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British Literature 4: The Victorian Dark Side Cary Honig email: caryh@school-one.org
Nil sine magno vita labore dedit mortalibus
Welcome to the Brit. Lit. 4 wiki. Hopefully, having an overview of what we will do and roughly when will make the class easier. This also allows me to make the suggested but not required readings available in a context that might make them more attractive. As in the past, two of the essays will be in class, and therefore the topics are not included here.
Students can take this class for English or history credit. Because the class is so writing intense, there is a different workload for English and history students with history students writing fewer essays (and usually those that have more history or sociological content). The reading requirements are the same. The syllabi provide the details.
Every student even considering this class must read and sign the source policy and abide by it. Failure to do so will lead to no credit in the class. I am not interested in what anyone at wikipedia, Sparknotes or Harvard thinks about this literature. I am interested in what you think. You must think for yourself in this class. If you don't want to do that and perhaps occasionally struggle, don't take the class. You are always welcome to come discuss your ideas with me before writing if you are worried you are off track. I won't tell you what to write or think, but I am happy to ask you questions that might help you to focus or reorient. This is NOT a research class; it is a thinking class. Please respect that and trust that I respect ideas that may be flawed but original far more than ideas that are on more solid ground but aren't yours.
For a guide to proper citation within text and bibliography (works cited), go to
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/section/2/
Weekly sections below are split into two parts. The first paragraph is about classwork projected for that week, although we won't always be on target. Links under the weekly schedule are to note sheets we will use in class or that might be useful to you as well as to articles that are usually recommended but not required to add to your knowledge about what we are discussing in class.
Essays are due almost every week on Thursdays at class time. Revisions should be done soon after being returned but must be completed by the Monday after they are returned unless an earlier date is specified at the end of the trimester. On two occasions this trimester, students will do their essays in class on Thursdays to practice for college testing. They should be sure to have read the materials very carefully and to have given them some thought before taking these exams, but the questions are broad and don't require focus on one particular detail in the text(s). Students who are absent on these days will do the essays at home with the amount of evidence expected in an essay done at home, so that means considerably more work. If you're out on those days, I won't give you the in-class essay at a different time. In-class essays are generally not revised unless the student didn't do the reading. At-home essays need revision until I approve a draft as final because you have addressed the issues I identified in your draft(s).
Late work is not tolerated in this class. If a student is late on one essay, s/he will have to do an additional essay as well as the one that is late. If a second assignment is late, the student cannot earn credit. If a student is home sick, the essay must be emailed on time. Exceptions will only be made in a situation that is completely unavoidable by the student and for which there is clear evidence and that was pre-arranged.
The abbreviation ws in links means worksheet. Even if you're not taking notes, these are designed to provide helpful guidance while reading texts.
Students should begin reading A Tale of Two Cities as soon as they sign up for the class (if not sooner) even though the first essay about it isn't due until September 18, as they are expected to have read half of the book to do that essay. It would be a good idea to look at the essay assignments related to the book before reading so that you can look for evidence and ideas as your read. I have plenty of copies, but if you want to write in your book, you should get your own.
Week 1: Introduction to horror literature. Introduction to the Victorian Period with some review of how it came into being. Introduction to Dickens and A Tale of Two Cities, including the significant changes occurring in Dickens's life at the time the novel was being written. Review of Shakespeare for those not in the class the first two trimesters last year. Introduction to James I and theories about what was going on during the Renaissance with regard to witchcraft. Introduction to Gunpowder Plot and its significant connection to Macbeth. We will discuss why this is one of a multitude of excellent pieces of evidence that the Earl of Oxford did not write Shakespeare's plays (as he is dead by1605). Begin reading Macbeth in class. For a great site with actual documents relating to Shakespeare from his time, go to http://www.shakespearedocumented.org/
Grammar: Usage
Classwork:
Review and intro of relevant periods
Peter Ackroyd on the underside of early Victorian life c. 1840
Simon Heffer on the underside of early Victorian life c. 1840
Ackroyd/Heffer notes for day 1 (and exercise 2)
BL IV - Dickens chronology.doc
Recommended:
Why Did So Many Victorians try to speak to the dead? 21
The 19th Century NY City Riot over Macbeth '07
Dickens saw lockdowns everywhere '20
Newspaper accounts of Dickens's Death
Beyond Expectations: Rereading Dickens 17
Dickens's issues still relevant today
Robert Gottlieb on Dickens's World 20
Keith Thomas on how bad the world smelled until recently 20
Anne Gunter, Samuel Harsnett and Witchcraft notes
The Last Witch of Langerburg - a late witchcraft trial
Alan Cummings's one man MacBeth.docx
Ruth Negga Thinks Lady Macbeth is misunderstood 22
Denzel Washington's Macbeth on Apple+ 21
James Shapiro on Coen/Denzel's Noir Macbeth
Two Troublesome 2018 productions of MacBeth
Two very different MacBeths 23
Excellent Fintan O'Toole article about Shakespeare's tragedies: screw the tragic flaw! 24
This week's assignment is individual and staggered in terms of due date. I don't know who will be in the class yet, so I have made some guesses. When the class list is finalized on August 26, I will update this assignment sheet and email it to everyone in the class. Read the second page carefully with regard to due dates, which are staggered. The earlier ones will be due by Thursday, September 1.
Week 2: Introduction to the French Revolution. Continue reading Macbeth. Grammar: Apostrophes
Hilary Mantel on Women in the French Revolution
Hilary Mantel on A specific woman in the French Revolution
What Was Revolutionary about the French Revolution
BL IV - MacBeth Act II notes.doc
This week's assignment requires having read the first half of A Tale of Two Cities. It is due by September 8 by 9 a.m.
ex 2 Horror in 1st half of Tale of Two Cities
Week 3: Complete Macbeth (hopefully). Discuss horror in the first half of A Tale of Two Cities and what this indicates about tensions in Victorian society (even though the story takes place in a previous period). Begin to discuss parallels between the two works.
Grammar: Agreement
BL IV - MacBeth Act V notes.doc
This week's assignment is an in-class essay on September 15 focusing on A Tale of Two Cities to the end of Part 2 as test practice for college, so the question isn't posted ahead of time. Students can't use their books during the exam. It will not be a gotcha question. If you have read thoughtfully, it should not be too hard to say something intelligent about it. It is suggested that students read further than the end of Part 2 to make next week easier.
Week 4: We're still reading Macbeth and will read much of the play this week.
This week's essay is due on September 22 by 9 a.m. Each student will be writing about a different poem. As I don't know who will be in the class when writing this, I will add specific assignments when I have the class list. Students should look below (under weeks 7, 8 and 9) for note sheets about their poems, which will help them in their analysis by asking key questions. We will return to these and a few more poets next trimester to focus on Victorian poems about romance and relationships as we explore those themes. I will update the names to which poems are assigned once I have the class list in early September.
Week 5: In class, we will further discuss the Victorian Period. Introduction of Charles Darwin and in class reading from The Origin of Species. Why I think this book is the basis for most of the Victorian horror fiction that follows it. If we have time, we will watch Darwin's Dilemma from Nova. Grammar: Commas and adverbial clauses
Darwin notes (Origin of Species)
Terry Eagleton on Karl Marx's Literary Style 23
To read the NYTimes's original March 28, 1860 review of On The Origin of Species, go to https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1860/03/28/issue.html?zoom=14.5
Students need to complete A Tale of Two Cities at home to do the essay, which is due September 29 by 9 a.m.
This one, dealing with the idea of learning through tragedy in both Macbeth and A Tale of Two Cities, is more substantial than the previous ones, so students shouldn't plan to do a good bit of reading and then start the essay on Wednesday night.
Week 6: We will discuss Carmilla, Victorian repression and how this connects to horror. Why are vampires so connected to sexuality? Why do they get so popular beginning in the 1860s? Are we seeing Darwin's influence? Students should be reading Robert Louis Stevenson's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and LeFanu's Green Tea at home in preparation for next week's in-class essay. Introduction to Victorian poetry and to Alfred, Lord Tennyson.
Grammar: Commas and Coordinating Conjunctions
For an excellent lecture on Victorian Ghost Stories that Sarah Iles Johnston gave at Brown around Halloween in 2020 that touches on both Carmilla and Green Tea, go to https://www.facebook.com/142848832431413/videos/390646245708296
It's vampire week, and I don't mean the wussy Twilight kind. While Byron's sometime buddy John Polidori's The Vampyre is the first important vampire story in English, as we discussed last trimester, the unjustly forgotten Sheridan LeFanu's Carmilla sparks the first real "spurt" of vampires that includes Bram Stoker's Dracula, which Stoker admitted was inspired by Carmilla. Every time through this cycle, Carmilla brings out the best work I have ever seen from more than one student (often but not always male) who awaken from scholarly slumber like Sleeping Beauty when introduced to this very naughty vamp. I cannot recall ever having a student who didn't enjoy Carmilla. In class, we will discuss the nature of tragedy and knowledge based on last week's essay, Dickens's undervalued subtlety about ethics, particularly with regard to altruism and the echoes of Macbeth in the novel. Grammar: Commas and Subordinate Conjunctions
Vampire unearthed in Rome 2009
Spiritualism, the Lincolns and the Booths 22
This week's essay is due October 6 by 9 a.m., and it's an early Halloween present. You might be interested in looking at the handout about Madame Laballe, a real-life victim of the French Revolution, for interesting parallels.
