4. semestar

The course will analyze some of the most significant writers of the Victorian literary canon whose works will be considered in relation to the historical and cultural context of 19th-century England. Particular attention will be paid to the impact of industrialization, imperial expansion, and the development of scientific and technological thought. The first half of the course will highlight some of the canonical novelists of the era, such as Charles Dickens and the Brontë sisters. More precisely, it will provide an in-depth discussion of the Dickensian Bildungsroman, the symbolism behind the seminal Satis House, as well as the immensely important ideology of separate spheres and the subsequent positioning of women as either “Angels in the House” or “Madwomen in the Attic.” Therefore, it will also draw attention to the depiction of “female madness” in the Victorian literary canon which will be analyzed on the example of Miss Havisham, but also in the context of Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights. The course will end with “atypical” examples of Victorian prose that mark the transition toward literary modernism. Therefore, the course will focus on Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures, providing students with a psychoanalytic approach to analyzing “Wonderland.” Drawing inspiration from Oscar Wilde’s vibrant literary legacy, the second section will also consider Victorian conceptions of gender, sex, and sexuality. Finally, it will discuss the importance of the Decadent movement, aestheticism, and homoerotic desire in Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray.