SYLLABUS FOR E335 VICTORIAN LITERATURE
CHAPMAN UNIVERSITY, SPRING 2008

*2023 Note. Most links and procedural information have been removed from this archival version of the syllabus.

COURSE INFORMATION. English 335. Tu/Th 10:00 – 11:15 a.m. Location: Beckman 107. Instructor: Alfred J. Drake, Ph.D. Office hours: 9:00 – 10:00 a.m. Tu/Th in Cyber Café. Email: e335_at_ajdrake.com. Catalog Description: “ENG 335: The Literature of Victorian England. Prerequisite, Written Inquiry. This course explores the tensions—artistic, moral, and social—of Victorian England from 1832-1900…. (Offered spring semester, alternate years.) 3 credits.”

REQUIRED TEXTS AT CHAPMAN UNIVERSITY BOOKSTORE

Gaskell, Elizabeth. Cranford. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1998. ISBN-13: 978-0192832092.

Greenblatt, Stephen, et al., eds. The Norton Anthology of English Literature, Volume E: The Victorian Age. 8th ed. New York: Norton, 2005. ISBN-13: 978-0393927214.

Kipling, Rudyard. War Stories and Poems. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1999. ISBN-13: 978-0192836861.

Showalter, Elaine, ed. Daughters of Decadence: Women Writers of the Fin de Siècle. Rutgers UP, 1993. ISBN-13: 978-0813520186.

Stierstorfer, Klaus, ed. London Assurance and other Victorian Comedies. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2001. ISBN-13: 978-0192832962.

E-texts as noted in syllabus below. See the reading list’s “(E-Text)” links for selected works by Carlyle, Ruskin, Darwin, Huxley, Hopkins, Pater, and Wilde.

COURSE RATIONALE AND ACTIVITIES

FOCUS AND OBJECTIVES. This course will cover a selection of literary, critical, and dramatic texts written during the Victorian Period (1837-1901). Queen Victoria’s long reign was a golden age of prose, with abundant social, political, and aesthetic critics to sample: on our slate are Thomas Carlyle, J. S. Mill, John Ruskin, J. H. Newman, Matthew Arnold, Walter Pater, Oscar Wilde, and William Morris, along with the scientific writers Charles Darwin and T. H. Huxley. Together, texts by these authors will give us an excellent, if by no means exhaustive, introduction to this aspect of the age. Poetry, drama and fiction are also well represented on our syllabus. In all, the Victorian Period has much to say to us about cultural, social, and political issues similar to those that still confront us in the twenty-first century, and its literary production has hardly lost its appeal even after the passing of more than a century. A broad survey such as ours aims to acquaint you with a variety of excellent work from the periods studied and to point you towards further exploration of the areas that most interest you. My method is not to impose ambitious claims of universal coherence, thematic unity, etc. on the material, but instead to follow a roughly chronological order and to note themes and issues as they arise, connecting them when appropriate.

ACTIVITIES. In class, there will be a mix of lectures, student presentations, whole-class and smaller-group discussion, occasional quizzes, an essay, and a final exam. I encourage questions and comments—class sessions improve when students take an active part. Outside class, do the assigned readings before the relevant discussion dates, complete your journal sets as outlined below, start planning and drafting your essay early, and work on your presentation drafts. In literary studies, the aim is to read and discuss actively and thereby to develop your own voice in response to the texts you read. Insightful interpretation and the ability to make compelling connections are central goals. The essay, discussions, presentations, and journal-keeping should combine to help you work towards these goals.

HOW YOUR PERFORMANCE WILL BE EVALUATED

COURSE POLICIES. Please review the Policies page early in the semester because it addresses matters such as attendance, academic integrity, and late or missing work.

PRESENTATIONS REQUIREMENT. Students will sign up for two 5-minute in-class presentations on assigned authors of their choosing (if possible). I will provide presenters with specific questions from the online journal questions and will post a schedule on the presentations page. Each session will feature one or more presentations. Required: At least one week before you present, contact me to discuss your ideas. After you have given your in-class presentation, email me a version of your comments and I’ll post it as a new entry to the appropriate students’ blog. (20% of course grade.)

JOURNALS REQUIREMENT. Responses to a choice of questions on each author. Due by email anytime on class day Week 5, Week 10, and Final Exam Day. Electronic format required. (30%)

PAPER REQUIREMENT. By 04/24: Week 13, a one-paragraph description addressing the topic and argument of the projected paper will be due by email. (Full rough drafts are also encouraged.) Not providing this description on time may affect the final draft grade. Please read the term paper instructions carefully since they contain the prompt, some possible topics, and advance draft comments. I reserve the right to require proof of the final paper’s authenticity, such as notes or an early draft. Final draft (5-7 pages; graduates 10-15 pages) due by exam day or as specified towards the bottom of the syllabus page. Follow MLA guidelines. Chapman’s academic integrity policies apply: see Academic Policies and Procedures in the catalog. For undergraduates, research is optional. (30%)

FINAL EXAM REQUIREMENT. The exam will consist of substantive id passages, mix-and-match questions (match phrase or concept x to author/text y), and short questions requiring a few paragraphs in response. There will be more choices than required responses. Books and notes allowed for all sections. No laptops during the exam. Exam date: see below. (20%)

EMAILING ASSIGNMENTS TO E335_AT_AJDRAKE.COM. Email journals, presentations, and term paper as attachments. Don’t send more than one document in the same email. Label subject lines appropriately: “E335 Journal 1, Jane Smith” etc. You can paste journal sets into a regular email or send them as an attachment. (Journal “sets” include responses to questions about several authors; do not send entries on each author in a given set separately.) Contact me if you don’t receive a prompt email confirmation.

QUESTION SETS FOR JOURNALS AND PRESENTATIONS

*2023 Note. Visitors may download the following questions in PDF format: VICTORIAN AUTHORS.

Carlyle | Mill | Tennyson | Bulwer-Lytton | Boucicault | Ruskin | Newman | Arnold | Darwin | T. H. Huxley | R. Browning | D. G. Rossetti | C. Rossetti | W. Morris | A. C. Swinburne | Gaskell | Hopkins | Pater | Wilde | Daughters of Decadence | Kipling

SCHEDULE: WORKS DISCUSSED ON DATES INDICATED

WEEK 01

Tu. 01/29. First Meeting: Administrative matters and course introduction.

Th. 01/31. Introduction to Victorian Period. Please read 979-99 in the Norton Anthology Vol. E.

WEEK 02

Tu. 02/05. Thomas Carlyle. “Signs of the Times.” See http://scholars.nus.edu/victorian/authors/carlyle/signs1.html.

Th. 02/07. Thomas Carlyle.  From Sartor Resartus (1006-24), from Past and Present (1024-33).

WEEK 03

Tu. 02/12. John Stuart Mill. “What is Poetry?” (1044-51), from On Liberty (1051-61).

Th. 02/14. John Stuart Mill. From The Subjection of Women (1061-70), from Autobiography (1070-77).

WEEK 04

Tu. 02/19. Alfred Tennyson. “Mariana” (1112-14), “The Lady of Shalott” (1114-18), “The Lotos-Eaters” (1119-23), “Ulysses” (1123-25).

Th. 02/21. Alfred Tennyson. From In Memoriam A. H. H. (1138-88): read at least the following: Prologue, Lyrics 1-3, 5, 7, 11, 14-15, 28, 34, 39, 54-56, 75, 108, 118, 123-24, 126, 130-31, Epilogue.

WEEK 05

Tu. 02/26. Edward Bulwer-Lytton. Money (Stierstorfer 3-73).

Th. 02/28. Dion Boucicault. London Assurance. (Stierstorfer 77-143). [Journal Set 1 due.]

WEEK 06

Tu. 03/04. John Ruskin. From Modern Painters (1320-24), from The Stones of Venice (1324-34).

Th. 03/06. John Ruskin and John Henry Newman. From Ruskin’s The Storm-Cloud of the Nineteenth Century, Lecture I (Orig. available as etext on my site.) From Newman’s The Idea of a University (1035-42).

WEEK 07

Tu. 03/11. Matthew Arnold. “The Buried Life” (1356-58); “Dover Beach” (1368-69); “Stanzas from the Grande Chartreuse” (1369-74); “Preface” to Poems (1374-84).

Th. 03/13. Matthew Arnold. From “The Function of Criticism at the Present Time” (1384-97), from Culture and Anarchy (1398-1404).

WEEK 08

Tu. 03/18. Spring Break, No Classes.

