Poetry and prose written between 1837 and 1900, including the themes and modes of minor writers as well as major novelists and poets.
This paper provides a wide-ranging introduction to Victorian literature. Though we focus on major canonical figures like Charles Dickens, Alfred Tennyson, and the Brontës and study important literary forms such as the dramatic monologue, we also consider lesser-known writers and literary styles. Victorian culture has been described as conservative, insular and even xenophobic; this paper tests that description by considering works that showcase Victorian writers engaged actively with social issues, political movements, scientific discoveries and historical events from all over the world.
| Paper title | Victorian Literature |
|---|---|
| Paper code | ENGL313 |
| Subject | English |
| EFTS | 0.15 |
| Points | 18 points |
| Teaching period | Semester 2 (On campus) |
| Domestic Tuition Fees (NZD) | $955.05 |
| International Tuition Fees | Tuition Fees for international students are elsewhere on this website. |
- Prerequisite
- 18 200-level ENGL points
- Schedule C
- Arts and Music
- Notes
- Students who have not passed the normal prerequisite may be admitted with approval from the Head of Department.
- Contact
- More information link
View more information on the English and Linguistics Programme website
- Teaching staff
Paper Co-ordinator: Associate Professor Grace Moore
Other Lecturing Staff: Associate Professor Thomas McLean- Paper Structure
All material presented here is subject to change.
Weekly Overview- Week 1: Introduction; poetry of Alfred Lord, Tennyson
- Week 2: poetry of Matthew Arnold; prose of Henry Mayhew
- Week 3: Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre
- Week 4: poetry of Robert Browning and the Rossettis
- Week 5: Elizabeth Gaskell, North and South
- Week 6: Library research sessions
- Week 7: Charles Dickens, Great Expectations
- Week 8: poetry of the Rossettis and Augusta Webster
- Week 9: Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures and Through the Looking Glass
- Week 10: poetry of Amy Levy and Gerard Manley Hopkins
- Week 11: Edmund Gosse, Father and Son
- Week 12: poetry from Australia and New Zealand; Henry James, The Turn of the Screw
- Week 13: poetry of Rudyard Kipling and Thomas Hardy; review
Assessment
- Internal
Assessment: 60%
- Final Annotated Bibliography (25%) and
- Research Essay
(25%)
A major research project in which students conduct focused research on a topic in Victorian literature, create an annotated bibliography based on that research and then write an essay further exploring the topic. - Recitation (10%)
Each student must memorise three Victorian-era sonnets or passages of equal length (i.e. at least 14 lines of iambic pentameter) from longer poems. All works must come from course handouts or poems on eReserve. Students must choose three different poets (i.e. you cannot memorise three works by Tennyson).
- Final Examination:
40%
All students must take a two-hour exam during the exam period
- Textbooks
- Brontë, Jane. Jane Eyre (Penguin).
- Gaskell, Elizabeth. North and South (Penguin).
- Dickens, Charles. Great Expectations (Penguin).
- Carroll, Lewis. Alice’s Adventures and Through the Looking Glass (Oxford).
- Gosse, Edmund. Father and Son (Penguin).
- James, Henry. The Turn of the Screw (Penguin).
- Additional readings available through eReserve.
- Graduate Attributes Emphasised
- Scholarship, Critical thinking, Research.
View more information about Otago's graduate attributes. - Learning Outcomes
Students who successfully complete this paper will gain:
- A familiarity with significant writers, literary themes and literary genres of the Victorian era (1837-1901)
- An understanding of the historical and social contexts that helped shape Victorian literature
- Mastery of research skills required for advanced inquiry into 19th-century British literature
