The question of how the different individuals and groups that make up society are related to each other, and what mutual obligations they have, gets a lot of attention in 19th century English literature, and it will be the focal point of our class. We will examine selected works from the period with an eye to what they tell us about how individuals relate to the social structures of which they are a part. How do the designations and perspectives of man and woman, upper class, middle class, and working class, slave and free, tradesman and gentleman, scientist and theologian, English and “native,” structure the lives of people of that time, and how does the social structure enhance or oppress the lives of people in it? Come and join us in this exploration of what it means to be a human being in a fascinating time and place, and what it means to be part of a community. Major works to be studied include novels by Jane Austen and Elizabeth Gaskell, and poetry by William Wordsworth, John Keats, Alfred Tennyson, Robert Browning, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and Christina Rossetti, plus readings about the French Revolution, slavery and abolition, the “woman question” and gender roles, and industrialism.
- Teacher: Moncrieff, Scott
