Dickens and Others
Fall 2009 ENGL 1511G S01
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Instructor: Kevin McLaughlin
Please check the Detailed Class Information for up to date information about this course.
Information on meeting times for this course can be found on Course Schedule at http://selfservice.brown.edu
Course Description
An introduction to the novels of Charles Dickens (1812-1870) that considers these works in relation to other important intellectual, historical, and literary developments of mid-19th-century England. Special attention given to the political, social, and philosophical significance of "others" in Dickens's writing and in related works from the period. In addition to a set of Dickens's novels, readings include selections from Mill, Arnold, Marx, Tennyson, Eliot, and others.
Instructor's Description
ENGL1511G Dickens and Others
Tuesdays and Thursdays, 2:30-3:50 p.m.
Overview of the course:
An introduction to the novels of Charles Dickens (1812-1870) that considers these works in relation to other important intellectual, historical, and literary developments of mid-19th-century England. Special attention given to the political, social, and philosophical significance of “others” in Dickens’s writing and in related works from the period. The course will be organized around the intensive reading of two of Dickens’s greatest novels, Bleak House (1852-53) and Our Mutual Friend (1864-65). Both of these novels were published serially—in monthly “parts” installments—and we will break the novels down and read them in a way that simulates the rhythm of their appearance in the Victorian periodical press, interrupting ourselves along the way to consider short excerpts from other writings of the period. By way of these excerpts we will approach the question of otherness in Dickens’s novels in connection with related issues such as social class (Marx and Arnold), political freedom (Mill), and self-alienation (Hegel). By way of comparison and contrast, we will also read a shorter novel by George Eliot, Silas Marner (1861), which was published midway between the appearance of Bleak House and Our Mutual Friend. The goal of this course is an understanding of Dickens’s work both in the intellectual and historical context of the Victorian period and for us today.
Assignments and Grading
Calendar of reading assignments and paper due dates:
September 10 Introduction
September 15 Excerpts from Sketches by Boz (early journalistic sketches of London life)
September 17 Bleak House, Installments 1-2
September 22 Bleak House, Installments 3-5
September 24 Bleak House, Installments 6-7
Marx, “On the English Middle Class” (1854) (excerpt)
September 29 Bleak House, Installments 8-10
October 1 Bleak House, Installments 11-12
October 6 Bleak House, Installments 13-15
October 8 Bleak House, Installments 16-17
Hegel, “Self-estranged Spirit,” Phenomenology of Spirit (1807) (excerpt)
October 13 Bleak House, Installments 18-20
October 15 Concluding discussion of Bleak House
***Monday, October 19: 5-page essay on Bleak House due in Professor McLaughlin’s mailbox in 70 Brown Street by 4:30 p.m.
October 20 Eliot, Silas Marner, chapters 1-3
October 22 Eliot, Silas Marner, chapters 4-12
October 27 Eliot, Silas Marner, chapters 12-24
October 29 Eliot, Silas Marner, chapters 25-“Conclusion”
Our Mutual Friend, Installments 1-2
November 3 Our Mutual Friend, Installments 1-3
November 5 Our Mutual Friend, Installments 4-5
November 10 Our Mutual Friend, Installments 6-8
Mill, On Liberty (1869) (excerpt)
November 12 Our Mutual Friend, Installments 8-10
November 17 Our Mutual Friend, Installments 11-13
November 19 Our Mutual Friend, Installments 14-15
Arnold, Culture and Anarchy (1867) (excerpt)
November 24 Our Mutual Friend, Installments 16-18
November 26 No class (Thanksgiving)
December 1 Our Mutual Friend, Installments 19-20
December 3 Concluding discussion of Our Mutual Friend
***Final paper on Our Mutual Friend due in Professor McLaughlin’s mailbox at 70 Brown Street by 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, December 15.
Readings and Required Texts
Texts:
Charles Dickens, Bleak House (Penguin edition)
Charles Dickens, Our Mutual Friend (Penguin edition)
George Eliot, Silas Marner (Penguin edition)
Copy packet