Topics in American Literature

This course surveys the classics of nineteenth-century gothic fiction. We will approach the gothic as a realm of writing preoccupied with the monstrous and the foreign--and witness how these dark and exotic forces could become domesticated in novels that depicted what Henry James called "those most mysterious of mysteries, the mysteries which are at our own doors." At times dismissed as superficial, formulaic and merely entertaining, the gothic texts under scrutiny here will also get credit for addressing profound and controversial questions about human nature and the nature of desire. Authors will include Mary Shelley, Charlotte and Emily Bronte, Sheridan Le Fanu, Robert Louis Stevenson and Bram Stoker. Satisfies the Nineteenth Century requirement.
Course Attributes: EN H; BU Hum; AS HUM; FA HUM; AR HUM; EL NC

Topics in American Literature

ENGLISH LITERATURE 317

Section 01