English 345—Ladies and Gentlemen:  Gender in Victorian Literature
Fall 2021
Meetings:  Monday & Wednesday, 2:30-3:45 pm, Argyros Forum, 206C
Professor Richard Ruppel
Office:  Smith Hall, 07
Office Hours:  Monday & Tuesday, 11:30-12:30 and by appointment. (Via Zoom Tuesdays & for most off-hour appointments.  Let me know you’d like to meet, and I’ll set up a Zoom session.)  
Phone: (714) 997-6754 (office)
Email:  ruppel@chapman.edu
Updated December 1, 2021 

Assignments
Useful Links
Canvas

Course Description & Objectives:  Though Victorian connotes staid, conventional, and repressed to the popular imagination, the rich, lively, and often irreverent literature of the British Victorian period (1832-1900) contradicts this misperception.  The British Victorians had more in common with 21st century Americans than you might imagine.  Our semester will be built around its greatest literary form, the novel, but we will also study representative essays, plays, and poetry.  We will focus on gender this semester, on Victorian expectations of women and of men. 

This course involves significant reading and writing, both informal (on our discussion board) and formal (essays and essay exams).  Through our reading, discussion, and writing, we will develop a clearer understanding of the period - its tensions, enthusiasms, hopes, fears, sometimes contradictory moral and intellectual principles, and, especially, what it meant to be a man or a woman in the Age of Victoria. 

Texts: 

The Norton Anthology of English Literature:  Volume E, The Victorian Age (10th Edition) 
Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights (Norton Critical)
George Eliot, Middlemarch (Oxford University Press)
Bram Stoker, Dracula (Norton Critical)

Course Requirements: 

Attendance:  Please make every effort to attend our class sessions.  Let me know when you can’t attend.  If you miss more than three classes, your grade will suffer, and if you miss six or more, you will not pass. 


Communication:  Please be courteous and constructive in class.  I receive a large number of emails, so when emailing, please identify the course (345), your last name, and the subject in the subject line.  I will respond promptly to your emails; please respond promptly to mine. 

Essays:  We will discuss criteria for the essays, and I will provide an essay description with suggested topics several weeks before the due dates.  These essays should be submitted electronically, sent directly to my email address: ruppel@chapman.edu  Both essays must include citations to at least two, authoritative secondary sources. Do not send me a link to a Google doc.  Send your essay as text, not as a pdf.  (Use Microsoft Word, if you can.  If you don’t have access to Word, use another text editor.  If necessary, you can simply paste the whole paper into an email message to me.)  

Late essays will receive reduced grades, and I will not accept papers submitted more than a week late unless you provide a convincing explanation.  To pass ENG 345, you must complete both essays.  If you are having difficulty completing a paper or a Canvas post, let me know. 

I will accept a revision of one of your essays, but you must schedule a conference with me to discuss that revision before you submit it.  I will average the grade of the original paper and the revision. 

I will both grade and mark essays earning a grade of C- or higher.  I will not put a grade on an essay that earns a grade lower than C-.  If I return an essay to you that does not include a grade, you will need to make an appointment to see me so we can go over the essay together and work out a revision strategy. I may ask you to have a conference with a consultant in our Writing Center before our conference. 

Grades: 

           Participation *:  20%
              Minutes:  10% (with a partner, due twice)
              **Essay 1:  20% (Due November 5th) 5-7 pages (1750-2450 words)
              **Essay 2:  25% (Due December 8th) 6-8 pages (2100-2800 words) 
              Final:  25%

**Students who do not submit both essays will fail the course. 

*The “Participation” grade is primarily your grade on responses to the Canvas Discussion assignments.  Here are my criteria for evaluating your responses:

1. The response should respond as specifically as possible to the prompt (or you should indicate why you’re modifying the prompt).

2. The response should reveal close engagement with the work(s) under discussion.

 

3. The posting should contribute to the discussion, so later postings should not simply repeat earlier postings, and they should reflect some engagement with earlier postings. 

4. Responses should be substantive. 

English Literature Program Learning Objectives:  English 345 is one of the electives you may take to fulfill the English literature, creative writing, or journalism majors.  In the discussion board responses, formal essays, and essay exams, you will have the opportunity to develop and demonstrate the English Literature Program Learning Objectives listed below: 

1.  Skill in critical reading, or the practice of identifying and interpreting the formal, rhetorical, and stylistic features of a text

 

2.  Ability to identify and compare key literary movements and genres

 

3.  Ability to explain and apply significant theoretical and critical approaches in the field of English studies

 

4.  Skill in writing grammatically, coherently, and persuasively

 

5.  Skill in finding, analyzing, and utilizing secondary sources (including the appropriate methods of citation)

 

6.  Skill in crafting a compelling thesis-driven essay, with substantiating evidence

COVID-19 Statement: 

Following current university regulations, all students must wear face masks (not bandanas or face shields – unless accommodations have been obtained) in a way that covers both their noses and their mouths.

