Overview

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

The study of nineteenth century North American, British, and/or Post-colonial literatures. May include some writing from North America. Breadth-Humanities.

COURSE DETAILS:

Throughout the nineteenth century, middle-class women in Britain and North America were disenfranchised, unable to vote or hold political office, barred from attending university and entering any profession. They had very few respectable occupations open to them; as Mary Wollstonecraft famously declared, the only way women could rise in the world was through marriage. Once married, any property they held became their husbands', and any earnings they made also belonged to their husbands. This is to say nothing of the sexual predation and violence many women were subjected to both inside and outside of marriage. At the same time, British and settler women of the middle classes were far more advantaged than working class, indigenous, and enslaved women and girls, who enjoyed even less control over their bodies and lives. This course explores the diverse literature written by women about women’s condition throughout the Atlantic world. It examines how women from different racial and class backgrounds sought to articulate their suffering and worth, through fiction, essays, poetry, history, and memoir.

Grading

Materials

MATERIALS + SUPPLIES:

All books can be purchased directly from Broadview Press, at this link:
https://broadviewpress.com/product/engl-206-j100-nineteenth-century-literatures-english/#tab-description

REQUIRED READING: