Sporer, Madeline

In this seminar, we will examine how the novelists of the Victorian era dealt with the pressing social issue of madness in their work and investigate how their portrayal of mentally ill fictional characters reflected and shaped society’s attitudes towards madness. The great prosperity and industrial advancement Britain enjoyed in the 19th century made the Victorians a society that reacted to rapid social change with strict gender- and class distinctions, a concern with morality and a general support for reform movements. In this seminar, we will particularly focus on the role of gender in the complex discourse of madness by positioning 19th-century ideas and phenomena such as the madwoman or the lunatic asylum in their wider, socio-cultural, medical and psychological contexts. Thus, we will first familiarize ourselves with a variety of theories that tried to define madness in the 19th century and heavily influenced how the (allegedly) mad were perceived by the Victorians, before we approach our primary works Jane Eyre and Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Our literary examination will be based on primary texts by authors such as Charlotte Brontë, Wilkie Collins, Charles Dickens and Robert Louis Stevenson and useful secondary sources will help us enhance our understanding and interpretation of the representations of madness in 19th-century British fiction.

Compulsory Reading:

• Brontë, Charlotte. Jane Eyre. Oxford UP, 2008 (Oxford World’s Classics Edition)
• Stevenson, Robert Louis. Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Oxford UP, 2008 (Oxford World’s Classics Edition)
• further reading material will be available on GRIPS

Please make sure you have read  Jane Eyre and Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde before the seminar begins.

Requirements:

• regular participation in the seminar
• expert group session (includes writing a short essay on your area of expertise (approximately 500 words) and giving constructive written feedback on the essay of one member of your expert group)

• term paper at the end of the semester (8-10 pp.)

Welcome to our seminar!

This seminar investigates changing models of masculinity in Victorian literature and culture. Through key texts by authors such as Charles Dickens, Robert Louis Stevenson, Oscar Wilde, and Bram Stoker, we will explore how Victorian ideals of manhood were shaped by industrialization, imperialism, science, class, and sexuality. Drawing on gender theory and cultural theory, we will analyze a range of literary representations - from the stoic gentleman to the monstrous double - to understand how nineteenth-century narratives both reinforced and challenged dominant conceptions of masculinity.

Compulsory Reading:

• Dickens, Charles. Great Expectations. Oxford UP, 2008 (Oxford World's Classics Edition).
• Stevenson, Robert Louis. Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Oxford UP, 2008 (Oxford World's Classics Edition).
• further reading material will be available on GRIPS

Please make sure you have read Great Expectations and Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde before the seminar begins.

Requirements:

• regular participation in the seminar
• expert group session (includes writing a short essay on your area of expertise (approximately 500 words) and providing written feedback on the essay of one member of your essay group (approximately 250 words)
• term paper at the end of the seminar (8-10 pages)

In this seminar, we will examine how the novelists of the Victorian era dealt with the pressing social issue of madness in their work and investigate how their portrayal of mentally ill fictional characters reflected and shaped society’s attitudes towards madness. The great prosperity and industrial advancement Britain enjoyed in the 19th century made the Victorians a society that reacted to rapid social change with strict gender- and class distinctions, a concern with morality and a general support for reform movements. In this seminar, we will particularly focus on the role of gender in the complex discourse of madness by positioning 19th-century ideas and phenomena such as the madwoman or the lunatic asylum in their wider, socio-cultural, medical and psychological contexts. Thus, we will first familiarize ourselves with a variety of theories that tried to define madness in the 19th century and heavily influenced how the (allegedly) mad were perceived by the Victorians, before we approach our primary works Jane Eyre and Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Our literary examination will be based on primary texts by authors such as Charlotte Brontë, Wilkie Collins, Charles Dickens and Robert Louis Stevenson and useful secondary sources will help us enhance our understanding and interpretation of the representations of madness in 19th-century British fiction.

Compulsory Reading:

• Brontë, Charlotte. Jane Eyre. Oxford UP, 2008 (Oxford World’s Classics Edition)
• Stevenson, Robert Louis. Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Oxford UP, 2008 (Oxford World’s Classics Edition)
• further reading material will be available on GRIPS

Please make sure you have read  Jane Eyre and Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde before the seminar begins.

Requirements:

• regular participation in the seminar
• expert group session (includes writing a short essay on your area of expertise (approximately 500 words) and giving constructive written feedback on the essay of one member of your expert group)

• term paper at the end of the semester (8-10 pp.)