short writing

Describe some of the major themes of Victorian British literature by closely reading several important texts of the period
Analyze the theme of gender as well as other themes, like those of identity and of social class, in British Victorian literature by interpreting important works of the period
Critique and analyze poems and prose (including scholarly and popular essays, journal/diary entries, and letters) by famous authors of the British Victorian period
Describe fashion and clothing trends during the nineteenth century to get a better sense of the culture of the day in relation to the literature you are studying

General Instructions: (a) Try to write a few sentences in response to each question. (b) Please remember to use a short quote or paraphrase from our anthology by giving page numbers to support the textual evidence you cite in at least three of your answers

1) As evidenced in the sections of Past and Present that you read, what does Thomas Carlyle fear about democracy and the laissez-faire system of capitalism?
2) Why do you think that particular entry from Fanny Kemble’s diary is an important text that demonstrates the changes occurring during the Victorian period?
3) Name a key concept that seems particularly “Victorian”—or “un-Victorian,” if you rather—from any of the excerpts by John Stuart Mill you read (from the essay On Liberty or On the Subjugation of Women).
4) What rather surprising metaphor does Isabella Beeton use to describe how a woman should manage her household?
5) What does Charlotte Brontë complain about in her letter to her sister Emily?
6) What, if anything, did you find surprising in the letters of Queen Victoria? If you were not particularly surprised by the content of the letters, what in her letters seemed quintessentially “Victorian” to you?
7) Regarding the short poem “The Angel in the House” by Coventry Patmore, describe the author’s view of the ideal woman. (Please note: this short poem and a bit of analysis of it—as well as images of Patmore and his wife—are available in this week’s module as a single-page document.)
8) Choose one of the poems by Alfred Tennyson on our syllabus this week and analyze it through the lens of gender. Questions you might consider: What seems to be the specific the construction of masculinity or of femininity in the poem? What “types” of male or female characters do you find in the poems? What role does gender play in the poem?
9) Did anything strike you in particular about the images of dress on our site? What did you learn about Victorian dress that you might not have known before you began this course and/or before you viewed these images? (Or did the images appear as you would have expected?)

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