Charles DickCharles Dickens and the Victorian Era Meyrav Koren-Kuik
Charles Dickens (1812-1870) was perhaps the most prolific novelist of the Victorian era. Between the years 1836 and 1870 Dickens wrote fifteen novels, most of which were published as weekly instalments in various periodicals. A keen observer of human nature and the forces which influence and control desires and behavior, Dickens’ ensemble of characters and narratives provides a unique and extensive reflection of the cultural, social and political dynamics which shaped Victorian dogma and Victorian world view. His stories cover an extensive social array: from working class to nobility, from criminals to ‘angles in the house’, from the pure of heart to the deformed and morally questionable. Dickens’ versatile narratives explore and critic Victorian culture and Victorian values and morals. With their witty and compassionate tone his stories examine a wide variety of issues; gender roles, production and money, social injustice, criminality, and the city, to name but a few. This course will explore the ways in which Victorian culture is reflected in Dickens’ novels and the techniques used by Dickens to critic his own era. We will read and analyze the novels Oliver Twist (1837), David Copperfield (1849), Bleak House (1852), Little Dorrit (1855), Great Expectations (1860) and Our Mutual Friend (1864). Scholarly texts/essays by Edmund Burke, Charles Darwin, Sigmund Freud, Mikhail Bakhtin, Judith Halberstam, Michel Foucault, and Vijay Mishra (among others) will help enhance our reading of the novels.
ens (1812-1870) was perhaps the most prolific novelist of the Victorian era. Between the years 1836 and 1870 Dickens wrote fifteen novels, most of which were published as weekly instalments in various periodicals. A keen observer of human nature and the forces which influence and control desires and behavior, Dickens’ ensemble of characters and narratives provide a unique and extensive reflection of the cultural, social and political dynamics which shaped Victorian dogma and Victorian world view. His stories cover an extensive social array: from working class to nobility, from criminals to ‘angles in the house’, from the pure of heart to the deformed and morally questionable. Dickens’ versatile narratives explore and critic Victorian culture and Victorian values and morals. With their witty and compassionate tone his stories examine a wide variety of issues; gender roles, production and money, social injustice, criminality, and the city, to name but a few. This course will explore the ways in which Victorian culture is reflected in Dickens’ novels and the techniques used by Dickens to critic his own era. We will read and analyze the novels Oliver Twist (1837), David Copperfield (1849), Bleak House (1852), Little Dorrit (1855), Great Expectations (1860) and Our Mutual Friend (1864). Scholarly texts/essays by Edmund Burke, Charles Darwin, Sigmund Freud, Mikhail Bakhtin, Judith Halberstam, Michel Foucault, and Vijay Mishra (among others) will help enhance our reading of the novels.