Department of English

During the Victorian Era (1837-1901) modern London took shape, the country prospered as never before, and the British Empire became the largest in the world.  This course will examine selected literature and film from the period, with an emphasis on London. Readings will include selections by Charles Dickens, Oscar Wilde, Bram Stoker (Dracula), A. Conan Doyle (Sherlock Holmes), Matthew Arnold, Alfred Lord Tennyson, and Rudyard Kipling, among others.  Films will include Young Victoria, Topsy-Turvy (about Gilbert and Sullivan), as well as movie versions of novels and stories.  We’ll also pay some attention to Victorian art, with an emphasis on the pre-Raphaelites, and to Victorian architecture.  Museum and site visits will supplement the readings.