The Victorian period, spanning roughly eight decades of literary tradition and innovation between Romanticism and Modernism, gave rise to some of the most memorable and best-loved works of literature in the English language: The texts for this course--mostly poems, some essays and short fiction, one play--include writings of Tennyson, Browning, Emily Brontë, the Rossettis and the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, Arnold, Hopkins, Wilde, Hardy, fin-de-siècle Aesthetes and Decadents, early Yeats, and World War I poet Wilfred Owen. They are evocative, emotionally powerful, idiosyncratic, psychologically loaded, intellectually engaged, sensual, daring, inspiring, harrowing, and bizarre. We'll trace thematic and stylistic connections, analyzing diverse representations of love, longing, loss, the power and limits of words, Medievalism, marriage and its discontents, gender dynamics, the Woman Question, women's authorship, queer eroticism, beauty, art, artifice, aesthetic and sensual pleasures, pain, suffering, sacrifice, the pity of war, repression, depravity, "madness," spiritual crisis, the horrors of war, and fears for the future of civilization. A Book Arts workshop and readings from Pater, Ruskin, Mill, Arnold, and William Morris will further illuminate the role of artists, artisans, and consumers of art.

Units: 1

Max Enrollment: 20

Prerequisites: None.

Distribution Requirements: LL - Language and Literature

Typical Periods Offered: Spring

Semesters Offered this Academic Year: Not Offered; Spring