfect happiness in the song of the “Skylark”.

Homework: read Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein”.

6. Prose fiction in the Romantic Age continued:

Sir Walter Scott as father of the historical novel.

Classroom discussion: Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” as a Gothic and occult novel and an antecedent of modern SF genre. The novel’s manifold implications: philosophical & ethical, psychological & social, theological & classical.

Homework: read J. Keats’ “La Belle Dame Sans Merci”, “Ode to a Nightingale” and “Ode on a Grecian Urn”.

7. John Keats and the Cockney School. The poet’s literary achievement.

Classroom discussion: “La Belle Dame Sans Merci” as a thrilling ballad about the beautiful lady without pity who is a femme fatale, “Ode to a Nightingale” as an exploration of the themes of human mortality vs the rapture and eternity of art, “Ode on a Grecian Urn” and its message to mankind.

Homework: read Charles Dickens’ “Hard Times” .

8. The Victorian Age (1832-1901). The historical, social, and cultural context.

The Golden Age of the English novel. Romantic heritage of the Bronte sisters.

Classroom discussion: Charles Dickens’ “Hard Times” as a social (problem) and industrial novel, utilitarian educational system and Mr Thomas Gradgrind as its chief representative; Mr Bounderby (modern bourgeoisie) vs Stephen Blackpool (the Hands); the symbolic meaning of Sowing, Reaping and Garnering.

Homework: read A. Tennyson’s “Tears, Idle Tears” and “The Lady of Shalott”, and R. Browning’s “My Last Duchess”.

9. Victorian poetry: Alfred Lord Tennyson, his pessimism and escapism.

Classroom discussion: Tennyson’s “Tears, Idle Tears” as a lament for ‘the days that are no more’, “The Lady of Shalott” as a poem about the conflict between art and life, and Robert Browning’s “My Last Duchess” as a dramatic monologue (soliloquy).

Homework: read D.G. Rossetti’s “The Blessed Damozel”.

10. The Pre-Raphaelites: painters and poets. Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Morris, Algernon Charles Swinburne.

Classroom discussion: D.G. Rossetti’s “The Blessed Damozel” and its painterly images, symbolic and sacramental meaning vs sensuality, an aura of mystery.

Homework: G. Eliot’s “The Mill on the Floss”.

11. Victorian novel continued:

George Eliot as the first modern English novelist and feminist writer.

Classroom discussion: G. Eliot’s “The Mill on the Floss” and its characters as a link in the chain of generations conditioned by socio-historical processes, the authoress’s generalizations and their purpose, the problem of female emancipation.

Naturalism and determinism in Thomas Hardy’s novels.

Homework: read O. Wilde’s “The Importance of Being Earnest”.

12. Drama in the late Victorian stage: Oscar Wilde and George Bernard Shaw.

Classroom discussion: “The Importance of Being Earnest” by O. Wilde as a farcical comedy of switched identities and alternative personas.

13. Written work in the classroom.

14. - 15. Retake written work and individual consultations with students.

Obligatory reading (to get a credit):

All the literary texts listed above (in the course content) are obligatory. Poetic texts can be found either in The Norton Anthology of English Literature (vol. 2), or The Oxford Anthology of English Literature (also vol. 2). Dramas and novels can be found in separate editions. All the books are available in the library of the Philological Faculty (in the Collegium Maius building). Independently of the library, all the texts listed in the course content are available online at no charge.

Final requirement is graded creadit for the course.

Criteria of evaluation:

- classroom activity – 40%

- written work - essay written in the classroom – 40%

- oral presentation on a selected literary topic - 20%