ENGL 4313: Studies in Fiction
The Eighteenth-Century Gothic Novel
TR 9.30 - 10.50
Spring 2012
Course description
Haunted castles, vengeful ghosts, scheming villains, imprisoned heroines, secrets from the mysterious past, fearful apparitions, gory deaths, live burials—not to mention the terrified, fascinated reader: these trappings are usually taken to be the signs of the Gothic. Why did Gothic texts become so popular in the late eighteenth century? Do these trappings truly constitute the Gothic? and if not, what does? What kinds of social, cultural, historical, or psychological demands did the Gothic fulfill for its readers? How does this subgenre fit into our understanding of the novel as a genre? To explore these questions, we’ll read novels from the late eighteenth century heyday of the Gothic along with secondary readings that will help us understand the historical context and the critical and scholarly understandings of the Gothic.
Learning Outcomes and Methods of Assessment
Students completing the course should be able to articulate an understanding of British Gothic fiction in the eighteenth century and its historical and cultural context. Students should also be able to identify, understand, and discuss some of the major critical statements on eighteenth-century British Gothic fiction. Students should also be able to analyze and interpret texts through close readings, construct clear and persuasive written arguments for their interpretations, conduct research carefully and systematically using library resources, and integrate that research into their own arguments. These objectives will be assessed through participation in class discussion, a presentation, an annotated bibliography, and papers.
Required Texts
Walpole, Horace. The Castle of Otranto. 1764. Ed. Michael Gamer. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 2001.
Required Work
NB: students must complete all assignments in order to pass the
course. Consult the detailed handouts for each assignment for specific
guidelines.
| Midterm paper (5-8 pp) | 25% |
| Proposal & annotated bibliography for semester paper | 10% |
| Semester paper (12-15 pp.) | 35% |
| Presentation of research project | 10% |
| Participation | 20% |
Readings with the notation "online" will be available online, either as online texts or as password-protected PDFs through the Course Readings page. You must have these readings with you in class. For all readings, you are responsible for reading the relevant headnotes and introductions. Note that the amount of reading will vary throughout the semester, but you should be prepared to read around 30 pages per day.
| Week One | Th 1/19 | Introduction to the course |
| Week Two | T 1/24 |
Walpole, Castle of Otranto (all) |
| Th 1/26 |
Walpole, Castle of Otranto (cont) Burke, Philosophical Enquiry (excerpts; online) |
|
| Week Three | T 1/31 |
Reeve, Old English Baron (all) |
|
Th 2/2 |
Reeve, Old English Baron (cont) Aikin, "On Romances" and "On the Pleasure Derived from Objects of Terror" (online) |
|
| Week Four |
T 2/7 |
Beckford, Vathek (all) |
| Th 2/9 |
Beckford, Vathek (cont) Hogle, introduction to Cambridge Companion to Gothic Fiction (online) |
|
| Week Five | T 2/14 |
Parsons, Castle of Wolfenbach through p. 148 |
| Th 2/16 |
Parsons, Castle of Wolfenbach through end Clery, "The Genesis of "Gothic" Fiction" and The Rise of Supernatural Fiction, introduction (online) |
|
| Week Six | T 2/21 |
Smith, Old Manor House through vol. II ch. V |
| Th 2/23 |
Smith, Old Manor House through end of vol. II Ellis, The Contested Castle, introduction (online) |
|
| Week Seven | T 2/28 |
Peer workshop for midterm paper; bring two copies of your draft and two copies of the peer workshop sheet |
| Th 3/1 | No class | |
| Week Eight | T 3/6 |
Smith, Old Manor House through vol. IV ch. VIII Midterm paper due |
| Th 3/8 |
Smith, Old Manor House through end |
|
| Spring Break | ||
| Week Nine | T 3/20 |
Radcliffe, Mysteries of Udolpho through vol. I |
| Th 3/22 | No class | |
| Week Ten | T 3/27 |
Radcliffe, Mysteries of Udolpho through vol. II ch. X |
| Th 3/29 |
Radcliffe, Mysteries of Udolpho through vol. III ch. V |
|
| Week Eleven | T 4/3 |
Radcliffe, Mysteries of Udolpho through vol. IV ch. V Sedgwick, "The Character in the Veil" (online) |
| Th 4/5 |
Radcliffe, Mysteries of Udolpho through vol. IV ch. XI |
|
| Week Twelve | T 4/10 |
Radcliffe, Mysteries of Udolpho through end |
| Th 4/12 |
Lewis, The Monk through vol. I |
|
| Week Thirteen | T 4/17 |
Lewis, The Monk through vol. II Clemens, The Return of the Repressed, introduction (online) |
| Th 4/19 |
Lewis, The Monk through end |
|
| Week Fourteen | T 4/24 |
Radcliffe, The Italian through vol. I Proposal and annotated bibliography due |
| Th 4/26 |
Radcliffe, The Italian through vol. II ch. V Hoeveler, Gothic Feminism, introduction (online) |
|
| Week Fifteen | T 5/1 |
Radcliffe, The Italian through vol. III ch. V |
| Th 5/3 |
Radcliffe, The Italian through end |
|
| Week Sixteen | T 5/8 |
Peer workshop for semester paper; bring two copies of your draft and two copies of the peer workshop sheet |
| Final exam time | M 5/14 |
1.30 – 4pm: Semester paper due; research
presentations due |