Masking will be required regardless of vaccination status as vaccinated people can still transmit a breakthrough infection. Exceptions can be sought through Chapman’s Disability Services.

Please note: The current research indicates that the Delta Variant is quite contagious, and evidence demonstrates that masking (in the absence of universally-mandated vaccinations) will help reduce the possibility that we will need to meet virtually because one or more of us become sick. 

 

Chapman University Academic Integrity Policy: 

Chapman University is a community of scholars that emphasizes the mutual responsibility of all members to seek knowledge honestly and in good faith.  Students are responsible for doing their own work, and academic dishonesty of any kind will be subject to sanction by the instructor and referral to the university's Academic Integrity Committee, which may impose additional sanctions up to and including dismissal.  (See the "Undergraduate Catalog" for the full policy.)  We will discuss the proper way to incorporate sources into your writing as you prepare the first essay.  Though I am not requiring you to submit your essays via Turnitin, I am an expert at finding online sources, online and otherwise, so I will notice if you make unacknowledged use of someone else’s work.  And if I have doubts, I will submit your work to Turnitin myself.  So please save both of us from trauma and write your Canvas Discussion posts and essays yourself. 

Chapman's Students with Disabilities Policy:

In compliance with ADA guidelines, students who have any condition, either permanent or temporary, that might affect their ability to perform in this class are encouraged to inform the instructor at the beginning of the term. The University, through the Disability Services Office, will work with the appropriate faculty member who is asked to provide the accommodations for a student in determining what accommodations are suitable based on the documentation and the individual student needs. The granting of any accommodation will not be retroactive and cannot jeopardize the academic standards or integrity of the course.

Please see me if you have ANY concerns about completing any of the requirements of this course. 

 

Chapman Equity and Diversity Policy:

Chapman University is committed to ensuring equality and valuing diversity.  Students and professors are reminded to show respect at all times as outlined in Chapman’s Harassment and Discrimination Policy.  Any violations of this policy should be discussed with the professor, the Dean of Students and/or otherwise reported in accordance with this policy. 

Course Outline*:

Week 1:  August 30-September 1 – Introductions, course business, and period overview. 
Week 2:  September 8 – Thomas Carlyle, Sartor Resartus. 
Week 3:  September 13-15 – John Henry Cardinal Newman, The Idea of a University.  John Stuart Mill, The Subjection of Women.   
Week 4:  September 20-22 – Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights. 
Week 5:  September 27-29 – Wuthering Heights.
Week 6:  October 4-6 – Alfred Tennyson. 
Week 7:  October 11-13 – Robert Browning, George Eliot, Middlemarch. 
Week 8:  October 18-20 – Middlemarch. 
Week 9:  October 25-27 – Middlemarch.
Week 10:  November 1-3 – Middlemarch, Bram Stoker, Dracula.  [Essay 1 due, Nov. 5th, 5-7 pages (1750-2450 words).]
Week 11:  November 8-10 – Dracula. 
Week 12:  November 15-17 – Christina Rossetti. “Michael Field” (Katharine Bradley & Edith Cooper). 

Thanksgiving Break

Week 13:  November 29-December 1 – George Bernard Shaw, Mrs. Warren’s Profession.
Week 14:  December 6-8 – Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest. Course wrap-up and preparation for the final.  [Essay 2 due, December 8.  6-8 pages, 2100-2800 words.]
Week 15:  Final:  Monday, December 13, 8-10:30am.    

*We may decide to alter this schedule.  I will make any changes online and give you plenty of notice. 

Assignments:

For Monday, August 30:  We’ll introduce ourselves and review our Web page and our Canvas pages. 

For Wednesday, Sept. 1:  Read “The Woman Question” in our anthology (653-682).  Formulate one question and one comment or observation on the Discussion Board in Canvas by 10am Wednesday.

No class September 6:  Labor Day. 

For Wednesday, Sept. 8:  Watch my scintillating video lectures on Carlyle and Newman (in the video section of Canvas.) Read the selections in our anthology about Thomas Carlyle (30-33) and his Sartor Resartus (33-53) and Cardinal Newman (62-64) and his The Idea of a University (64-72).  By 10 am Wednesday, September 8, respond to the Discussion prompt in Canvas.  (You should also begin reading Wuthering Heights.  Our class discussion will begin September 20th.)

For Monday, September 13: Read the selection of John Stuart Mill’s The Subjection of Women, 90-101 and watch my scintillating video lecture on Mill and the essay. 

For Wednesday, September 15:  Read the first 12 chapters of Wuthering Heights.  (We’ll begin discussing the novel September 20th.)

For Monday, September 20:  Be sure to have Volume 1 of Wuthering Heights finished. 

For Wednesday, September 22:  Respond to the Canvas discussion question on Wuthering Heights by 10am Wednesday, September 22. 

For Monday, September 27:  Finish reading Wuthering Heights finished.  Begin enjoying Middlemarch. 

For Wednesday, September 29:  We’ll finish discussing Wuthering Heights.

For Monday, October 4:  Read the introduction to the Tennyson section (142-45), "The Lady of Shalott" (147), “Ulysses” (156), and “Tithonus” (158).  Continue enjoying Middlemarch.

For Wednesday, October 6:  Read “Locksley Hall” (163-69), the introduction to In Memoriam (172), and the following Cantos: the introductory canto and cantos 1-14, 27, 54-56.   Continue luxuriating in Middlemarch.  As long as no one in the class objects, we’ll meet outside, on the tiered garden and steps to the southeast of the Musco Center.   

For Monday, October 11:  We’ll finish our discussion of Tennyson and move on to Browning.  Read the introduction to Robert Browning (321-24), “Porphyria’s Lover” (324-25), “Soliloquy of the Spanish Cloister” (326-28), and “My Last Duchess” (328-29).  I’ll post a video lecture introducing George Eliot and Middlemarch sometime on Tuesday (October 12). 

For Wednesday, October 13:  Read Browning’s extraordinary “The Bishop Orders his Tomb at Saint Praxed’s Church” (332-35).  We’ll begin discussing Middlemarch. I should have an introductory video lecture finished for you by Tuesday afternoon.  You might watch it before class. 

For Monday & Wednesday, October 18-20:  Respond to the Middlemarch Discussion question in Canvas.  Due October 20th, by 10am. (Prompts are now posted.) Begin thinking about your paper topic.  The paper is due November 5th, and you need to clear your topic with me by Friday, October 29th.

For Monday and Wednesday, October 25-27:  We will continue our discussion of Middlemarch.  Begin reading Dracula (though never read past midnight.) 

For Monday and Wednesday, November 1-3:  We’ll finish our discussion of Middlemarch and begin Dracula. The first essay is due by midnight, Friday, November 5.  

For Monday and Wednesday, November 8-10:  We’ll continue our discussion of Dracula.  Be sure to respond to the Dracula Discussion question in Canvas by 10am Monday, November 8. 

For Monday, November 15:  Read the Introduction to Christina Rossetti’s poetry in our anthology and the poems on pages 535-42, and pages 554-58.  (Skip “Goblin Market,” which we’ll discuss November 17.) 

For Wednesday, November 17:  Read “Goblin Market,” 542-554, a short story in verse by Christina Rossetti. 

For Monday and Wednesday, November 29- December 1:  Read the introduction to George Bernard Shaw (870-73) and Mrs. Warren’s Profession, 873-919 in our anthology.  We’ll discuss Acts I and II Monday, and Acts III and IV Wednesday. 

For Monday, December 6:  Read the introduction to Oscar Wilde (810-11) and The Importance of Being Earnest (825-867). 

 

Useful Links

·         UNC Chapel Hill's extended definition of a poetry explication - from the UNC Writing Center.

·         The Victorian Web:  A rich collection of pages devoted to all things Victorian, sponsored by Brown University. 

·         Timeline of Britain’s Industrial Revolution. 

·         British Women’s History Timeline

·         “Victorians’ Secret”  A celebration of Victorian poems devoted to love and religion, with music and art history. 

·         Representative Poetry Online:  A useful compendium of information on poetry in English, including innumerable poems, a timeline, calendar, criticism, and glossary.  

·         Gresham College Victorian Age lectures:   Gender & Sexuality; Religion and Science; Art and Culture; Life and Death; Empire and Race - Professor Richard J. Evans.

·         Billy Joel’s “She’s Always a Woman.”  From his 1977 album, The Stranger.  Lyrical evidence that some Victorian attitudes haven’t changed very much. 

