Study of an Individual Author
Topic: THE BRONTES
Class Information
Instructor: Miller, Elizabeth
CRN: 42139
Time: TR 1:40-3:00
Location: 1283 The Grove
GE Areas: Writing Experience
Description
The Brontës
This class will focus on one of the most famous families in literary history: the Brontës. Compelled by their gender and social position to hide their identities behind male pseudonyms, Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Brontë originally published under the names Charles, Ellis and Acton Bell. Revealed to the world, and buoyed by the so-called Brontë myth of their isolation in the Yorkshire moors and their sui generis authorship, they would go on to play an important and enduring role in literary history and the literary canon. Generations of authors and artists, especially women authors and artists, have contended with and reimagined the Brontës ever since. In this class, we will read novels by each of the three sisters: Jane Eyre (1847) by Charlotte, Wuthering Heights (1847) by Emily, and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (1848) by Anne. We will also read a few of the Brontës' poems. We will discuss these works in relation to questions of gender and sexuality; marriage and the marriage plot; authorship, readership, and the public sphere; race and empire; social class; and debates about women's education, work, and social role.
Grading
Grading will be based on papers, quizzes, class participation, and a final exam.
Texts
Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, Anne Brontë
Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë