This module focuses on the antagonists and anti-heroes of Romantic-period Gothic writing, asking what they can tell us about the anxieties and obsessions of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. We will encounter narratives of usurpation, of political disorder (oppressive masters and violent mobs), and of gendered, racial, and class-based transgression. The module will introduce you to specific Gothic figures: the first vampires in English literature; the troubled Byronic hero; the double; outcasts like the ‘wandering Jew’. We will explore the dark attraction of destructive passions while also probing how and why certain impulses were ‘othered’. Throughout the module, we will relate the fears and attractions of the Gothic mode to contemporary political upheavals and to wider dynamics of national identity, gender, race, and class.
The majority of our reading will be Gothic fiction, but the module will also cover poetry, drama, and non-fictional prose. The range of texts will ensure that we can challenge traditional distinctions between ‘Romanticism’ and ‘the Gothic’, as well as between ‘male’ and ‘female’ Gothic writing. Covering the period between 1764 (the publication date of Horace Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto) and 1824 (when James Hogg’s Confessions of a Justified Sinner appeared), we will examine the groundbreaking work of Ann Radcliffe, Charlotte Dacre, and Joanna Baillie, among others. The module will trace how the villains of early Gothic writing were shaped into the archetypal figures that we know today.
Occurrence | Teaching period |
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A | Semester 2 2024-25 |
The purpose of this module is to provide a grounding in Romantic-period Gothic literature, enabling you to understand the development of the genre in relation to wider social, cultural, and political contexts. It aims to introduce you to critical and theoretical debates about the genre, and to help you to develop research skills that are particularly relevant to the study of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century literary texts.
On successful completion of the module, you will be able to:
Task | % of module mark |
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Essay/coursework | 100 |
None
Throughout the module, you will have the opportunity to pitch, road-test, and develop essay ideas. Feedback will be integrated into your seminars or the ‘third hour’ (i.e. the lecture or workshop).
You will submit your summative essay via the VLE during the revision and assessment weeks at the end of the teaching semester (weeks 13-15). Feedback on your summative essay will be uploaded to e:Vision to meet the University’s marking deadlines
Task | % of module mark |
---|---|
Essay/coursework | 100 |
You will receive feedback on all assessed work within the University deadline, and will often receive it more quickly. The purpose of feedback is to inform your future work; it is designed to help you to improve your work, and the Department also offers you help in learning from your feedback. If you do not understand your feedback or want to talk about your ideas further you can discuss it with your tutor or your supervisor, during their Open Office Hours
For more information about the feedback you will receive for your work, see the department's Guide to Assessment
Fiction:
Poetry:
Drama:
Non-Fictional Prose: