English: Classic Monsters

Primarily poetry, drama, and/or non-fiction prose from 1832 to 1900, for example, Tennyson, the Brownings, the Rossettis, Wilde. May repeat with different content. Topics vary by offering; periodic offering at intervals that may exceed four years. Prerequisites: Three hours in English numbered 1010 to 1990; minimum Sophomore standing.

Prereqs: 3 hrs ENGL between 1010- 1990; Minimum Sophomore standing PACE students by permission and override

British writers of the nineteenth century created some of the most memorable and enduring monsters—Frankenstein's monster, Mr. Hyde, Dracula. In this course we will study these nineteenth-century literary monsters in order to think about the ways that monsters suggested conceptions of identity and difference, self and other. We will read and discuss a number of pieces of monster theory in order to consider ways of interpreting the figure of the monster. We will also think about monsters historically within the context of the immense social, ideological and cultural changes that occurred over the course of the nineteenth century. How do nineteenth-century notions about monstrosity reflect anxieties and desires in relation to industrialism, scientific and technological developments, colonial expansion, and changing notions about gender roles and sexuality?