English 433: Studies in 19th Century Literature
MWF 9:30-10:20, John Rieder
The Gothic
The Gothic, with its madmen and monsters, its maidens in distress, its underground passages, dark dungeons, mysterious manuscripts—with, in short, its constant flirtation with self-parody—has for more than two centuries been one of the most popular forms of English fiction. It grew out of a fad for medievalism in the later eighteenth century, hovered between political allegory and escapist fantasy during the French revolutionary period, and then persisted through the nineteenth century as a staple of popular fiction, fashioning on the way such cultural icons as Mary Shelley’s Victor Frankenstein, the paradigmatic mad scientist, along with his nameless monster; the modern private eye, starting with Edgar Allan Poe’s Auguste Dupin; and R. L. Stevenson’s schismatic Jekyll-and-Hyde.
Our survey of nineteenth-century Gothic fiction will ask about the persistence of the Gothic, about the relation between “low” and “high” literary forms in modern literary culture, and about the social functions of narrative and dramatic art. As the basis for thinking about these general questions, we will pay close attention to the specific artistic and thematic achievements of the narratives we study. Classes will be conducted mainly by discussion, some of it lead by students.
Course Requirements
- Attendance and participation
- Three 5-page critical essays, or one 5-page and one 10-page essay
- Two in-class presentations
- Final exam
Required Texts
- Matthew Gregory Lewis, The Monk (1797)
- Anne Radcliffe, The Italian (1797)
- Mary Shelley, Frankenstein (1831)
- Edgar Allan Poe, selected short stories (1840-45)
- Robert Louis Stevenson, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1885)
- Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890)
- H. G. Wells, The Island of Doctor Moreau (1896)