British Romanticism is often defined in terms of a poetics of nature, emotion, imagination, the individual, and revolution. Seen through the lens of the women writers of the time, however, a slightly different view emerges. This course begins with a consideration of Romanticisms, plural. It then explores the work of poets such as Hannah More, Ann Yearsley, Phillis Wheatley, Charlotte Smith, Mary Robinson, Helen Maria Williams, Anna Laetitia Barbauld, Eleanor Anne Porden, and Felicia Hemans, and contextualises Mary Wollstonecraft’s A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792), Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility (1811) and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818) within this cultural history. We will discuss abolitionism, sensibility, female sexuality, women’s rights, science and gender, and domestic womanhood, as well as women writers’ attitudes to conventionally “Romantic” concepts.
Readings
- Austen, Jane. Sense and Sensibility. Penguin, 2003 (or any scholarly edition)
- Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein: The 1818 Text. Penguin, 2018 (or any scholarly edition of the 1818 version of the novel)
- Wu, Duncan, editor. Romantic Women Poets: An Anthology. Wiley-Blackwell, 1997
Other readings will be provided.
Assessment
- Attendance and participation (10%)
- Exam (40%)
- Portfolio of close readings (50%)
**Subject to change**
Prerequisites
- ENGL 200
- ENGL 290
Additional information
This course is repeatable for credit under different topic titles.
