Fall 2024

While a novel is sometimes merely defined as a work of prose that is of considerable length (over 50,000 words according to E.M. Forster), there is a certain realism of characterization and unity of plot that distinguishes the modern novel from earlier works of fiction. This course will examine a variety of British novels from the 18^th to 20^th century both as great works in themselves but also as representative works of major types of novels, looking for what makes this genre particularly modern. Works to be read in their entirety include: Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey, Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre, Robert Louis Stevenson's The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Charles Dicken's Hard Times, E.M. Forster's A Room With a View, Dorothy Sayer's Gaudy Night, and Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited.