Studying at York
The Odd Women: Female Emanicipation in the Late Victorian Novel - CED00207C
- Department: Centre for Lifelong Learning
- Module co-ordinator: Information currently unavailable
- Credit value: 10 credits
- Credit level: C
- Academic year of delivery: 2023-24
- See module specification for other years: 2021-22
Module summary
In the late Victorian era, educated women still had no career options: there only duty was to attract a husband. In the literature of the day, we begin to hear voices and encounter fictional characters which question this subjugation. The emergence of the ‘New Woman’ reveals how literature pioneered sexual politics, whilst also reflecting the entrenched values of society. The course includes a study of three key novels of the period: Sarah Grand’s The Heavenly Twins, George Gissing’s The Odd Women and Thomas Hardy’s Jude the Obscure.
Module will run
| Occurrence | Teaching period |
|---|---|
| A | Autumn Term 2023-24 |
Module aims
This module will focus on fiction published in the 1880s and 1890s and the emergence of the ‘New Woman’, or late-Victorian feminist. Through close reading of literary texts, as well as studying the historical context, students will develop their critical skills in documenting the significance of this new breed of independent, educated women. Students will grasp how, as a character in the novel, the New Woman had far-reaching political and ethical implications: her thoughts and desires highlighted not only her own aspirations, but also reflected the entrenched attitudes of society. The course will cover Sarah Grand’s book The Heavenly Twins, in which the central character refuses to consummate her marriage when she discovers her husband’s dubious sexual past. We will also examine Thomas Hardy’s Jude the Obscure, in which Sue Brideshead bears Jude’s children but refuses to marry him, as well as Gissing’s The Odd Women, and the contrasting opportunities and pitfalls presented to women by the pursuit of marriage on the one hand and the pursuit of education, employment and independence on the other. Through class discussion, short oral presentations and assessed written work, students will gain critical confidence and a deeper understanding of how literature pioneers and reflects ethical issues in society.
Module learning outcomes
Upon successful completion of the module, students will be able to:
Subject content:
• Understand the political, cultural and historical significance of the ‘New Woman’ in the late Victorian period and how the phenomenon was portrayed in the literature of the day
• Critically respond to the literary texts under examination – their formal qualities as well as their content – and identify the connections between the authors/characters and the wider historical, and political context
• Appreciate the significance of literature to both pioneer new ways of thinking about sexual politics, as well as reflect the social and historical context of its production
• Articulate connections between early developments in feminist fiction and later incarnations, illustrating how novels play a crucial role in our understanding of the human condition
Development of academic and graduate skills and qualities:
• Utilise both close textual analysis and critically contextualised readings to produce more sophisticated levels of interpretation and sustained argument
• Develop oral communication, research, and essay writing skills through class discussion, assessed written work and feedback
• Relate the critical and aesthetic analysis of literary texts to wider cultural, political and philosophical debates within modern societies
Assessment
| Task | Length | % of module mark |
|---|---|---|
| Essay/coursework Critical Essay |
N/A | 100 |
Special assessment rules
None
Reassessment
| Task | Length | % of module mark |
|---|---|---|
| Essay/coursework Critical Essay |
N/A | 100 |
Module feedback
The tutor will give regular individual verbal and written feedback throughout the module on work submitted.
The assessment feedback is as per the university’s guidelines with regard to timings.
Indicative reading
Initial background reading:
The New Woman in Fiction and Fact: Fin-De-Siecle Feminisms, by Angelique Richardson, Palgrave, 2002
Ethics and Narrative in the English Novel, 1880–1914, by Jil Larson, Cambridge University Press, 2009
Main literary texts:
Sarah Grand: The Heavenly Twins
Thomas Hardy: Jude the Obscure
George Gissing: The Odd Women
Further reading:
The Failures of the Romance: Boredom, Class, and Desire in George Gissing's "The Odd Women"... by Lise Shapiro Sanders (Academic article) 2001
The New Woman and The Victorian Novel, by Gail Cunningham, Macmillan Press, 1978
Anthologies of fiction on this topic:
Crossing the Line: The New Woman of the Fin de Siècle: by Logan E. Gee (Editor), Whitlock Publishing, 2018
Daughters of Decadence: Women Writers of The Fin De Siecle by Elaine Showalter, Virago, 1993