ENGL 26 Social Justice and the Victorian Novel

The British novel achieved great popularity during the nineteenth century as it became a realist form with increasing complexities of plot and character. During a period of imperial and economic expansion, too, great works of fiction participated in widespread debates about progress, empire, Englishness, and evolutionary thought. We will look at fiction's contributions to such cultural debates, considering the novel's powerful critique of empire and dreams of progress; the importance of formations of English identity to plot and character; reactions in fiction to evolutionary revisions of history; and how Victorian fiction signals the importance of class, gender, and race to character development. Readings may include Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre, Charles DIckens's Great Expectations, Wilkie Collins's The Moonstone, George Eliot’s Middlemarch, Thomas Hardy's Tess of the d'Urbervilles, and Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray.

Degree Requirement Attributes

Dist:LIT; WCult:W

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Department-Specific Course Categories

Course Group II