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| Unit name |
George Eliot |
| Unit code |
ENGL29030 |
| Credit points |
20 |
| Level of study |
I/5
|
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12)
|
| Unit director |
Dr. Wright |
| Open unit status |
Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
None
|
| Co-requisites |
None
|
| School/department |
Department of English |
| Faculty |
Faculty of Arts |
Description including Unit Aims
This unit will place some of Eliot's major novels alongside a selection of her critical writings and her short stories, 'The Lifted Veil' and 'Brother Jacob'. The unit will involve the close study of individual texts in relation to wider questions about the development of the novel in the nineteenth century, and the literary and cultural implications of Realism. Topics for discussion might include: the representation of the city and the country; industrialization and the 'industrial novel'; representations of knowledge and learning; changing interpretations of 'culture' during the Victorian period; individual responsibility and the community; sexuality and desire; the nature of the hero or heroine in nineteenth-century fiction; the literary significance and tangled relation of terms such as 'Romance', 'Realism', and 'Idealism'; the New Science (evolutionary theory) and theology; and the importance of origins, history, tradition, and memory.
Aims:
- To introduce student to the breadth and depth of George Eliots writing, including most of her major works of fiction, and some of her translations of German Higher Criticism, literary essays, and poems.
- To encourage them, through guided reading and seminar discussion, to develop a familiarity with Eliots critical and authorial voice and to recognize its significance in the development of Realism in nineteenth-century fiction.
- To offer students the opportunity to read and explore related contemporary texts, by writers including Carlyle, Darwin, and Arnold, so that Eliots work, while being an end in itself for close study, also offers a window into many other possible aspects of Victorian thought and literary culture.
Intended Learning Outcomes
By the end of the course, students are expected to:
- have a thorough knowledge of a number of Eliots major works, including their primary preoccupations, formal features, and language.
- demonstrate awareness of Eliots place in a developing literary tradition, and insight into some of the contemporary (Victorian) concerns and debates that helped to shape her fiction.
- be able to exercise skill in close textual analysis and respond judiciously to critical views on the texts and topics studied.
Teaching Information
1 x 2 hour seminar per week, plus 1-to-1 discussion in consultation hours where desired.
Assessment Information
- 1 short essay (2000 words max) one-third of unit mark 33.3%
- 1 long essay (4000 words max) two-thirds of unit mark 66.7%
Reading and References
- The Lifted Veil (1859) and Brother Jacob (1864)
- Scenes of Clerical Life (1857)
