Beginning with a
first-person account of a young man stranded on a deserted island, and ending
with a short novel about a woman locked in a madhouse, this class will
introduce students to the rise and development of the English novel. We will
begin with what is considered the first English novel, Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe, and interrogate how the
novel transforms throughout the century, ending with a focus on the gothic
novel and British Romanticism. We will examine the novel as an experimental
form and interrogate the various ways it represented the culture and politics
of the eighteenth-century. Through placing our novels in their historical
context, we will pay particular attention to how this new genre engaged with
issues of colonialism, class, race, and gender. On top of our novels, we will
also read secondary criticism on the rise of the novel, and primary sources
from the period, including selections from other important novels. Requirements
include attendance, close readings, discussion questions, a
midterm, and a final essay.
Required Texts:
·
Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe
·
Eliza Haywood, Love in Excess
·
Samuel
Richardson, Pamela
·
Frances Burney, Evelina
· William Godwin, Caleb Williams
·
Ann Radcliffe, A Sicilian Romance
·
Mary
Wollstonecraft, The Wrongs of Women