Eighteenth-Century Women Novelists
Spring 2011
M 6:00 – 8:50 pm

Course description
Many eighteenth-century critics viewed the novel with alarm as a genre primarily written by women for women—yet until relatively recently, the modern canon of eighteenth-century novelists was largely male. This course will focus on some of the women novelists active during the eighteenth century, like Behn, Haywood, Sarah Fielding, Lennox, Burney, and Radcliffe, among others; we will also explore various contexts—historical, social, literary, cultural, and so on—as they both shaped and were shaped by these novels. We will consider issues such as the changing nature of the novel during the period, changing attitudes toward women, varying notions of authorship, the emergence of print culture, and the shifting boundaries of public and private. We will also seek to engage with these novels in their material contexts.

Learning Outcomes and Methods of Assessment
Students completing this course should be able to demonstrate sophisticated understanding of eighteenth-century novels by women, of attitudes about women and novels by women in the period, and of critical issues and scholarship on these subjects. Students should also be able to articulate sophisticated ideas and interpretations of these texts and issues. Students should also be able to conduct professional-quality research on the eighteenth-century novel. These outcomes will be assessed by means of class discussions, a scholarly presentation, shorter essays, and an article-length seminar paper.

Required Texts
Austen, Jane. Northanger Abbey. 1818. Ed. Marilyn Butler. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1995.
Backscheider, Paula R., and John J. Richetti, eds. Popular Fiction by Women 1660-1730: An Anthology. Oxford: Clarendon P, 1996.
Burney, Frances. Evelina. 1778. Ed. Kristina Straub. Boston: Bedford, 1997.
Fielding, Sarah. The Adventures of David Simple and Volume the Last. 1744;1753. Ed. Peter Sabor. Lexington, KY: UP of Kentucky, 1998.
Haywood, Eliza. Love in Excess. 1719-20. Ed. David Oakleaf. 2nd ed. Peterborough: Broadview, 2000.
Lennox, Charlotte. The Female Quixote. 1752. Ed. Margaret Dalziel. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1989.
Scott, Sarah. Millenium Hall. 1762. Ed. Gary Kelly. Peterborough: Broadview, 1995.
Smith, Charlotte. Emmeline. 1788. Ed. Loraine Fletcher. Peterborough: Broadview, 2003.
Radcliffe, Ann. The Mysteries of Udolpho. 1794. Ed. Jacqueline Howard. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 2001.
Wollstonecraft, Mary. Maria. 1797. Ed. Anne K. Mellor. New York: Norton, 1994.

Required Work
 
Participation: You are expected to participate actively in cogent, informed, and intelligent discussions of our primary and secondary readings and of the critical and scholarly ideas they engage. This seminar will not function as lecture but as discussion; you should therefore be prepared to work actively to make the class time engaging and worthwhile. In other words, it is not enough simply to do the readings. You need to demonstrate to me and to your classmate that you have done the reading, thought about it, and formulated ideas and questions to contribute. Ideally, the seminar should be a collaborative exercise in learning, and such an exercise depends on everyone’s full engagement. If you are unprepared for class — either because you did not read or because you did not engage with the readings — your participation grade will suffer. If your classroom behavior does not meet the standards outlined below (under Policies) for participation and professionalism, your participation grade will suffer. 15% of course grade

 
Short papers: You will write six short papers (2-3 pp.) over the course of the semester, which must be handed in on the first day we discuss the text you’ve chosen to write about. These papers should be focused, critical explorations of an issue raised by the novel(s) and/or secondary readings and should present an argument in support of a thesis. 20% of course grade
Presentation: You will deliver a 20-25 minute scholarly presentation on one of the novels we read in which you present an argument supporting your thesis about the novel. You should choose a specific issue or aspect of the novel to focus on and should research relevant secondary sources as well. You should be prepared to answer questions at the conclusion of your talk. Your presentation must be accompanied by a handout providing an outline of your talk and an annotated bibliography of your secondary sources. 25% of course grade
Seminar paper: You will write a 15-20 page seminar paper, due at the end of the semester. The paper should focus on an issue, author, or text discussed in the course and should present an argument in support of a specific thesis on that topic, using at least 10 secondary sources to further your argument. The paper should demonstrate not only an understanding of the primary source(s) but also an understanding of the critical debate on the topic and an understanding of how the novels relate to their various contexts—literary, historical, cultural, social, ideological, and the like. 40% of course grade

Policies

 Schedule of Readings and Assignments (subject to change)

M 17 January Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday; no class
M 24 January Behn, History of the Nun (1689) (in Popular Fiction)
Barker, Love Intrigues (1713) (in Popular Fiction)
Ezell, Writing Women’s Literary History, ch. 1 (online)
[recommended: Ezell, Social Authorship and the Advent of Print]
M 31 January Haywood, Love in Excess (1719-20)
Ballaster, Seductive Forms, ch. 2  (online)
M 7 February Aubin, Count de Vinevil (1721) (in Popular Fiction)
Haywood, British Recluse (1722) (in Popular Fiction)
McDowell, "Women and the Business of Print"  (online)
M 14 February Davys, Reformed Coquet (1724) (in Popular Fiction)
Haywood, Fantomina (1725) (in Popular Fiction)
Warner, Licensing Entertainment, ch. 1 (online) [ch. 3 recommended]
M 21 February Fielding, The Adventures of David Simple (1744-53)
Barchas, "Sarah Fielding’s Dashing Style and Eighteenth-Century Print Culture" (online)
M 28 February Lennox, Female Quixote (1752)
Cervantes, excerpts from Don Quixote
Guest speaker: Dr. John Beusterien
M 7 March Lennox, Female Quixote
Gallagher, "Nobody’s Story: Gender, Property, and the Rise of the Novel" (online)
[recommended: Gallagher, Nobody’s Story, ch. 4]
M 21 March Scott, Millenium Hall (1761)
Vickery, "Golden Age to Separate Spheres?" or The Gentleman’s Daughter, introduction (online)
M 28 March Burney, Evelina (1778)
Fergus, "Women Readers: A Case Study" (online)
M 4 April Smith, Emmeline (1788)
Barker-Benfield, The Culture of Sensibility, ch. 1 (online)
M 11 April  Radcliffe, The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794)
Hoeveler, Gothic Feminism, introduction (online)
M 18 April Radcliffe, The Mysteries of Udolpho
Lewis, excerpts from The Monk (online)
M 2 May Wollstonecraft, Maria (1797)
Austen, Northanger Abbey (1798-9)
Barbauld, "On the Origin and Progress of Novel-Writing" (online)
M 9 May Seminar papers due in my office by 5pm

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