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Course Question & AnswerThe Victorian Novel
Purpose of Course showclose
Course Information showclose
Primary Resources: The main resource for this course is The Victorian Web, a website dedicated to the history of Victorian England. This course also uses selected readings from The Norton Anthology of English Literature: Online Topics and Project Gutenberg for online versions of primary texts.
Requirements for Completion: In order to complete this course, you will need to work through each unit and all of its assigned materials.
In order to complete this course the student must complete and pass the final exam with a score of 70% or higher.
Time Commitment: It will take you approximately 102 hours to complete this course (Units 1-4)
Tips/Suggestions: Please read the assigned texts in the order in which they appear in the course. The scholarly articles and essays are designed to illuminate the texts. Please read these resources carefully. You may wish to perform additional web research throughout the course to reinforce your understanding of the texts.
This course is reading intensive. The bulk of the reading occurs in Unit 4 of the course. Please plan your time accordingly.
Learning Outcomes showclose
- Provide an introduction and overview to the Victorian era and the Victorian novel.
- Explain and define “Victorianism” as both a historical period and as a movement in art and literature.
- Explain and describe the major concerns of the Victorian novel.
- Identify the major forms of the Victorian novel.
- Discuss the Victorian authorship and novelistic impulses of the most canonical Victorian authors including, for example, Charles Dickens, George Eliot, the Brontë Sisters, Joseph Conrad, Elizabeth Gaskell, Thomas Hardy, and Anthony Trollope.
Course Requirements showclose
√ Have access to a computer
√ Have continuous broadband internet access
√ Have the ability/permission to install plug-ins (e.g. Adobe Reader or Flash) and software
√ Have the ability to download and save files and documents to a computer
√ Have the ability to open Microsoft Office files and documents (.doc, .ppt, .xls, etc.)
Unit Outline show close
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Unit 1: An Introduction to the Victorian Period and the Victorian Novel
The Victorian period coincides, of course, with the reign of Queen Victoria. This age experienced, among other things, the rapid expansion of the British Empire, the emergence of revolutionary forms of technology and science, the birth of new theories concerning ideal social relations, widespread industrialization, and the invention of a new formation of the novel that would forever change the trajectory of narrative: the Victorian novel. In this section of the course, we will explore these and other related issues with the goal of arriving at a global view of Victorianism, identifying its principal characteristics, practitioners, and conventions. We will also read the entirety of William Makepeace Thackeray’s Vanity Fair, one of the most famous and cherished Victorian novels from this period, as a case study in the contexts introduced during the course of this unit.
Unit 1 Learning Outcomes show close
- 1.1 Victorianism in Socio-Historical Context
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1.1.1 Introduction to Queen Victoria: Life, Work, and Vision of England
- Reading: Victoria Station’s “Queen Victoria (1819-1901)”
Links: Victoria Station’s “Queen Victoria (1819-1901)” (HTML)
Instructions: Please scroll down and read the entirety of Victoria Station’s introductions to the life, work, and times of Queen Victoria.
About the Link: Victoria Station, a website dedicated to the life and times of Queen Victoria, has made this introduction available online.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyrights and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: The Official Website of British Monarchy’s “Victoria (r. 1937-1901)”
Link: The Official Website of British Monarchy’s “Victoria (r. 1937-1901)” (HTML)
Instructions: Please scroll down and read the entirety of the Official Website of British Monarchy’s introduction to the life, work, and times of Queen Victoria.
About the Link: The Official Website of British Monarchy, the online presence of the British Monarchy, has made this introduction to the life of Queen Victoria available on the web.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyrights and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Victoria Station’s “Queen Victoria (1819-1901)”
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1.1.2 Victorian Views of Society and Social Relations
- Reading: The Norton Anthology of English Literature, Norton Topics Online’s “The Victorian Age: Review”
Link: The Norton Anthology of English Literature, Norton Topics Online: The Victorian Age: Review (HTML)
Instructions: Please scroll down and read the entirety of the Norton Anthology of English Literature’s introduction to the Victorian age.
About the Link: The Norton Anthology of English Literature, of which Norton Topics Online is the organization’s presence on the web, has made this article available on the internet.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyrights and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: The University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh: Dr. Christina Roth’s “Victorian England: An Introduction”
Link: The University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh: Dr. Christina Roth’s “Victorian England: An Introduction” (HTML)
Instructions: Please scroll down and read the entirety of Dr. Roth’s overview of Victorian society.
About the Link: Dr. Christina Roth of the University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh has made this introduction to Victorian society available through her university website.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyrights and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: The Norton Anthology of English Literature, Norton Topics Online’s “The Victorian Age: Review”
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1.1.3 English Politics During the Age of Queen Victoria
- Reading: Spiritus Temporis: “Victorian Era: Politics”
Link: Spiritus Temporis: “Victorian Era: Politics” (HTML)
Instructions: Please scroll down and read the entirety of Spiritus Temporis’ introduction to Victorian politics.
About the Link: Spiritus Temporis, a website dedicated to characterizing various historical periods in world history, has made this article available online.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Spiritus Temporis: “Victorian Era: Politics”
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1.1.4 Industrialization, the Decline of Agrarian Lifestyle, and the Rise of the Urban, Working Class
- Reading: The History Guide: Steven Kreis’s “The Origins of the Industrial Revolution”
Link: The History Guide: Steven Kreis’s “The Origins of the Industrial Revolution in England (HTML)
Instructions: Please scroll down and read the entirety of the essay.
About the Link: Professor Kreis has made his essay available through the History Guide website.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyrights and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Western New England College: Gerhard Rempel’s “The Industrial Revolution”
Link: Western New England College: Gerhard Rempel’s "The Industrial Revolution" (HTML)
Instructions: Please scroll down and read the entirety of the essay.
About the Link: Professor Rempel has made his essay available through his university website.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyrights and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.The Saylor Foundation does not yet have materials for this portion of the course. If you are interested in contributing your content to fill this gap or aware of a resource that could be used here, please submit it here.
- Reading: BBC.com: Dr. Donna Loftus’s “The Rise of the Victorian Middle Class” (HTML)
Link: BBC.com: Dr. Donna Loftus’s “The Rise of the Victorian Middle Class” (HTML)
Instructions: Please scroll down and read the entirety of the essay.
About the Link: Professor Loftus has made his essay available through the History Guide website.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyrights and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: The History Guide: Steven Kreis’s “The Origins of the Industrial Revolution”
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1.1.5 Expansion of the British Empire
- Reading: The Victorian Web: Dr. David Cody’s “British Empire: An Introduction”
Link: The Victorian Web: Dr. David Cody’s “British Empire: An Introduction” (PDF)
Instructions: Please scroll down and read the entirety of Dr. Cody’s introduction to British Empire.
About the Link: The Victorian Web, a website dedicated to the history of Victorian England, has made Dr. Cody’s article available online.
Terms of Use: Permission has been granted by The Victorian Web for any scholarly or educational purpose. The original version of this article can be found here.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: The Victorian Web: Dr. David Cody’s “British Empire: An Introduction”
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1.1.6 Victorian Sexuality
- Reading: The Victorian Web: Dr. William A. Cohen’s “Sex, Scandal, and the Novel”
Link: The Victorian Web: Dr. William A. Cohen’s “Sex, Scandal, and the Novel” (PDF)
Instructions: Please scroll down and read the entirety of Dr. Cohen’s introduction to Victorian sexuality and the novel.
About the Link: The Victorian Web, a website dedicated to the history of Victorian England, has made Dr. Cohen’s essay available online.
Terms of Use: Permission has been granted by The Victorian Web for any scholarly or educational purpose. The original version of this article can be found here.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: The Victorian Web: Dr. William A. Cohen’s “Sex, Scandal, and the Novel”
- 1.2 The Literary Scene
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1.2.1 The Importance of the Press: Freedom of Speech, Technological Advances, and Changes in Readership
- Reading: The Victorian Web: “Print and Print Culture in the Victorian Age”
Link: The Victorian Web: “Print and Print Culture in the Victorian Age” (PDF)
Instructions: Please read the entirety of all fifteen articles on this webpage for an introduction to the situation of print and print culture during the Victorian era.
About the Link: The Victorian Web, a website dedicated to the history of Victorian England, has made these articles available online.
Terms of Use: Permission has been granted by The Victorian Web for any scholarly or educational purpose. The original version of this article can be found here.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: The Victorian Web: “Print and Print Culture in the Victorian Age”
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1.2.2 How to Read a Victorian Novel
- Reading: The University of Michigan, Dearborn: Dr. Jonathan Smith’s “How to Read a Victorian Novel”
Link: The University of Michigan, Dearborn: Dr. Jonathan Smith’s “How to Read a Victorian Novel” (HTML)
Instructions: Please scroll down and read the entirety of Dr. Smith’s introduction to reading tactics for the Victorian novel.
About the Link: Dr. Jonathan Smith, a professor at the University of Michigan, Dearborn, has made this essay available online.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.The Saylor Foundation does not yet have materials for this portion of the course. If you are interested in contributing your content to fill this gap or aware of a resource that could be used here, please submit it here.
- Reading: The University of Michigan, Dearborn: Dr. Jonathan Smith’s “How to Read a Victorian Novel”
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1.2.3 The Victorian Novel & Readership
- Reading: The Open University Learning Space: Rosalind Crone: "Reading Culture in the Victorian Underworld"
Link: The Open University Learning Space: Rosalind Crone: "Reading Culture in the Victorian Underworld" (HTML)
Instructions: Please scroll through and read the entire essay.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: MIT Open Courseware “Dickens and the Victorian Serial Novel”
Link: MIT Open Courseware "Dickens and the Victorian Serial Novel" (HTML)
Instructions: Please scroll through and read the entire essay.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.The Saylor Foundation does not yet have materials for this portion of the course. If you are interested in contributing your content to fill this gap or aware of a resource that could be used here, please submit it here.
- Reading: The Open University Learning Space: Rosalind Crone: "Reading Culture in the Victorian Underworld"
- 1.3 An Introduction to the Victorian Novel
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1.3.1 Victorians & Victorianism
- Reading: The Victorian Web: Dr. George P. Landow’s “Victorian and Victorianism”
Link: Victorian Web: Dr. George P. Landow’s “Victorian and Victorianism” (PDF)
Instructions: Please scroll down and read the entirety of Dr. Landow’s essay introducing the difference between “Victorians” and “Victorianism.”
About the Link: The Victorian Web, a website dedicated to the history of Victorian England, has made Dr. George Landow’s essay available online.
Terms of Use: Permission has been granted by The Victorian Web for any scholarly or educational purpose. The original version of this article can be found here.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: The Victorian Web: Dr. George P. Landow’s “Victorian and Victorianism”
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1.3.2 Victorianism’s Relationship to Cultural Forms of the Past
- Reading: The Victorian Web: Dr. George P. Landow’s “Victorianism as a Fusion of Neoclassical and Romantic Ideas and Attitudes”
Link: The Victorian Web: Dr. George P. Landow’s “Victorianism as a Fusion of Neoclassical and Romantic Ideas and Attitudes” (PDF)
Instructions: Please scroll down and read the entirety of Dr. Landow’s essay concerning the relationship between Victorianism and cultural forms of the past.
About the Link: The Victorian Web, a website dedicated to the history of Victorian England, has made the entirety of Dr. George Landow’s essay available online.
Terms of Use: Permission has been granted by The Victorian Web for any scholarly or educational purpose. The original version of this article can be found here.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: The Victorian Web: Dr. George P. Landow’s “Victorianism as a Fusion of Neoclassical and Romantic Ideas and Attitudes”
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1.3.3 Victorian Realism
- Web Media: BBC.com: “Victorian Realism”
Link: BBC.com: “Victorian Realism” (Adobe Flash)
Instructions: Please listen to the entirety of BBC.com’s audio file concerning “Victorian Realism.”
About the Link: BBC.com, the online presence of the British Broadcasting Company, has made this audio file available through its webpage.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: BBC.com: “Victorian Realism”
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1.3.4 Victorian Novels and Representations of Memory
- Reading: The Victorian Web: Dr. Tamara S. Wagner’s “Nostalgia and the Victorian Novel”
Link: The Victorian Web: Dr. Tamara S. Wagner’s “Nostalgia and the Victorian Novel” (PDF)
Instructions: Please scroll down and read the entirety of Dr. Wagner’s essay on nostalgia in the Victorian novel.
About the Link: The Victorian Web, a website dedicated to the history of Victorian England, has made the entirety of this article available online.
Terms of Use: Permission has been granted by The Victorian Web for any scholarly or educational purpose. The original version of this article can be found here.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: The Victorian Web: Dr. Tamara S. Wagner’s “Nostalgia and the Victorian Novel”
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1.3.5 Causality in the Victorian Novel
- Reading: The Ohio State University Press: Dr. Jason B. Jones’ “Introduction” to Lost Causes: Historical Consciousness in Victorian Literature
Link: The Ohio State University Press: Dr. Jason B. Jones’ “Introduction” to Lost Causes: Historical Consciousness in Victorian Literature (ePub Format – Google Books)
Instructions: Please click on the link above in order to download and read the entirety of Dr. Jones’ introduction to his text concerning causality in the Victorian novel.
About the Link: The Ohio State University Press has made this introduction from Dr. Jason B. Jones’ book, Lost Causes: Historical Consciousness in Victorian Literature, available online.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: The Ohio State University Press: Dr. Jason B. Jones’ “Introduction” to Lost Causes: Historical Consciousness in Victorian Literature
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1.3.6 Victorian Technologies and the Novel
- Reading: The Victorian Web: Dr. Stephan Hall Clark’s “Technology and Leisure in Britain After 1850”
Link: The Victorian Web: Dr. Stephan Hall Clark’s “Technology and Leisure in Britain After 1850” (PDF)
Instructions: Please scroll down and read the entirety of Dr. Clark’s essay on the relationship between technology and leisure in Victorian England.
About the Link: The Victorian Web, a website dedicated to the history of Victorian England, has made the entirety of Dr. Stephan Hall Clark’s essay available online.
Terms of Use: Permission has been granted by The Victorian Web for any scholarly or educational purpose. The original version of this article can be found here.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: The Victorian Web: Dr. Stephan Hall Clark’s “Technology and Leisure in Britain After 1850”
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1.3.7 Case Study in the Victorian Novel: William Makepeace Thackeray’s Vanity Fair
- Reading: Project Gutenberg: William Makepeace Thackeray’s Vanity Fair
Link: Project Gutenberg William Makepeace Thackeray’s Vanity Fair (HTML)
Also available in:
ePub format on Google Books
Kindle (Free)
Instructions: Please read the entirety of Project Gutenberg’s version of William Makepeace Thackeray’s Vanity Fair. In what ways does this novel reflect tensions in Victorian politics? What are some of the ways in which this novel represents women in Victorian England? How would you describe the narrative voice of this novel?
About the Link: Project Gutenberg, a literary database, has made the entirety of William Makepeace Thackeray’s Vanity Fair available online.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Project Gutenberg: William Makepeace Thackeray’s Vanity Fair
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Unit 2: Concerns of the Victorian Novel
Victorian novels often represent and explore deeply complicated and interconnected social worlds. In this unit of the course, we will delve into the types of social networks envisioned by Victorian novelists and investigate, among other topics, Victorian novelistic protagonists, depictions of nature and urban experience, love and marriage plots, and the most prominent nineteenth-century moral, ethical, and philosophical concerns and ideas that both shaped and were shaped by this formation of the novel. Also, here, we will conclude with yet another of the period’s most celebrated (and yet most complicated) novels, Wilkie Collins’ The Woman in White.
Unit 2 Learning Outcomes show close
- 2.1 Idealized Portraits of Complex and Difficult Lives
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2.1.1 Victorian Social Networks and Webs of Characters
- Reading: The Victorian Web: Dr. Rachel M. Mroz’s “George Eliot’s Complex Characters in Middlemarch”
Link: The Victorian Web: Dr. Rachel M. Mroz’s “George Eliot’s Complex Characters in Middlemarch” (PDF)
Instructions: Please scroll down and read the entirety of Dr. Mroz’s essay on complex webs of character and characterization in the Victorian novel, using George Eliot’s Middlemarch as a case study.
About the Link: The Victorian Web, a website dedicated to the Victorian era, has made the entirety of Dr. Rachel M. Mroz’s essay available online.
Terms of Use: Permission has been granted by The Victorian Web for any scholarly or educational purpose. The original version of this article can be found here.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: The Victorian Web: Dr. Rachel M. Mroz’s “George Eliot’s Complex Characters in Middlemarch”
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2.1.2 Victorian Protagonists: Hard Work & Perseverance
- Reading: The Victorian Web: Dr. P. J. Steyer’s “Victorian Heroism in Reality and Fantasy: The Everyday Heroics of Endurance”
Link: The Victorian Web: Dr. P. J. Steyer’s “Victorian Heroism in Reality and Fantasy: The Everyday Heroics of Endurance” (HTML)
Instructions: Please scroll down and read the entirety of Dr. Steyer’s essay on heroism in the Victorian novel. How would you describe the nature of Victorian heroes?
About the Link: The Victorian Web, a website dedicated to the Victorian era, has made the entirety of Dr. P. J. Steyer’s essay available online.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: The Victorian Web: Dr. P. J. Steyer’s “Victorian Heroism in Reality and Fantasy: The Everyday Heroics of Endurance”
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2.1.3 Victorian Novelistic Depictions of Self and Society
- Reading: University of Saint Andrews: The School of English’s “Self and Society in the Victorian Novel”
Link: University of Saint Andrews: The School of English’s “Self and Society in the Victorian Novel” (HTML)
Instructions: Please scroll down and read the entirety of the School of English at the University of Saint Andrew’s essay on self and society in the Victorian novel.
About the Link: The School of English at the University of Saint Andrews has made this essay on self and society in the Victorian novel available online through the university’s website.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.The Saylor Foundation does not yet have materials for this portion of the course. If you are interested in contributing your content to fill this gap or aware of a resource that could be used here, please submit it here.
- Reading: University of Saint Andrews: The School of English’s “Self and Society in the Victorian Novel”
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2.1.4 Sense & Sensation in the Victorian Novel
- Reading: The Victoria Web: Dr. Philip V. Allingham’s “The Victorian Sensation Novel, 1860-1880—Preaching to the Nerves Instead of the Judgment”
Link: The Victoria Web: Dr. Philip V. Allingham’s “The Victorian Sensation Novel, 1860-1880—Preaching to the Nerves Instead of the Judgment” (HTML)
Instructions: Please scroll down and read the entirety of Dr. Allingham’s essay on sense and sensation in the Victorian novel.
About the Link: The Victorian Web, a website dedicated to the history of Victorian England, has made the entirety of Dr. Philip V. Allingham’s essay on sense and sensation in the Victorian novel available online.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: The Victoria Web: Dr. Philip V. Allingham’s “The Victorian Sensation Novel, 1860-1880—Preaching to the Nerves Instead of the Judgment”
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2.1.5 The Governess in Victorian Fiction
- Reading: The Victorian Web: Dr. Cecilia Wadsö Lecaros’ “The Victorian Governess Novel”
Link: The Victorian Web: Dr. Cecilia Wadsö Lecaros’ “The Victorian Governess Novel” (PDF)
Instructions: Please scroll down and read the entirety of Dr. Lecaros’ essay on the Victorian Governess novel.
About the Link: The Victorian Web, a website dedicated to the history of Victorian England, has made the entirety of Dr. Cecilia Wadsö Lecaros’ essay on the Victorian governess novel available online.
Terms of Use: Permission has been granted by The Victorian Web for any scholarly or educational purpose. The original version of this article can be found here.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: The Victorian Web: Dr. Cecilia Wadsö Lecaros’ “The Victorian Governess Novel”
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2.1.6 Coincidence, Chance, and Fate in the Victorian Novel – The Case of Thomas Hardy
- Reading: The Victorian Web: Dr. Philip V. Allingham’s “The Novels of Thomas Hardy: An Introduction”
Link: The Victorian Web: Dr. Philip V. Allingham’s “The Novels of Thomas Hardy: An Introduction” (PDF)
Instructions: Please scroll down and read the entirety of Dr. Allingham’s introduction to the novels of Thomas Hardy, focusing on issues of chance, fate, and causality in Hardy’s fiction.
About the Link: The Victorian Web, a website dedicated to the history of Victorian England, has made the entirety of Dr. Philip V. Allingham’s essay on Thomas Hardy available online.
Terms of Use: Permission has been granted by The Victorian Web for any scholarly or educational purpose. The original version of this article can be found here.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: The Victorian Web: Dr. Philip V. Allingham’s “The Novels of Thomas Hardy: An Introduction”
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2.1.7 Crime, Suicide, and Death in the Victorian Novel
- Reading: The Victorian Web: Dr. Barbara T. Gates’ Victorian Suicides: Mad Crimes and Sad Histories: “Chapter II: Willing To Be”
Link: The Victorian Web: Dr. Barbara T. Gates’ “Chapter II: Willing To Be” (HTML) from her text Victorian Suicides: Mad Crimes and Sad Histories
Instructions: Please scroll down and read the entirety of Dr. Gates’ chapter from her text on death, crime, and suicide in Victorian fiction.
About the Link: The Victorian Web, a website dedicated to the history of Victorian England, has made the entirety of Dr. Barbara T. Gates’ chapter “Willing To Be” from her book, Victorian Suicides: Mad Crimes and Sad Histories, available online.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: The Victorian Web: Dr. Barbara T. Gates’ Victorian Suicides: Mad Crimes and Sad Histories: “Chapter II: Willing To Be”
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2.1.8 Moral Lessons & Allegories of Victorian Novels
- Reading: Helium.com: Marie O’Connor’s “Gender Issues in Victorian Novels”
Link: Helium.com: Marie O’Connor’s “Gender Issues in Victorian Novels” (HTML)
Instructions: Please use the scroll tool at the bottom of the webpage to read through all eleven pages of O’Connor’s essay on gender and the Victorian novel.
About the Link: Helium.com, a website dedicated to making knowledge freely available through the internet, has made Marie O’Connor’s essay on gender and the Victorian novel available online.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.The Saylor Foundation does not yet have materials for this portion of the course. If you are interested in contributing your content to fill this gap or aware of a resource that could be used here, please submit it here.
- Reading: Helium.com: Marie O’Connor’s “Gender Issues in Victorian Novels”
- 2.2 Victorian Biology and the Novel
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2.2.1 Charles Darwin’s The Origin of Species: A Brief Introduction and Overview
- Reading: The Victorian Web: Dr. John van Wyhe’s “Charles Darwin (1809-1882) Gentleman Naturalist”
Link: The Victorian Web: Dr. John van Wyhe’s “Charles Darwin (1809-1882) Gentleman Naturalist” (PDF)
Instructions: Please scroll down and read the entirety of Dr. van Wyhe’s introduction to Charles Darwin’s life and work.
Terms of Use: Permission has been granted by The Victorian Web for any scholarly or educational purpose. The original version of this article can be found here.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: The Victorian Web: Dr. John van Wyhe’s “Charles Darwin (1809-1882) Gentleman Naturalist”
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2.2.2 Darwinism & Victorian Novels
- Reading: The Victorian Web: Dr. Andrzej Diniejko’s “Charles Darwin’s Theory of Evolution and the Intellectual Ferment of the Mid-and Late Victorian Periods”
Link: The Victorian Web: Dr. Andrzej Diniejko’s “Charles Darwin's Theory of Evolution and the Intellectual Ferment of the Mid-and Late Victorian Periods” (HTML)
Instructions: Please scroll down and read the entirety of Dr. Diniejko’s essay.
About the Link: The Victorian Web, a website dedicated to the history of Victorian England, has made the entirety of Dr. Diniejko’s essay available online.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: The Victorian Web: Dr. Andrzej Diniejko’s “Charles Darwin’s Theory of Evolution and the Intellectual Ferment of the Mid-and Late Victorian Periods”
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2.2.3 The Impact of Darwin on Victorian Novelists
- Reading: EvolutionPages.com: Tessa MacAndrew’s “Blood and Regression in Two Late Victorian Novels”
Link: EvolutionPages.com: Tessa MacAndrew’s “Blood and Regression in Two Late Victorian Novels” (HTML)
Instructions: Please scroll down and read the entirety of MacAndrew’s essay exploring the relationship between Darwinian theories of evolution and the late Victorian novel.
About the Link: EvolutionPages.com, a website dedicated to the study of the relationship between evolution and culture, has made the entirety of Tessa MacAndrew’s essay available online.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: EvolutionPages.com: Tessa MacAndrew’s “Blood and Regression in Two Late Victorian Novels”
- 2.3 Karl Marx, Marxism, and the Victorian Novel
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2.3.1 Brief Introduction to the Life, Work, and Ideas of Karl Marx
- Reading: Temple University: Intellectual Heritage Program of Temple University’s “An Introduction to Karl Marx and the Communist Manifesto"
Link: Temple University: Intellectual Heritage Program of Temple University’s “An Introduction to Karl Marx and the Communist Manifesto” (HTML)
Instructions: Please scroll down and read the entirety of the Intellectual Heritage Program of Temple University’s introduction to the life and work of Karl Marx.
About the Link: The Intellectual Heritage Program of Temple University has made the entirety of this introduction to Karl Marx available through the university’s website.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.The Saylor Foundation does not yet have materials for this portion of the course. If you are interested in contributing your content to fill this gap or aware of a resource that could be used here, please submit it here.
- Reading: Temple University: Intellectual Heritage Program of Temple University’s “An Introduction to Karl Marx and the Communist Manifesto"
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2.3.2 Victorian Novelistic Reactions to Marxism
- Reading: Drury University: Dr. Kristopher E. Moore’s “Victorian Age Literature, Marxism, and the Labor Movement”
Link: Drury University: Dr. Kristopher E. Moore’s “Victorian Age Literature, Marxism, and the Labor Movement” (HTML)
Instructions: Please scroll down and read the entirety of Dr. Moore’s essay on Victorian literature, labor, and Marxism.
About the Link: Drury University has made the entirety of Dr. Kristopher E. Moore’s essay on Victorian literature, labor, and Marxism available online through the university’s website.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Drury University: Dr. Kristopher E. Moore’s “Victorian Age Literature, Marxism, and the Labor Movement”
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2.3.3 Market Dynamics and the Victorian Novel
- Reading: The City University of New York, Brooklyn College: Dr. Lilia Melani’s “Wuthering Heights As Socio-economic Novel”
Link: The City University of New York, Brooklyn College: Dr. Lilia Melani’s “Wuthering Heights As Socio-economic Novel” (HTML)
Instructions: Please scroll down and read the entirety of Dr. Melani’s essay on Wuthering Heights and socio-economics in the Victorian novel.
About the Link: Dr. Lilia Melani, professor at the City University of New York’s Brooklyn College, has made her essay on Wuthering Heights and socio-economics of the Victorian novel available through her university website.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: The City University of New York, Brooklyn College: Dr. Lilia Melani’s “Wuthering Heights As Socio-economic Novel”
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2.3.4 Serialization, the Victorian Novel, and Capitalism
- Reading: The University of Victoria's “Victorian Serial Novels”
Link: The University of Victoria's “Victorian Serial Novels” (HTML)
Instructions: Please scroll down and read the entirety of the University of Victoria’s essay on Victorian serial novels.
About the Link: The University of Victoria has made this essay concerning Victorian serial fiction available online through the university’s webpage.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: The University of Victoria's “Victorian Serial Novels”
- 2.4 The Psychology of Victorian Narrative
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2.4.1 Brief Introduction to the Life, Work, and Theories of Sigmund Freud
- Reading: Georgia Southern University: Dr. Douglass H. Thomson’s “An Introduction to Freud”
Link: Georgia Southern University: Dr. Douglass H. Thomson’s “An Introduction to Freud” (HTML)
Instructions: Please scroll down and read the entirety of Dr. Thomson’s introduction to Sigmund Freud.
About the Link: Dr. Douglass H. Thomson, professor of English at Georgia Southern University, has made the entirety of this introduction to Sigmund Freud available through his university website.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.The Saylor Foundation does not yet have materials for this portion of the course. If you are interested in contributing your content to fill this gap or aware of a resource that could be used here, please submit it here.
- Reading: Georgia Southern University: Dr. Douglass H. Thomson’s “An Introduction to Freud”
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2.4.2 Victorian Psychology and the Novel
- Reading: The Psychiatrist: Allan Beveridge’s and Edward Renvoize’s “The Presentation of Madness in the Victorian Novel”
Link: The Psychiatrist: Allan Beveridge’s and Edward Renvoize’s “The Presentation of Madness in the Victorian Novel” (PDF)
Instructions: Please click on the link above, download, and read the entirety of Beveridge’s and Renvoize’s essay on madness in the Victorian novel.
About the Link: The Psychiatrist, a journal dedicated to psychiatry, has made the entirety of Allan Beveridge’s and Edward Renvoize’s essay available through its website.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: The Psychiatrist: Allan Beveridge’s and Edward Renvoize’s “The Presentation of Madness in the Victorian Novel”
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2.4.3 Case Study in the Victorian Novel: Wilkie Collins’ The Woman in White
- Reading: Wilkie Collins’ The Woman in White
Link: Project Gutenberg: Wilkie Collins’ The Woman in White (HTML)
Also available in:
ePub Format on Google Books
Instructions: Please scroll down and read the entirety of Project Gutenberg’s version Wilkie Collins’ The Woman in White. What does this novel tell us about market relations in Victorian England? In what ways does this novel reflect gender relations of this period? How can we use Freud’s ideas to make sense of this novel?
About the Link: Project Gutenberg, a literary database, has made the entirety of Wilkie Collins’s novel available online.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Wilkie Collins’ The Woman in White
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Unit 3: Forms of the Victorian Novel
In the last unit, we attended to the major concerns that both shaped and were shaped by Victorian novels while exploring some of the most popular and (now) most canonical novels of the period and investigating the socio-historical realities of Victorian England. We will now expand our course of study to include an examination of the various types of Victorian novels that were written during this era and, in effect, will explore some of the most popular forms of the Victorian novel.
