19th Century Masterpieces:  Three Great Social Novels

Level: Undergraduate

Division: The New School for Public Engagement

School: School of Undergraduate Studies

Department: Humanities

Course Number: NLIT 3425

Course Format: Lecture

Location: Online

Permission Required: No

Topics:

• Literature
• Gender and Sexuality Studies

Description:
We will study three English novels whose inspired stories of memorable individuals in the context of their social circumstances still speak to contemporary society today: the fate of a child's heart in the wake of  the industrial revolution; a romance  in which pride and prejudice meet the dark satanic mills of  Manchester, England;  an insightful interrogation of marriage  and  "the new woman" as the century enters the modern age. Bringing imaginative color and emotional resonance to such timeless subjects as education, work, religion, social class, money, gender roles, love, marriage, morals and manners, these novels also address  a variety of  revolutions--political, economic, cultural.  Readings:  Charles Dickens, Hard Times; Elizabeth Gaskell, North and South; George Gissing, The Odd Women.