106-056 Character and the Novel

Formerly available as 106-281/381. Students who have completed 106-281 or 106-381 are not eligible to enrol in this subject.

Usually 25 points of first-year English, see Prerequisites

This subject investigates some ideas of self and self-presentation in English novels (mainly 19th century). It considers the intellectual and social pressures which help to promote concepts of 'character' as central to fiction, and focuses on questions of authority, wealth, gender and morality, in the context of changing social practices and beliefs. On successful completion of the subject students should have gained a knowledge of the historical context of the 19th century novel and have developed skills of analysis and imagination in reading that genre.