English 487:
English Capstone Course

The Gothic

Fall 2005

Stephen C. Behrendt
319 Andrews Hall
Phone: 472-1806
office hours: 2-3 T, 2-4 R
and by appointment

Tentative Schedule

Aug 23  T Introductory matters:

• The course's subject matter, scope and cultural concerns.
• Your opportunities and obligations.
• Getting acquainted with one another and with the course.
• Beginning to explore the historical and cultural contexts of "the Gothic."

Aug 25  R Preliminary exploration continues. Defining terms.
________

Aug 30  T Refining terminology by exploring sources and resources among the visual arts.

Sep   1  R Burke, A Philosophical Inquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of The Sublime and Beautiful
                       complete text is on-line at this link
Sep   2  F Last day to drop this course without it appearing on your record. If you drop this course after today a "W" will appear on your permanent record.
________

Sep   6  T Burke and the arts

• Nicholas Poussin, Winter ("The Deluge") 1660-64
• John Martin, The Deluge  c. 1828

Sep   8  R Walpole, The Castle of Otranto

• the prefaces: rhetoric, ruse, and rustication
• Here are some Study Questions and supplementary links for The Castle of Otranto
  

________

Sep 13  T Walpole

• Walpole and Strawberry Hill

Sep 15  R Walpole and the theatricality of the Gothic

• Could this be made into a stage play?
• Stage design, production values, and the Gothic
• Here is a wonderful website on Gothic Drama in the Romantic Age, 1760-1830

________

Sep 20  T Beckford, Vathek

• What is "Orientalism" in this cultural period?
• "British Orientalism"
• Orientalism in the visual arts:  European artists in general;  later 19th-century British
• Orientalism in music
  

Sep 22  R Beckford

• Beckford and Fonthill Abbey
• Here is a good Beckford website, with lots of interesting links
• And here is one with a three-dimensional model of Fonthill Abbey, including a movie
• And here is an even better Fonthill Abbey website, with lots of pictures, drawings, and descriptions, plus further links
• This link takes you to a facsimile of the first edition of Vathek
  

Sep 27  T Beckford

• Is this work stageable?

Sep 29  R Radcliffe, The Mysteries of Udolpho

• Women writers and the Gothic
• Women readers and the Gothic
• Here is a good Radcliffe website, with some excellent links, including on-line texts
• And here is a link to information about "the female Gothic"
  

Oct   4  T Radcliffe

• Conventions of the Gothic in the 1790s
• Why is there poetry in this novel?

Oct  6  R Radcliffe

• The Gothic and the visual arts in the 1790s
• Here is a good link to information (and other links) about the Gothic in the arts
  

Oct 11  T Dacre, Zofloya

• Here is a Charlotte Dacre website
• Matthew G. Lewis, The Monk, and Gothic sensationalism
• Here is a link to an electronic edition of The Monk
• Schiller, Die Räuber (The Robbers), banditti, trangressive theatre, and Gothic fiction
• Here is a link to an electronic text of The Robbers

Oct 13  R Dacre

• Why do these novels read this way? Does anyone actually talk like this?
• Rhetoric, affect, affectation, and the 1790s reader.
• Circulating libraries
• Here is some background information on circulating libraries, 1742-1900
• Contemporary reviews and "literary reputation"

Oct 14  F Last day to change your course registration to or from "Pass / No Pass"
________

Oct 18  T Fall Semester Break — no class

Oct 20 R  Dacre

• nymphomania, other manias and phobias: the pathology of Gothic deviance
  

Oct 25 T  Shelley, Frankenstein

• Here are some study questions and supplementary links for Frankenstein

Oct 27  R Shelley
________

Nov  1  T Shelley

• Richard Brinsley Peake, Presumption; or, The Fate of Frankenstein
• Frankenstein on stage, celluloid, newsprint, and microchips

Nov  3  R Shelley

• Why has Frankenstein entered the culture so pervasively?
  

Nov  8  T Taking stock of the historical tradition: What have we discovered?

Nov 10  R no class today – Behrendt away from Lincoln (PAMLA)
Nov 11  F Last day to withdraw from this course. After today you will receive a letter grade for the course.
________

Nov 15  T Individual project presentations

Nov 17  R Individual project presentations
________

Nov 22  T Individual project presentations

Nov 24  R Thanksgiving holiday — no class
________

Nov 29  T Individual project presentations

Dec   1  R Individual project presentations
________

Dec  6  T Individual project presentations

Dec  8  R Conclusions, including the nature and future of the Gothic in the 21st century