Unit 3 Learning Outcomes show close
- 3.1 Victorian Gothicism
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3.1.1 Introduction to the Gothic Novel
- Reading: The University of California at Davis: David De Vore, Anne Domenic, Alexandra Kwan, and Nicole Reidy’s “The Gothic Novel”
Link: The University of California at Davis: David De Vore, Anne Domenic, Alexandra Kwan, and Nicole Reidy’s “The Gothic Novel” (HTML)
Instructions: Please scroll down and read the entirety of this webpage introducing the Gothic novel.
About the Link: David De Vore, Anne Domenic, Alexandra Kwan, and Nicole Reidy of the University of California at Davis have made available online this essay on the “The Gothic Novel” through their university website.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: The University of California at Davis: David De Vore, Anne Domenic, Alexandra Kwan, and Nicole Reidy’s “The Gothic Novel”
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3.1.2 Larger-Than-Life Characters: Sherlock Holmes, Victorian Detective
- Reading: CrimeCulture.com: Dr. Christopher Pittard’s “Victorian Detective Fiction: An Introduction” and Project Gutenberg: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: “A Scandal in Bohemia”
Link: CrimeCulture.com: Dr. Christopher Pittard’s “Victorian Detective Fiction: An Introduction” (HTML) and Project Gutenberg: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: “A Scandal in Bohemia” (HTML)
Also available in:
ePub format on Google Books
Instructions: Please scroll down and read the entirety of Dr. Pittard’s introduction to Victorian detective fiction as well as Project Gutenberg’s version of Doyle’s “A Scandal in Bohemia” from his The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. How would you describe the nature of detection in this novel? What aspects of Victorian psychology does this novel highlight?
About the Link: CrimeCulture.com, a website dedicated to representations of crime in culture, has made Dr. Pittard’s introduction to Victorian detective fiction available online. Project Gutenberg, a literary database, has made selections from the work of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle available online.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: CrimeCulture.com: Dr. Christopher Pittard’s “Victorian Detective Fiction: An Introduction” and Project Gutenberg: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: “A Scandal in Bohemia”
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3.1.3 Gothic Villains: Bram Stoker’s Dracula
- Reading: Project Gutenberg: Bram Stoker’s Dracula
Link: Project Gutenberg: Bram Stoker’s Dracula
Also available in:
Kindle (Free)
ePub format on Google Books
Instructions: Please scroll down and read the entirety of Project Gutenberg’s version of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. With what Victorian cultural anxieties does this novel toy?
About the Link: Project Gutenberg, a literary database, has made the entirety of Bram Stoker’s novel available online.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Project Gutenberg: Bram Stoker’s Dracula
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3.1.4 The Psychology of the Victorian Gothic Novel
- Reading: The University of Virginia: “The Uncanny and the Fantastic”
Link: The University of Virginia: “The Uncanny and the Fantastic” (HTML)
Instructions: Please scroll down and read the entirety of the University of Virginia’s introduction to the uncanny and the fantastic in Gothic literature.
About the Link: This introduction to the uncanny and the fantastic in Gothic literature has been made available online through the University of Virginia’s English department.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: The University of Virginia: “The Uncanny and the Fantastic”
- 3.2 Victorian Science Fiction
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3.2.1 Robert Louis Stevenson’s Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde
- Reading: Project Gutenberg: Robert Louis Stevenson’s Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde
Link: Project Gutenberg: Robert Louis Stevenson’s Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde (HTML)
Also available in:
Kindle ($1.43)
ePub format on Google Books
Instructions: Please scroll down and read the entirety of Project Gutenberg’s version of Stevenson’s novel. How would you describe this novel in the Freudian terms that we studied earlier in this course?
About the Link: Project Gutenberg, a literary database, has made the entirety of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde available online.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.The Saylor Foundation does not yet have materials for this portion of the course. If you are interested in contributing your content to fill this gap or aware of a resource that could be used here, please submit it here.
- Reading: Project Gutenberg: Robert Louis Stevenson’s Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde
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3.2.2 H.G. Wells’ The Time Machine
- Reading: Project Gutenberg: H.G. Wells’ The Time Machine
Link: Project Gutenberg: H.G. Wells’ The Time Machine (HTML)
Also available in:
ePub format on Google Books
Instructions: Please scroll down and read the entirety of Project Gutenberg’s version of Wells’ novel. How would you describe the nature of Victorian science fiction like that of Wells?
About the Link: Project Gutenberg, a literary database, has made the entirety of H.G. Wells’ The Time Machine available online.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Project Gutenberg: H.G. Wells’ The Time Machine
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3.2.3 Overview of Victorian Science Fiction
- Reading: The Victorian Web: Dr. Jacqueline Banerjee’s “Richard Jefferies and Victorian Science Fiction”
Link: The Victorian Web: Dr. Jacqueline Banerjee’s “Richard Jefferies and Victorian Science Fiction” (PDF)
Instructions: Please scroll down and read the entirety of the Victorian Web’s version of Dr. Banerjee’s essay on Victorian science fiction.
About the Link: The Victorian Web, a website dedicated to the history of Victorian England, has made the entirety of Dr. Jacqueline Banerjee’s essay on Victorian science fiction available online.
Terms of Use: Permission has been granted by The Victorian Web for any scholarly or educational purpose. The original version of this article can be found here.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: The Victorian Web: Dr. Jacqueline Banerjee’s “Richard Jefferies and Victorian Science Fiction”
- 3.3 Victorian Adventure Fiction
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3.3.1 H. Rider Haggard and the Invention of Adventure Fiction
- Reading: Project Gutenberg: H. Rider Haggard’s She: A History of Adventure
Link: Project Gutenberg: H. Rider Haggard’s She: A History of Adventure (HTML)
Also available in:
ePub format on Google Books
Instructions: Please scroll down and read the entirety of Project Gutenberg’s version of Haggard’s adventure novel. In what ways does this novel represent Victorian attitudes concerning Empire, race, and gender?
About the Link: Project Gutenberg, a literary database, has made the entirety of H. Rider Haggard’s adventure novel available online.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Project Gutenberg: H. Rider Haggard’s She: A History of Adventure
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3.3.2 Masculinity, Empire, and Victorian Adventure Fiction
- Reading: Ashgate Press: Dr. Joseph A. Kestner’s “Introduction: Masculinities and Adventure Fiction” from Masculinities in British Adventure Fiction, 1880-1915
Link: Ashgate Press: Dr. Joseph A. Kestner’s “Introduction: Masculinities and Adventure Fiction” (PDF)
Instructions: Please click on the link above, scroll down and click on “Introduction” to download it, and read the entirety of Dr. Kestner’s introduction to his book on masculinity and British adventure fiction.
About the Link: Ashgate Press has made the introduction to Dr. Joseph A. Kestner’s text available online for download.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Ashgate Press: Dr. Joseph A. Kestner’s “Introduction: Masculinities and Adventure Fiction” from Masculinities in British Adventure Fiction, 1880-1915
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3.3.3 The “Woman Question”: Gender, Sexual Politics, and Victorian Adventure Fiction
- Reading: Nineteenth-Century Gender Studies: Dr. Sally Mitchell’s “New Women’s Work: Personal, Political, Public”
Link: Nineteenth-Century Gender Studies: Dr. Sally Mitchell’s “New Women’s Work: Personal, Political, Public” (HTML)
Instructions: Please scroll down and read the entirety of Dr. Mitchell’s essay on the “Woman Question” in Victorian fiction and adventure fiction.
About the Link: Nineteenth-Century Gender Studies, an online journal dedicated to representations of gender in nineteenth-century literature and culture, has made the entirety of Dr. Sally Mitchell’s essay available online.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Nineteenth-Century Gender Studies: Dr. Sally Mitchell’s “New Women’s Work: Personal, Political, Public”
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Unit 4: Victorian Authorship and Novelistic Impulses
In this unit, we will take a look at what it meant to be a writing subject in the Victorian period, examining notions of authorship, narrative form, and novelistic tradition. We will consider with particular care the Victorian novelist’s sense of his or her own role in society and the ways in which these writers envisioned their work as both opening up and changing history. We will conduct this investigation by reading selections from some of the most popular and critically-acclaimed novels from this era as well as from various autobiographical writings.
Unit 4 Learning Outcomes show close
- 4.1 Canonical Victorian Novelists and their Novels
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4.1.1 An Introduction to the Life & Work of Charles Dickens
- Reading: The Victorian Web: Dr. David Cody’s “Dickens: A Brief Biography” and Chapters I—XV of Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations
Links: The Victorian Web: Dr. David Cody’s “Dickens: A Brief Biography” (PDF) and Chapters I—XV of Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations (HTML)
Also available in (Great Expectations)
ePub format on Google Books
Instructions: Please scroll down and read the entirety the Victorian Web’s version of Dr. Cody’s introduction to Charles Dickens as well as Chapters I—XV of Charles Dickens’ novel. Who is the protagonist of this text? What are some of the ways in which the hero develops across the course of the novel? Does the hero develop internally? That is, in what ways does the hero come to better understanding of the self?
About the Links: The Victorian Web, a website dedicated to the history of Victorian England, has made Dr. David Cody’s essay available online. Project Gutenberg, a literary database, had made the entirety of Dickens’ novel available online.
Terms of Use: Permission has been granted for use by The Victorian Web for any scholarly or educational purpose. The original version of this article can be found here.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: The Victorian Web: Dr. David Cody’s “Dickens: A Brief Biography” and Chapters I—XV of Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations
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4.1.2 George Eliot’s Vision of Victorian Narrative and its Various Roles
- Reading: The Victorian Web: Dr. Philip V. Allingham’s “George Eliot, 1857-1876: A Biographical Introduction” and George Eliot’s Daniel Deronda
Links: The Victorian Web: Dr. Philip V. Allingham’s “George Eliot, 1857-1876: A Biographical Introduction” (PDF) and Books I & II of George Eliot’s Daniel Deronda (HTML)
Also available in:
(Daniel Deronda)
ePub format on Google Books
Instructions: Please scroll down and read the entirety of the Victorian Web’s version of Dr. Allingham’s essay on George Eliot as well as Books I & II of George Eliot’s novel. What is the relationship between the epigraph of the novel to the development of the story? How does Eliot represent time in this novel? Does Daniel Deronda love Gwendolyn Harleth? Describe the character of Grandcourt in your own words and ideas. What is the function Daniel’s religious background on the development of his character?
About the Links: The Victorian Web, a website dedicated to the history of Victorian England, has made the entirety of Dr. Philip V. Allingham’s essay on George Eliot available online. Project Gutenberg, a literary database, has made the entirety of George Eliot’s novel available online.
Terms of Use: Permission has been granted for use by The Victorian Web for any scholarly or educational purpose. The original version of this article can be found here.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: The Victorian Web: Dr. Philip V. Allingham’s “George Eliot, 1857-1876: A Biographical Introduction” and George Eliot’s Daniel Deronda
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4.1.3 The Life and Work of the Brontë Sisters: The Impulses and Seductions of Victorian Novels
- Reading: The Victorian Web: Dr. Marianne Thormahlen’s “The Brontë Pseudonyms: A Woman's Image—The Writer and Her Public” and Chapters I—X of Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre
Links: The Victorian Web: Dr. Marianne Thormahlen’s “The Brontë Pseudonyms: A Woman's Image—The Writer and Her Public” (HTML) and Chapters I—X of Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre (HTML)
Also available in:
Kindle ($0.99)
ePub format on Google Books
Instructions: Please scroll down and read the entirety of the Victorian Web’s version of Dr. Thormahlen’s essay on the Brontë sisters as well as chapters I to X of Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre. What is the symbolic function of the “Red Room” in the opening of the novel? Why does Jane fall in love with Rochester? What does Jane learn about her life while at the Lowood school? Describe the relationship between Jane Eyre and Helen Burns. How does the author represent madness in this text? Be sure to address the role of Bertha Mason in the story.
About the Links: The Victorian Web, a website dedicated to the history of Victorian England, has made the entirety of Dr. Marianne Thormahlen’s essay on the Brontë sisters available online. Project Gutenberg, a literary database, has made the entirety of Charlotte Brontë’s novel available online.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyrights and terms of use displayed on the webpages above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: The Victorian Web: Dr. Marianne Thormahlen’s “The Brontë Pseudonyms: A Woman's Image—The Writer and Her Public” and Chapters I—X of Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre
- 4.2 The Contours of Victorian Authorship
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4.2.1 Joseph Conrad’s Vision of Victorian Authorship and Authority
- Reading: The Literature Network’s “Joseph Conrad: Biography and Works” and Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness Part 1
Links: The Literature Network’s “Joseph Conrad: Biography and Works” (HTML) and Project Gutenberg: Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness Part 1 (HTML)
Also available in:
ePub format on Google Books
Instructions: Please scroll down and read the entirety of the Literature Network’s essay on Joseph Conrad’s life and work as well as the entirety of Part I of Project Gutenberg’s version of Joseph Conrad’s novel. How is the continent of Africa represented in this novel? In what ways is the protagonist’s voyage an expedition into the nature of the psyche? How does the novelist represent nature (i.e. the natural world)? Why is this story told as a frame narrative (as a story within a story)? What does the nature of the frame add to the tale?
About the Links: The Literature Network, a website dedicated to providing historical and contextual backgrounds for the study of literature, has made this essay on Joseph Conrad’s life and work available online. Project Gutenberg, a literary database, has made the entirety of Joseph Conrad’s novel available online.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyrights and terms of use displayed on the webpages above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: The Literature Network’s “Joseph Conrad: Biography and Works” and Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness Part 1
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4.2.2 Elizabeth Gaskell and Representations of the Varieties of Victorian Society and Experience
- Reading: The Literature Network: “Elizabeth Gaskell: Biography and Works” and Project Gutenberg: "Elizabeth Gaskell’s North and South: Volume I”
Links: The Literature Network: “Elizabeth Gaskell: Biography and Works” (HTML) and Project Gutenberg: Elizabeth Gaskell’s North and South: Volume 1 (HTML)
Also available in:
ePub format on Google Books
Instructions: Please scroll down and read the entirety of the Literature Network’s essay on the life and work of Elizabeth Gaskell as well as the first volume of Project Gutenberg’s version of Elizabeth Gaskell’s novel. What are the major differences between North and South England, as detailed in the novel? What are the daily preoccupations of Northerners? Of Southerners? How does this novel represent the nature of time and the ways in which characters experience the unfolding of time? In your own words, describe the “voice” of the novel.
About the Links: The Literature Network, a website dedicated to providing historical and contextual backgrounds for the study of literature, has made this essay on Elizabeth Gaskell’s life and work available online. Project Gutenberg, a literary database, has made the entirety of Elizabeth Gaskell’s novel available online.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyrights and terms of use displayed on the webpages above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: The Literature Network: “Elizabeth Gaskell: Biography and Works” and Project Gutenberg: "Elizabeth Gaskell’s North and South: Volume I”
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4.2.3 Thomas Hardy’s Version of Victorian Novelistic Drives
- Reading: The Victorian Web: Philip V. Allingham’s “The Novels of Thomas Hardy: An Introduction” and Project Gutenberg: Thomas Hardy's Tess of the D'urbervilles: "Phase the First: The Maiden"
Links: The Victorian Web: Philip V. Allingham’s “The Novels of Thomas Hardy: An Introduction” (PDF) and Project Gutenberg: “Phase the First: The Maiden” from Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the D’Urbervilles (HTML)
Also available in:
Kindle ($0.95)
ePub format on Google Books
Instructions: Please scroll down and read the entirety of the Victorian Web’s version of Dr. Allingham’s essay on the life and work of Thomas Hardy as well as the entirety of Project Gutenberg’s version of “Phase the First: The Maiden” from Thomas Hardy’s novel. From our earlier readings concerning Charles Darwin, list the ways in which you see the idea of “evolution” impacting this novel. In what ways does Hardy depict nature (i.e. the natural world)? What are Tess’s strengths (as a character)? What are her weaknesses?
About the Links: The Victorian Web, a website dedicated to the history of Victorian England, has made the entirety of Dr. Philip V. Allingham’s essay on Thomas Hardy available online. Project Gutenberg, a literary database, has made the entirety of Thomas Hardy’s novel available online.
Terms of Use: Permission has been granted for use by The Victorian Web for any scholarly or educational purpose. The original version of this article can be found here.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: The Victorian Web: Philip V. Allingham’s “The Novels of Thomas Hardy: An Introduction” and Project Gutenberg: Thomas Hardy's Tess of the D'urbervilles: "Phase the First: The Maiden"
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4.2.4 Anthony Trollope: Victorian Novelistic Production and the Powers of Narrative
- Reading: The Victorian Web: “Anthony Trollope: Biography” and Project Gutenberg: Anthony Trollope’s Autobiography of Anthony Trollope: Preface, Chapters I, II, and III
Links: The Victorian Web: “Anthony Trollope: Biography” (PDF) and Project Gutenberg: Anthony Trollope’s Autobiography of Anthony Trollope: Preface and Chapters I, II, and III (HTML)
Also available in:
ePub format on Google Books
Instructions: Please scroll down and read the entirety of the Victorian Web’s essay on Anthony Trollope’s life and work. Also, please scroll down and read the Preface and Chapters I, II, and III of Project Gutenberg’s version of Anthony Trollope’s Autobiography of Anthony Trollope.
About the Links: The Victorian Web, a website dedicated to the history of Victorian England, has made the entirety of this essay on the life and work of Anthony Trollope available online. Project Gutenberg, a literary database, has made the entirety of Anthony Trollope’s Autobiography of Anthony Trollope available online.
Terms of Use: Permission has been granted for use by The Victorian Web for any scholarly or educational purpose. The original version of this article can be found here.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: The Victorian Web: “Anthony Trollope: Biography” and Project Gutenberg: Anthony Trollope’s Autobiography of Anthony Trollope: Preface, Chapters I, II, and III
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Final Exam
- Final Exam: The Saylor Foundation's ENGL410 Final Exam
Link: The Saylor Foundation's ENGL410 Final Exam
Instructions: You must be logged into your Saylor Foundation School account in order to access this exam. If you do not yet have an account, you will be able to create one, free of charge, after clicking the link.
The Saylor Foundation does not yet have materials for this portion of the course.The Saylor Foundation does not yet have materials for this portion of the course. If you are interested in contributing your content to fill this gap or aware of a resource that could be used here, please submit it here.
- Final Exam: The Saylor Foundation's ENGL410 Final Exam
