English 3481  — The Nineteenth-Century British Novel I

This course addresses the British novel of the first half of the nineteenth century, taking account of the development of the genre and its place as an important cultural form in an era of turbulent change. As we examine its various manifestations — the gothic, the “autobiographical” narrative, the social problem novel — we shall consider the novel’s engagement with such issues as economic unrest; changing notions of class and gender; biological science and evolution; and British industrial and imperial expansion. Key Authors: Austen, Dickens, The Brontes, Elizabeth Gaskell