This class will explore a variety of literary genres in order to gain a greater understanding of how sexuality, religion and violence play a role in the development and popularity of the Gothic novel. Throughout the course we will gain a greater understanding of the Gothic by asking not only how these three main issues are represented in different genres, but also how the Gothic adopts and uses them for its own purposes. How do the three work together and influence each other? What aspects of sexuality, religion and violence are highlighted and which are deemphasized in the Gothic novel and why?

We will explore these questions by reading novels, poems, short stories and plays. Our readings will span several hundred years, the oldest being a Greek tragedy from the 5th century B.C.E. (Euripides’ Medea), the most recent Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1897). In between we will examine some Shakespearean Drama (Titus Andronicus), as well as selections from the poetry of John Donne, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, John Keats, William Blake and Robert Browning, among others. We will also read some selected short stories by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Edgar Allan Poe and the Marquis De Sade, and we will discuss some pivotal Gothic novels, which include Matthew Lewis’ The Monk, Denis Diderot’s The Nun and Charlotte Dacre’s Zofloya, all of which deal with the intermingling of religion and sexuality as well as death and violence.

This is a very reading and writing intensive course. Although not a prerequisite, prior completion of a composition course is highly recommended. In order to fulfill the University “W” requirement, students will be asked to complete ten to fifteen pages of out of class writing, with revision.

Required Course Texts:
Course Pack, Available at The Ave. Copy Center. 4141 University Way NE.
Matthew G. Lewis, The Monk (Broadview) ISBN: 978-1551112275
Denis Diderot, The Nun (Penguin) ISBN: 978-0140443004
Charlotte Dacre, Zofloya (Broadview) ISBN: 978-1551111469
Bram Stoker, Dracula (Norton) ISBN: 978-039397012-8