·         “Did Victorians Really Get Brain Fever?”  Erin Blakemore’s description of brain fever, the diagnosis both Catherine, in Wuthering Heights, and Jonathon Harker, in Dracula, receive.  And see “Brain Fever in Nineteenth Century Literature: Fact and Fiction,” by Audrey Peterson. 

Thomas Carlyle

·         Painting of Jane Welsh Carlyle. 

·         Duke University Carlyle Letter Project. Duke Press says this of the project: “The Collected Letters of Thomas and Jane Welsh Carlyle opens a window onto the lives of two of the Victorian world’s most accomplished, perceptive, and unusual inhabitants. Scottish writer and historian Thomas Carlyle and his wife, Jane Welsh Carlyle, attracted to them a circle of foreign exiles, radicals, feminists, revolutionaries, and major and minor writers from across Europe and the United States. The collection is regarded as one of the finest and most comprehensive literary archives of the nineteenth century.”

John Henry Cardinal Newman

·         The Idea of a University

·         2010 BBC production on Newman, nearing sainthood.  (Quite dramatic.) 

John Stuart Mill

·         The Subjection of Women

·         Yale lecture by Iván Szelényi on Mill’s political philosophy, which he suggests influences contemporary libertarians. 

·         A much less formal introduction to Mill’s conception of liberty. 

Emily Brontë

·         “The History of Angria,” by the Brontë children. 

·         Chronology of Emily Brontë’s life, from the Victorian Web. 

·         A biography and description of her poetry via the Poetry Foundation.

·         Why Wuthering Heights is a Cult Classic in The Conversation. 

·         From Vox – Wuthering Heights is primarily concerned not with “romance,” but with the consequence of abuse. 

·         The Gutenberg E-Book. 

·         Kate Bush’s musical interpretation of Wuthering Heights. 

·         1939 film trailer.  With Laurence Olivier as Heathcliff. 

·         2011 film trailer.  

Alfred, Lord Tennyson

·         Loreena McKennitt’s musical version of “The Lady of Shalott.”

·         Tennyson himself reciting “The Charge of the Light Brigade.” (Kind of weird since the YouTube animates a photograph.) 

·         “Locksley Hall 60 Years After” (published 1886). 

Robert Browning

·         Reading of "My Last Duchess" by Julian Glover.

·         “The Bishop Orders His Tomb at St. Praxed’s Church,” acted by R P Jones. 

·         Letters to and from Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning.

George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans)

·         Middlemarch, online.  

·         The interesting serial publication history of Middlemarch.  

·         Trailer from the BBC miniseries adaptation of Middlemarch.   

·         George Eliot’s “Silly Essays by Lady Novelists” (1856)

·         Virginia Woolf’s essay on George Eliot, later compiled in her book of essays, The Common Reader (1925). 

·         “George Eliot’s Ugly Beauty,” Rebecca Meade, The New Yorker.  And a video of Meade from the New Yorker Festival, 2011, just before she wrote My Life in Middlemarch (2014). 

·         Ruth Livesey’s video introduction to the novel. 

·         George Eliot, A Scandalous Life.  BBC, 2002.  Part 1. Part 2. Part 3. Part 4. Part 5. Part 6.  

·         Bernini’s The Ecstasy of St. Theresa. 

Bram Stoker

·         Project Gutenberg, online version. 

·         1931 Dracula adaptation, probably the best. Trailer. The 1992, Bram Stoker’s Dracula.  Entire (and entirely over-the-top) version. 1992 trailer.  NBC’s series, 2013. What We Do in the Shadows, trailer.  Buffy the Vampire Slayer. 

·         How did Dracula become the world’s most famous vampire?  By Stanley Stepanic, at the University of Virginia.  

·         Dracula, the First Modern Vampire.  By Emily Zarka, at Arizona State University.

Christina Rossetti

·         “Goblin Market,” read by Elizabeth Klett.  Another version, in 14 parts. 

·         “After Death” (1849) can be compared with several poems by Emily Dickinson: “I Heard a Fly Buzz When I Died,” “I Felt A Funeral in my Brain,” “Because I Could Not Stop for Death.”  (These were composed sometime between 1858 and 1865.)  

·         The Muse’s Revenge, a painting by Ilya Milstein that might be a commentary on Rossetti’s “In an Artist’s Studio.”  With thanks to Amea. 

George Bernard Shaw

·         Scenes between Kitty and Vivie in Mrs. Warren’s Profession.

·         The whole play, by the Pear Avenue Theatre.  Another production, from the NBP YT. 

Oscar Wilde

·         Trailer for the 2002 Importance of Being Earnest. My favorite. 

·         The Importance of Being Earnest, full length. 

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