Th. 03/20. Spring Break, No Classes.

WEEK 09

Tu. 03/25. Charles Darwin and T. H. Huxley. Ch. 4 from Darwin’s The Descent of Man (Orig. available as e-text on this site). Huxley’s “On the Physical Basis of Life.” (Orig. available as e-text on this site)

Th. 03/27. Robert Browning. Robert’s “Porphyria’s Lover” (1252-53); “My Last Duchess” (1255-56); “The Bishop Orders His Tomb” (1259-62); “Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came” (1266-71), “Caliban upon Setebos” (1296-1303).

WEEK 10

Tu. 04/01. Dante Gabriel and Christina Rossetti. DGR’s “The Blessed Damozel” (1443-47). Christina’s Selected Poems: (1460-81): “Song: She sat . . .” (1460-61); “Song–When I am dead” (1461); “After Death” (1461); “Dead before Death” (1462); “Cobwebs” (1462); “A Triad” (1462-63); “In an Artist’s Studio” (1463); “A Birthday” (1463); “An Apple Gathering” (1464); “Winter My Secret” (1464-65); “Uphill” (1465); “Goblin Market” (1466-78); “No Thank You, John” (1478); “Promises Like Pie-Crusts” (1479); “In Progress” (1479); “A Life’s Parallels” (1480); “Sonnet 17” (1480); “Cardinal Newman” (1480-81); “Sleeping at Last” (1481).

Th. 04/03. William Morris and Algernon Charles Swinburne. Morris’ “The Defence of Guenevere” (1483-91), “How I Became a Socialist” (1491-94). Swinburne’s “Hymn to Proserpine” (1496-98), “Ave Atque Vale” (1500-05). [Journal Set 2 due.]

WEEK 11

Tu. 04/08. Elizabeth Gaskell. Cranford.

Th. 04/10. Elizabeth Gaskell. Cranford.

WEEK 12

Tu. 04/15. Gerard Manley Hopkins. Selected Poems, from Journal (1516-26): “God’s Grandeur” (1516); “The Starlight Night” (1516-17); “As Kingfishers Catch Fire” (1517); “Spring” (1517); “The Windhover” (1518); “Pied Beauty” (1518); “Hurrahing in Harvest” (1519); “Binsey Poplars” (1519); “Duns Scotus’s Oxford” (1520); “Felix Randal” (1520-21); “Spring and Fall” (1521); “Carrion Comfort” (1521-22); “No Worst, There is None” (1522); “I Wake and Feel the Fell of Dark, Not Day” (1522-23); “That Nature Is a Heraclitean Fire . . .” (1523); “Thou Art Indeed Just, Lord” (1524); also “The Wreck of the Deutschland” (http://www.bartleby.com/122/4.html).

Th. 04/17. Walter Pater. From The Renaissance: Studies in Art and Poetry (1507-13); excerpts from The Renaissance Ch. 6, “Leonardo da Vinci” (orig. available as e-text on this site).

WEEK 13

Tu. 04/22. Oscar Wilde. “The Decay of Lying” (orig. available as e-text on this site).

Th. 04/24. Oscar Wilde. The Importance of Being Earnest (1698-1740). Paper Description Due.

WEEK 14

Tu. 04/29. Showalter, Elaine, ed. Selections from Daughters of Decadence: Ada Leverson’s “Suggestion” (38-46), George Egerton’s “A Cross Line” (47-68), Olive Schreiner’s “The Buddhist Priest’s Wife” (84-97).

Th. 05/01. Showalter, Elaine, ed. Selections from Daughters of Decadence: Charlotte Mew’s “A White Night” (118-38), Sarah Grand’s “The Undefinable: a Fantasia” (262-87).

WEEK 15

Tu. 05/06. Rudyard Kipling. From War Stories and Poems: “The Drums of the Fore and Aft” (7-38), “The Mutiny of the Mavericks” (70-88).

Th. 05/08. Rudyard Kipling. From War Stories and Poems: “A Sahib’s War” (163-80), “The Comprehension of Private Copper” (183-93).

FINALS WEEK

Final Exam Date: Friday, May 16 10:45 – 1:15 p.m. in class. Journal Set 3 and the Term Paper will be due by email attachment on or before May 20. (I must turn in grades on Sunday, May 25.)