English 233: Seminar in Victorian Literature


Spring Semester 2000

San José State University

Professor Carolyn Sigler

This history is chiefly concerned with the private lot of a few men and women;

but there is no private life which has not been determined by a wider public life.

--George Eliot, Felix Holt The Radical

Office: FO 106 Office Hours:

Phone/Voicemail: 4-4457 T-U 12:00 noon-1:30 p.m.

E-mail: csigler@email.sjsu.edu and by appointment

Web: http://www.sjsu.edu/faculty/csigler/

  • Required Items

    • The following texts may be purchased online (just click on the title), or at the Spartan Bookstore and/or Roberts' Bookstore; they may also be ordered at local Barnes and Noble Bookstores.  Please purchase only the editions indicated below so that we will all have the same pagination.

  • Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice (Oxford UP)
  • Mary Elizabeth Braddon, Lady Audley's Secret (Oxford UP)
  • Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre (Penguin)
  • Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass (Oxford UP) 
  • Charles Dickens, Hard Times (Penguin)
  • Rosemary J. Mundhenk, Ed.  Victorian Prose: An Anthology (Columbia UP)
  • Christina Rossetti, Poems and Prose (Everyman)
  • Bram Stoker, Dracula (Penguin)
  • William Makepeace Thackeray, Vanity Fair (Penguin)
  • Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest (Signet)
  • Short works and critical essays, available on reserve at the SJSU library or online through this Web site.
  • Photocopied critical essays, works of short fiction, and poems.
  • An activated SJSU email account.
  • Recommended Items
    • Daniel Karlin, Ed.  The Penguin Book of Victorian Verse (Penguin)
    MLA Handbook, 5th Edition
    Sharon W. Propas, Victorian Studies: A Research Guide (Garland)
    Links to Victorian resources on the WWW can be accessed below.

    COURSE OBJECTIVES
    We will study the literature of Victorian Britain in the context of the great cultural and social issues of the time, such as the extension of empire, the conflict of science and religion, the economics of industrial society, and the progress of political reform, which included the "Woman Question." In particular, our seminar will focus on the separate Victorian "spheres" of domestic and public life, to explore how popular domestic ideology constructed the domestic sphere as a political and economic alternative to the public world, calling into question the structures of Victorian society, and becoming a major event in political history which continues to shape modern culture.

    COURSE REQUIREMENTS
    Since this class is a seminar, your attendance, careful reading of each text, and participation are essential and required. Be sure to see me immediately if you have a serious attendance problem. Your final grade will be based on the following: two short (10-15-minute) oral reports (30%), a final exam (20%), a scholarly critical essay, 17-20 pages (30%), and seminar participation (20%).

    ORAL REPORTS
    Each student will present to the class one historical report of 10-15 minutes, and one report of similar length about your research topic. On the day of your report, please present to each student (and the professor) a 2-3 page handout on your topic, which includes an annotated bibliography of at least five scholarly sources. If you find sources with helpful illustrations, please feel free to bring those along to share with the class. All reports should include information from primary sources, as well as modern critical sources. While some Victorian newspapers and journals are available over the internet, this may mean that you will need to order some materials, such as microfilms of Victorian journals, through interlibrary loan, so please plan to begin gathering materials for your report early. You will be graded on the quality of both handout and oral presentation. The handout may be a written paper, a detailed outline with explanations, xeroxed artwork with commentary below, or some creative written presentation of the topic you’re covering.

  • Biographical reports should provide an overview of the author’s life and milieu, with particular reference to the critical reception (contemporary reviews and commentary) of the work(s) covered in class. Sources should include contemporary information about the author and text (letters by or to the author, contemporary biographies, reviews, and, if possible, obituaries), as well as modern biographical assessments.
  • Topic reports should include contemporary commentary on the topic (this could include journal essays or articles as well as fictional depictions of the subject) as well as information from modern critical sources.
    • Please feel free to meet with me prior to your report; I’ll be happy to offer suggestions. An excellent handbook by Sharon W. Propas, Victorian Studies: A Research Guide (New York: Garland, 1992), provides valuable descriptive listings of many reference sources, including specialist bibliographies, from cross-disciplinary perspectives. You might also consult Lional Madden’s classic How to Find Out About the Victorian Period (Oxford: Pergamon, 1970).

    SEMINAR PARTICIPATION
    This course will proceed in seminar style, that is, led by the professor but depending upon, and requiring, active involvement and participation by the members of the seminar. Since even graduate courses are subject to differential grading, what this means in practical terms is that reading and discussion will be an important part of seminar members’ final grades.

