Course details
Tutors
Aims
This course aims to:
- help you gain a critical appreciation of literary and historical contexts
- provide the tools for an exploration of Brontë’s narrative method
- investigate a variation of themes and techniques through analysis of these texts
Course content
From the first publication of Jane Eyre (1847) and Villette (1853), the question of gender has been central to the discussion of Charlotte Brontë’s novels. Initially it was the fact that she chose an indeterminate pseudonym, “Currer Bell”, which had her readers guessing, and the majority of early reviewers felt the need to debate the “feminine” and “masculine” aspects of her work. Contemporaries saw her subject matter as shocking and her style as characterised by “masculine hardness, coarseness, and freedom of expression”. Matthew Arnold could see “nothing but hunger, rebellion and rage” in Villette, and Virginia Woolf, though a more sympathetic critic, deplored the fact that the woman who wrote Jane Eyre was “at war with her lot”.
Nevertheless, these works became immediate, and lasting, popular successes. To this day, Charlotte Brontë’s novels excite readers of both sexes and all ages. Each of them reflects unease arising from social changes and a preoccupation with class, morals and manners, worldly ambition, and the legal and social position of women. This course takes a fresh look at the works of this nineteenth-century woman writer in the context of her time, her social and literary background, and recent critical approaches. While you are encouraged to familiarise yourself with Brontë’s works as a whole, the key texts for our detailed study are Jane Eyre and Villette.
What to expect on this course
The course will be taught in a series of informal lectures and group discussions: your participation is very much encouraged! Recent years have again shown us the value of being able to respond to each other face-to-face in one room.
Course sessions
1. Introduction to Charlotte Brontë’s literary background
2. Jane Eyre
3. Jane Eyre
4. Villette
5. Villette
Learning outcomes
As a result of the course, you will gain a greater understanding of the subject and you should be able to:
- develop confidence in your own critical ability through taking part in discussions of texts you have read and reflected on independently
- articulate an informed response to the texts and some of the issues covered on the course
- demonstrate an analytical approach to reading these 19th century novels
Required reading
Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre
Charlotte Brontë, Villette