Fall 2008

E 362L • The British Novel in the 20th Century

Course Description

We will begin our study of the modern British novel with D. H. Lawrence. In Sons and Lovers Lawrence uses the form of the bildungsroman to chart the psychological and sexual parameters of British working class culture. Our second novel, To the Lighthouse, by Virginia Woolf, introduces stunning narrative innovations, tracing the complex interrelationships of a family affected by the tyranny and blessings of love amidst a sea of change. From there we turn to Jean Rhys' Voyage in the Dark, a naturalistic study of a young woman from the Caribbean who struggles to make her way in a predatory male culture in Great Britain based on gender, class, and economic power. From the post World War II era we will read John Fowles' The Collector, a dark, gripping story of class, obsession, and the unfulfilled life. After that we return in our reading to the earlier part of the century with Pat Barker's Regeneration, a profound study of the physical and psychological trauma of the Great War. We will end with a psychological thriller, Patrick McGrath's Asylum, employing a classic unreliable narrator who relates a 1950s tale of sexual obsession, familial loss, and the descent into madness.

Grading Policy

Class Participation 15%
Mid-Term Exam 25%
Essay Assignment 30%
Final Exam 30%

Punctual attendance of all class meetings (to be explained further in course policy handout).

Texts

D.H. Lawrence, Sons and Lovers
Virginia Woolf, To the Lighthouse
Jean Rhys, Voyage in the Dark
John Fowles, The Collector
Pat Barker, Regeneration
Patrick McGrath, Asylum

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