The Battle of Books: Neoclassicism v. Romanticism
All year you have taken notes on the historical progression of English literature, primarily through the separate lectures and readings done concurrently with previous units. For instance, during the sonnet and Shakespeare unit, there were presentations on the English Renaissance and Humanism. This unit, whose two major readings are Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice (Jan. 29/30) and Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter (Feb. 19/20), will delve deep inside two major eras of English literature. You will learn about and explore the details and authors of the Neoclassical period, reading examples of poetry by Dryden, Pope, and Swift and prose excerpts by Fielding and Johnson. All of this leads to discussions of Pride and Prejudice and its resemblance to many of the ideals of the Neoclassical period. During these very discussions, the concepts identified with the Romantic movement will be introduced. These ideals and their contrast with Neoclassicism will be reinforced through discussion of the poetry by Wordsworth, Shelley, Byron, and Keats. The Scarlet Letter will be read in part for its stylistic contrast to Austen’s works (think, Independent Reading), in that one focuses on the need to work within the bounds of society and propriety while the other celebrates the passions and private life.
Outside Reading for Unit 4 (please select from this list for outside reading or run your choice by me):
Pamela (1740) or Clarissa (1748, abridged version only, please), by Samuel Richardson [550 pp. each]
Tom Jones (1749), by Henry Fielding [800 pp.]
Candide (1759), by Voltaire (try to find a translation with endnotes and an academic introduction) [200 pp.]
Evelina (1778), by Francis Burney [500 pp.]
Frankenstein (1818), by Mary Shelley [250 pp.]
Jane Eyre (1847), by Charlotte Brontë; Wuthering Heights (1847), by Emily Brontë [520, 350 pp.]
A Room With a View or Howards End (1910), by E. M. Forster [200, 350 pp.]
Remains of the Day (1989), Never Let Me Go (2006), or Klara and the Sun (2022), by Kazuo Ishiguro [250+ pp.]