Hauptseminar 8220 To strive to seek to find and not to yield 8221 Novels Poetry and Art in the Victorian Age

Not only is the Victorian Age a period of rapid economical and social changes, but it is also a very productive era with regard to literature. Some of the most well-known writers of English literature, such as for instance Charlotte Brontë and Charles Dickens wrote their masterpieces during this time. But the Victorian Age is by no means only the heyday of the novel. Poets such as Robert Browning or Alfred Lord Tennyson sought new ways of telling stories in the form of verse. Furthermore, this era could also be referred to as the golden age of children’s literature, with Lewis Carroll probably being the nowadays most well-known author of this genre due to his masterpiece Alice in Wonderland. This seminar intends to give students an overview of Victorian literature and culture, including artistic movements such as the Pre-Raphaelites. We will read various poems as well as extracts from novels and try to put them into their historical, political, social and philosophical context. Students who already did -A Survey of Victorian Literature and Culture” with me should not register for this course. A Reader will be available in the Kopierladen Reckhammerweg from early October onwards. Students are asked to buy their own copies of Charles Dickens Hard Times (Penguin Classics Edition, 2003) and Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray (Penguin Popular Classics Edition, 2007). Anglistik Universität Duisburg-Essen WS 2011/12 Bachelor, Bachelor Anglistik