    RESEARCH PAPER
    The seminar paper will consume more of your effort in this class than anything else, apart from doing the assigned readings. Your essay should be on one of the assigned texts for the class, and must be based on original research as well as historical and critical research. Your research paper is yours: find something to research that you are interested in and want to know more about, then schedule an appointment to meet with me for a 15-20-minute individual conference. Conferences need to be scheduled before March 23, even if your ideas are not set in stone by then. You should bring to the conference a 1-2 page (typed) proposal, as well as an annotated bibliography containing at least 5 print sources.

    The following statement has been adopted by the English department for inclusion in all greensheets:
    The department of English reaffirms its commitment to the differential grading scale as defined in the official SJSU catalogue ("The Grading System"). Grades issued must represent a full range of student performance: A = excellent; B = above average; C = average; D = below average; F = failure. Courses graded according to the A, B, C, No Credit system shall follow the same pattern, except that NC (No Credit) shall replace D or F. In such classes, NC shall also substitute for W (Withdrawal) because neither grade (NC or W) affects students’ GPA.

    **Please note that, except in the case of serious illness, I do not like to give incompletes.

    ACADEMIC INTEGRITY
    The misrepresentation of another's work as one's own, whether the original work is published or not, is plagiarism and will result in a failing grade. The incident will also be reported to the dean of students for possible further action. All quotes must be enclosed in quotation marks or, when more than three lines, put in an indented block. Full citation of the original author and source must also be included. Copies of SJSU’s Policy on Academic Dishonesty are available in the office of the Dean of Student Services.

    DISABLED STUDENT SERVICES
    Students with disabilities who need special accommodations should register with the Disabled Student Services Department. Please advise the professor immediately of any special needs.

    READING SCHEDULE
    Our reading schedule will be demanding, and it is essential that you pace yourself and read ahead whenever possible. Though we will be discussing some works over more than one class period, you should plan to have each work read in its entirety by the first day of discussion. Works marked with an asterisk will be photocopied and distributed in class the week before they are due. The following schedule may be slightly modified during the course of the semester, but students will be notified of any change at least one class day in advance.

     
                                               Readings and Discussion Topics                     Assignments          Report Topics
    WEEK 1

    1/27

    		 Introduction to the class; nineteenth-century background; domestic ideology.
    WEEK 2

    2/3

    		 Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice
    WEEK 3

    2/10

    		 Finish Pride and Prejudice

    Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

    		 •Charlotte Brontë
    WEEK 4

    2/17

    		 Finish Jane Eyre

    Bret Harte, "Miss Mix"*

    Elizabeth Rigby, Review of Jane Eyre (VP 175)

    Sarah Stickney Ellis, The Women of England (VP 53)

    		 •The Critical Reception of Jane Eyre (Beth Bynarowicz)

    •Victorian Governesses 
    WEEK 5

    2/24

    		 William Makepeace Thackeray, Vanity Fair
    WEEK 6

    3/2

    		 William Makepeace Thackeray, Vanity Fair

    Thomas Carlyle, from Sartor Resartus (VP 21)
     

    		 •William Makepeace Thackeray and the Critical Reception of Vanity Fair (Sarah Glenn)

    •Charles Dickens (Rosella Guttadauro)
    WEEK 7

    3/9

    		 Charles Dickens, Hard Times

    Oastler, "Slavery in Yorkshire" (VP 9)

    Henry Mayhew, Labour and the Poor (VP 189)

    Mathre Arnold, from Culture and Anarchy (VP 337)

    		 •Child Labor in Victorian England (Erik Olson)

    •Victorian Education
    (Kelly Caufield)
    WEEK 8

    3/16

    		 Mary Elizabeth Braddon, Lady Audley’s Secret

    George Eliot, "Silly Novels by Lady Novelists" (VP 287)

    John Ruskin, "Of Queens’ Gardens" (VP 259)

    		 •Mary E. Braddon (Sharon Jones)

    •The Pre-Raphaelites (M’aire McCarthy)
    WEEK 9

    3/23

    		 Finish Lady Audley’s Secret

    John Stuart Mill, The Subjection of Women (VP 305)

    Frances Power Cobbe, The Duties of Women (VP 325)

    Dinah Craik, A Woman’s Thoughts About Women (VP 371)

    		 Last week to schedule required conference with professor. •Sensation Fiction (Nita Gopal)

    •Victorian Marriage (Margaret Cocksedge)
    WEEK 10

    3/30

    		 SPRING BREAK
    WEEK 11

    4/6

    		 Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

    Charles Darwin, On the Origin of the Species (VP 165)

    		 •Lewis Carroll and the Critical Reception of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland(Ted Shank)

    •Victorian Childhood (Amy Franz)
    WEEK 12

    4/13

    		 Christina Rossetti, Speaking Likenesses, Goblin Market, "In an Artist’s Studio" •Christina Rossetti and the Critical Reception of Speaking Likenesses (Kyle Hull)
    WEEK 13

