ENGL 72.13 The Brontës
Who were the Brontës and why have their novels remained so popular? What do their texts tell us about Victorian discourses on childhood, gender, space and psycho-geographies, class discontent, empire and globalization, labor and industry, religion, creativity, and language? What do we gain or lose by studying their biographies: tales of four siblings living in isolation on the Yorkshire moors, publishing pseudonymously, and dying young? In this course, we will look closely at the literary production of the Brontës, beginning with the fantastical tales and poetry they wrote as young adults. Topics will include female labor, evangelicalism, the Victorian Gothic, marriage and women’s legal rights, storytelling and myth, colonialism, feminized and racialized madness, and the physical and psychological contours of domestic and foreign space.
Instructor
Harner
Prerequisite
Recommended: Four completed major courses.
Department-Specific Course Categories
Senior Seminar: Course Group II