Continuing Education Course Finder: ENGCS14-1a

What’s Love Got to Do with It? Romance and the Victorian Novel (ENGCS14-1a)

Status: Closed

Fee: $375.00

Timing: 10 sessions from October 5, 2009 - December 14, 2009 on Monday, 7-9pm no class 10/12

Course Description: Boy meets girl. Girl falls in love with boy. Boy becomes a ruthless villain who marries girl’s sister-in-law. Wait, what?? Despite some common misconceptions, Victorian novels are not always filled with ideal, sentimental romantic relationships. In fact, Victorian novelists often use the love plot in unconventional (and sometimes outrageous!) ways. These bizarre relationships often reveal Victorian social concerns about gender divisions, class distinctions, and racial politics. This class will ask how and why the Victorian novels portray various love plots in order to grapple with these larger issues. Why, for example, do the male characters always seem to have a secret wife or lover hidden away? Why does the female love interest so often die mid-courtship? And why is there so often another woman waiting in the wings to replace her so quickly?

In this course, students will be introduced to a sampling of major Victorian novels. Texts may include novels like Charles Dicken’s Great Expectations, Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights, and Bram Stoker’s Dracula. We will also look at present-day movie adaptations of these Victorian texts in order to see how these love plots are changed for a contemporary audience in light of our particular social concerns. The class will be discussion-based and all students will be encouraged to add their own ideas and interpretations of the novels.

Instructor(s): Khristina Gonzalez

Instructor(s) Bio: Khristina Gonzalez is a Ph.D. candidate in the department of English at Brown University. She holds a B.A. from Dartmouth College and a M.A. from the University of Notre Dame. Khristina has been fortunate enough to teach English and Literature to students of all ages, from 4 year-olds learning their alphabet to adult students wanting to read more critically and more enjoyably. She is currently working on her dissertation, a project focused on Victorian narratives of crime and horror.