Week 7: Students teach the poems they wrote about in class, and we work on others together in class. We are likely to spend the week on Tennyson. We will look for themes that appear in Victorian horror fiction and in these poems to assess further this society's concerns. Students should begin reading Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray (not to be confused with that tawdry and I'm sure far less subversive Gray book) by the weekend. This is another text that students have tended to love. Grammar: Commas and Non-Essential Clauses
Tennyson Charge of the Light Brigade notes
Tennyson Crossing the Bar notes
Nice 12 minute discussion with an Oxford professor about In Memorium from the London Review of Books: https://www.lrb.co.uk/podcasts-and-videos/podcasts/close-readings/love-and-death-in-memoriam-by-tennyson?utm_campaign=1537081_20250609CloseReadings&utm_medium=email&utm_source=LRB%20email&dm_i=7NIQ,WY0P,2MIQHO,2KRBN,1
Any outstanding revisions or re-revisions (exercises 1-4 and essay 1) must be completed by 9 a.m. on October 18, so please get help ahead of time.
This week's assignment is an in-class essay on October 13 focusing on Dr. Jekyll and Green Tea. It is more test practice for college, so the question isn't posted ahead of time. Students can't use their books during the exam. It will not be a gotcha question. If you have read thoughtfully, it should not be too hard to say something intelligent about the topic.
Week 8: Introduction to Oscar Wilde. Discussion of Dr. Jekyll and Green Tea Poetry discussions continue. This week, we should be reading poetry by Emily Bronte and Elizabeth Barrett Browning. Grammar: Commas and initial words and phrases and comma review
The myth of Oscar Wilde's martyrdom 21
Original manuscript of Dorian Gray is much more explicit 18
Emily Bronte The Prisoner notes
Emily Bronte To Imagination notes
Emily Bronte I Saw Thee Child notes
Emily Bronte Remembrance notes
Emily Bronte There Let Thy Bleeding Branch Atone notes
EBB the Best Thing In the World notes
EBB The Curse For A Nation (poem)
EBB the Cry of the Children notes
New E Barrett-Browning biography reviewed 21
This is the bye week: there is no essay due this week, so students should get any revisions or re-revisions done immediately or the chance of credit will disappear. Those who are all caught up (hopefully everyone) should relax and enjoy Dorian Gray.
Week 9: We continue with poetry, enjoying the subtleties of Robert Browning and hopefully getting to poor John Clare as well. Grammar: Quotations and Punctuation
Robert Browning The Last Duchess notes
Robert Browning The Bishop Orders Tomb notes
Robert Browning Rabbi ben Ezra notes
The final essay of the trimester is due on October 27 by 9 a.m. despite the fact that it's a field trip day. Feel free to get it in on Wednesday if you don't want to get it in on a field trip day. It is one of the more challenging and longer ones, as it requires you to tie together many of the trimester's themes and texts with special focus on Dorian Gray.
How Oscar Wilde Painted Over Sexuality in Dorian Gray
Week 10: We should be finishing up poetry for the trimester, ending with Matthew Arnold's Dover Beach, a perfect segue to next trimester. Once we have done that, we will discuss Dorian Gray in some detail, and those who were in the class last year can draw parallels to Dr. Faustus. If we have time, we will watch Stephen Fry's film Wilde (either in class or after school). Grammar: Colons
Matthew Arnold Dover Beach notes
There is no essay due this week, but any recent re-revisions (exercise 5) are due Monday by 9 a.m., and the Essay 2 revision must be in by Thursday, November 3 by 9 a.m. and hopefully earlier. There will be no exceptions.
Week 11: We're always a bit behind at this point, so we'll catch up and take time to go explore the themes we have detected in Victorian horror literature and dark poetry and discuss whether Darwin had a part in it. Grammar: Semi-colons
Abbreviated Week 12: Preview of next trimester. Possible Carmilla film. Jeopardy will take place on November 17.
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