    4/20

    		 Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest

    "The Soul of Man Under Socialism" (VP 423)

    Arthur W. Symons, "The Decadent Movement in Literature" (VP 449)

    		 •Oscar Wilde (Michael Winsatt)
    WEEK 14

    4/27

    		 Bram Stoker, Dracula, "Dracula’s Guest"*

    William Morris, "How We Live and How We Might Live" (VP 393)

    		 •Bram Stoker and the Critical Reception of Dracula (Dave Poetzinger)
    WEEK 15

    5/4

    		 Charlotte Perkins Gilman, "The Yellow Wallpaper"*

    Mary E. Wilkins-Freeman, "Luella Miller"*

    		 In-Class Editing Workshop: Complete draft of research essay due. •The Victorian Fascination with the Supernatural (Kristen Garabedian)
    WEEK 16

    5/11

    		 Conclusions

    .

    		 Research paper due (along with edited draft). •Oral reports on research topics (all seminar members)
    Exam Week Final Exam: Thursday, May 23, 7:45-10:00 p.m. Bring blue books, black ink.

     

    LINKS TO VICTORIAN RESOURCES ON THE WORLD WIDE WEB

     

    GENERAL

    A Tour of London 150 Years Ago
    City of Shadows: A Gothic Tour of Victorian London - includes texts of classic Victorian ghost stories
    by Mary Braddon, Elizabeth Gaskell and others.
    Victorian Research Web
    The Victorian Web
    Mitsuharu Matsuoka's Victorian Web Sites
    Victorian British Literary Resources

    ELECTRONIC TEXTS

    Project Bartleby
    The Victorian Women Writers Project
     
     

    LIBRARIES, ARCHIVES and MUSEUMS 

    The British Museum
    COPAC: a consortium of British university libraries
    Victorian and Edwardian Literature Collection - University of California at Riverside
    Clark Library - UCLA
    Victoria and Albert Museum - London
     
     

    VICTORIAN PERIODICALS

    The Punch Cartoon Page
    Internet Library of Early Journals: A Digital Library of 18th and 19th Century Journals
     

    WORKING-CLASS LIVES

    Factory Life in the Nineteenth Century
    Child Labor
    Letters from a Victorian Governess
    The Penny Magazine online - weekly magazine aimed at the working class

    DOMESTIC LIFE

    Domestic Life in 19th-Century England
    Introdiction to a Victorian Woman's World
     

    EDUCATION

    A Journey Through the History of State Education in England
    A History of Education and Childhood
     

    CHILDHOOD

    The New Child, 1730-1830
    The Sepia Child - photographs of children by Lewis Carroll
    Images of Victorian Children - from Professor Robin Love's Concepts of Childhood class (CD106)
    Child Labor in the Nineteenth Century
     

    INDIVIDUAL AUTHORS

  • Jane Austen
    • The Republic of Pemberley
    The Jane Austen Information Page
    Pride and Prejudice (annotated text)
     
      The Bronte Sisters Web
    The Jane Eyre Page
    Jane Eyre, An Introduction - Joyce Carol Oates
    Jane Eyre (annotated text)
    The Life of Charlotte Bronte - Elizabeth Gaskell (text)
     
     
    • Mary Elizabeth Braddon
    The Mary Braddon Website
    "Sensation Novels" (from Quarterly Review, 1863)
    Victorian Sensationalism Online
      Lewis Carroll: An Overview
    Lewis Carroll Homepage
     
  • Charles Darwin
    • The C. Warren Irvin, Jr., Collection of Charles Darwin and Darwiniana
    Biography of Charles Darwin
     
  • Charles Dickens
    • The Dickens Page
    The Dickens Project - University of California
    Charles Dickens: An Overview
     
     
      The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood
    The Magnificent Seven
    The Pre-Raphaelite Critic
     
      Christina Rossetti Archive
    Christina Georgina Rossetti
    Christina Rossetti Overview
     
    • Bram Stoker
    Bram Stoker's Dracula pages
    Dracula (text)
    The Life of Bram Stoker
    Dracula's Homepage - Fact and Fiction
      Vanity Fair (text)
    William Makepeace Thackeray
      Oscar Wilde Overview
    Oscariana: The Life and Times of Oscar Wilde 
    The Importance of Being Earnest (e-text)
    Oscar Wilde in San Fancisco-1882:An account of Wilde's visit to San Francisco in 1882 that includes a nasty cartoon from the San Francisco Wasp. Be sure to read the San Francisco Chronicle's review of Wilde's lecture on "Art Decoration," and local humorist Ambrose Bierce's denunciation of Wilde. (Museum of the City of San Francisco)