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Welcome to the Course!


Welcome to the official blog of British Lit from 1800, focusing on The Gothic movement in English Literature! Wonder what kind of class this will be? Well...

"Literature continues to be haunted by the ghosts of the 19th century, and in particular, the writers and artists who came to life in the Romantic era. These writers envisioned the darkness that slumbered beneath the “sleep of reason,” and which could easily be awakened by our own lusts and desires. So much of the 19th century can be told through the lens of Gothic art, a movement which started in the late 18th century and continued to flourish with tales of vampires, corpses, murderers, and time machines. This class will use several iconic novels from throughout the century to examine the cultural ideas and conflicts which shaped the British nation. We’ll also ask the question, why these books, and why these authors, when so many books and their writers have faded into oblivion like a bad dream. Yet these books return night after night to inhabit our dreams, so that even 200 years later everyone knows the dreaded name “Frankenstein” or “Dracula.” Should they be returned to the grave...or do they still have more to teach us?"

Be sure to buy the following books for class, all of which we will read over the course of the semester: Polidori, The Vampyre and Other Tales of the Macabre; Shelley, Frankenstein; Stevenson, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde; Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray; Wells, The Time Machine; Stoker, Dracula

Be sure to e-mail me with any questions or concerns: jgrasso@ecok.edu.  See you in class!

 



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