This class will be a brief survey of British fiction and drama 1800 – present. Our primary focus will be literature’s representation of marriage as a social institution that defines and fixes a woman’s place in the social sphere. We will begin with the following broad questions: How does literature define marriage, and how does this change with time? Why might the novel and drama as literary genres be especially concerned with the question of marriage? How does literature address the social and public roles that are available for women outside of marriage? Along more formal lines, we will also track trends in narration as the novel progresses from 1800 to the present. How does each author’s choice of narrative style allow for a unique presentation of the marriage question? Texts will be selected from the following: Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park, Charlotte Bronte’s Villette, Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the d’urbervilles, Ford Madox Ford’s The Good Soldier, Harold Pinter’s The Lover, and John Fowles’ The French Lieutenant’s Woman.

Student Responsibilities: The reading load in this course will be heavy; you can expect approximately 50 pages of reading a night. You will also be responsible for leading discussion at least one day during the quarter and writing several short reading responses. There will be a final exam.

Austen, Jane. Mansfield Park (1814). Ed. June Sturrock. Broadview Publishing, ISBN: 9781551110981 / 1551110989

Bronte, Charlotte. Villette (1853). Ed. Kate Lawson. Broadview Publishing, ISBN: 9781551114613 / 1551114615

Hardy, Thomas. Tess of the d’urbervilles (1891). Ed. Sarah E. Maier. Broadview Publishing, ISBN: 9781551117515 / 1551117517

Ford, Ford Madox. The Good Soldier (1915). Eds. Kenneth Womack and William Baker. Broadview Publishing. SBN: 9781551113814 / 1551113813

Fowles, John. The French Lieutenant’s Woman (1969). Back Bay Books. ISBN: 9780316291163/0316291161

* The drama texts for this course will be compiled and made available on E-reserve.