| Unit name | Eighteenth-Century Women's Writing |
|---|---|
| Unit code | ENGL20031 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | I/5 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12) |
| Unit director | Dr. Batt |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
none |
| Co-requisites |
none |
| School/department | Department of English |
| Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
On this unit we will explore writing by women in the long eighteenth century (c. 1680-1800). Considering the poetry, drama, and prose of writers such as Aphra Behn, Eliza Haywood, Lady Mary Wortley Montagu and Mary Wollstonecraft, we will examine women's literary responses to a range of pressing public and personal subjects, including friendship; love, sex and marriage; the female body; education; politics; class; and slavery. We will be concerned with exploring the place of women writers in literary history: what did female authors write about, and who were they writing for? Is there such a thing as 'women's writing'? In what ways did women writers contribute to the rise of the novel, how successful were they in writing for the stage, how influential was their verse, and what impact did their writing have on political debates? And finally, how have critics from Virginia Woolf onwards understood eighteenth-century women's writing?
On successful completion of this unit students will have (1) developed a detailed knowledge and critical understanding of eighteenth-century women’s writing; (2) in-depth knowledge of some of the critical approaches that have been taken to women’s writing in this period; (3) demonstrated the ability to analyse and evaluate differing critical accounts of the primary literature; (4) demonstrated the ability to identify and evaluate pertinent evidence in order to illustrate/demonstrate a cogent argument; (5) strengthened their skills in argumentation and academic writing.
1 x 2-hour seminar per week.
One short essay of 2000 words (33.3%) and one long essay of 4000 words (66.7%). Both summative elements will assess (1) knowledge and understanding of eighteenth-century women’s writing; test (2) students’ understanding of the cultural context of women’s writing in this period, and of critical approaches to it. In addition the essays will test (3, 4 and 5) students’ ability to analyse and assess competing accounts of the primary texts; their ability to adduce pertinent textual material in support of their argument and their ability to present that argument lucidly and in accordance with academic conventions.
Aphra Behn, Oroonoko and Other Writings ed. by Paul Salzman (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009).
Eliza Haywood, Fantomina and Other Works ed. by Alexander Petit, Margaret Case Croskery and Anna C. Patchias (Broadview, 2004).
Mary Wollstonecraft, Mary and The Wrongs of Women ed. by Gary Kelly (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009)
Paula Backscheider and Catherine Ingrassia eds., British Women Poets of the Long Eighteenth Century: An Anthology (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press)
Melinda Finberg ed., Eighteenth-Century Women Dramatists (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008).
Betty Schellenberg, The Professionalization of Women Writers in Eighteenth-Century Britain (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005).
