Course Description:

This course will provide in-depth examination of the writings of some of the most important writers of the second generation of British Romantics, centering specifically on the circle formed by Mary Godwin Shelley, Percy Shelley, and Lord Byron, but also briefly examining the influence of Mary Wollstonecraft and William Godwin on the Shelleys in particular.

Course Objectives:

This course will emphasize the importance of critical and analytical skills in examining Romantic-era literature within its historical, interpersonal, and literary contexts.  Students will be expected to utilize their own interpretive abilities in addition to demonstrating the capacity to engage in research of secondary source criticism to inform their in-class discussion and presentations as well as the written requirements for the course.

Teaching Methods and Activities:

Students will be expected to do the following:

• evaluate the works we read in terms of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars and the Greek War for Independence and the legal, political, and social  responses in England and abroad, including the abolition and reform movements;
• examine the complex relationships among the main figures under consideration as well as such ancillary figures as John Polidori, Claire Clairmont, and Leigh Hunt;
• analyze the literary context within which these texts were produced, especially in terms of the intellectual influence of Wollstonecraft and Godwin (in addition to other important figures such as Wordsworth and Coleridge) on the younger writers and the influence of the writers on each other;
• consider the different theories of the mind, political philosophies, and educational beliefs discussed and exemplified in these works;
• investigate the ways in which different modern schools of criticism—psychoanalytic, feminist, Marxist, and poststructalist, for example—have been used to inform the study of these works;
• demonstrate their proficiency in these areas through thoughtful classroom discussion, presentations, and written arguments.

• Students will be expected to complete all assigned readings for each session before coming to class and arrive prepared to discuss them.
• Written assignments will include one brief (1000-1200 words) critical response paper on one of the texts assigned for the course, in addition to a fully-documented critical research paper (6000-word minimum).
• The critical response paper and research paper must be on two separate subjects.
•  Written assignments are due by the end of the business day on the due date. Late papers will be penalized
• Students will also give a brief (10-15 minutes) oral presentation on one of the assigned readings.
• The brief presentation will be selected from a list generated developed by the instructor. A written version of the presentation will be submitted at the time of the presentation. Although no secondary source material is required for this assignment, ALL sources must be CLEARLY cited in the written version of the presentation.  Oral citation of sources will be insufficient and may lead to serious consequences (Please familiarize yourself with the Graduate School's guidelines on academic dishonesty, which can be found in the most recent catalog).
• Students will also be expected during the last week of class to make a twenty-minute oral presentation on their research.
• The longer presentation will also require the submission of a written form of the paper, also including parenthetical citations and a list of Works Cited.

Required Texts:

• Byron, George Gordon. The Major Works. Ed. Jerome McGann. NY: Oxford, 2000.
• Godwin, William. St. Leon: A Tale of the Sixteenth Century. Ed. William Brewer. Ontario: Broadview, 2006.
• Polidori, John. “The Vampyre” and Other Writings. Ed. Franklin Bishop.  Manchester: Fyfeld, 2005.
• Shelley, Mary.  Frankenstein. Ed. J. Paul Hunter. NY: Norton, 1996.
• ---. The Last Man.Ontario: Broadview,, 1996.
• ---. Valperga. Ontario: Broadview, 19998.
• Shelley, Percy. Shelley’s Poetry and Prose. Ed. Donald Reiman and Neil Freistat. 2nd Ed.  NY: Norton, 2002.
• Wollstonecraft, Mary. A Vindication of the Rights of Woman and The Wrongs of Woman, or Maria.  Ed. Anne Mellor and Noelle Chao. NY: Longman, 2006.

• (sl): St. Leon: A Tale of the Sixteenth Century
• (vww): A Vindication of the Rights of Woman and The Wrongs of Woman, or Maria
• (mw): Major Works
• (spp): Shelley’s Poetry and Prose
• (vow): Vampyre and Other Works
• : On-line source

Aug	27	Course Introduction
Sept	3	** Labor Day:  No Class **
	10	William Godwin, Enquiry Concerning Political Justice, (sl): 455-59 and handout  St. Leon: A Tale of the Sixteenth Century Recommended: Collings Essay
	17	Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, (vww): 3-56  The Wrongs of Woman, or Maria, (vww): 235-357  Deadline to Select Topic for Brief Oral Presentation
	24	Lord Byron, (mw):  Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage, Cantos 1-2, 19-104
Oct	1	Percy Shelley, (spp):  “On Love,” 503-4  Alastor, 71-90  “Mutability,” 91-92  “To Wordsworth,” 92  [WW, “London 1802” ]  “Mont Blanc,” 96-101
	8	Lord Byron, “Fragment” (“Augustus Darvell”)  John Polidori,  The Vampyre, 1-21  Ernestus Berchtold, 47-150 Diary of Dr. John William Polidori, 163-211
	15	Mary Shelley,  Frankenstein Lipking, “Frankenstein, the True Story” (F): 313-31 Lord Byron,  “Prometheus,” (mw): 264-66  Critical Response Paper Due
	18-21	International Conference on Romanticism
	22	Lord Byron, (mw):  Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, Canto 3, 104-45  Manfred, 274-314
	29	Percy Shelley, (spp):  “To Constantia,” 107-9  “Ozymandias,” 109-10  “Lines Written Among the Euganean Hills,”  110-19  “Julian & Maddalo,” 119-35  “Stanzas Written in Dejection,” 135-36  “Ode to the West Wind,” 297-301 Deadline for Research Paper Abstracts
Nov	5	Mary Shelley, Valperga
	12	Percy Shelley,  (spp):  Prometheus Unbound, 202-86
	19	Lord Byron, (mw):  Don Juan, 1-2, 372-487
	26	Don Juan, 3-5, 487-588
Dec	3	Mary Shelley,  The Last Man
	10	Student Presentations  Final Research Paper Due

Bibliography:

• Bennett, Betty, and Stuart Curran, eds. Mary Shelley in Her Times.  Baltimore:  Johns Hopkins UP, 2000.
• Blumberg, Jane. Mary Shelley’s Early Novels: ‘This Child of Imagination and Misery.’ Iowa City: U Iowa P, 1993.
• Buss, Helen,  D. L. MacDonald, and Anne McWhir, eds.  Mary Wollstonecraft and Mary Shelley:  Writing Lives. Ontario: Wilfred Laurier UP, 2001.
• Clark, Timothy. Embodying Revolution:  The Figure of the Poet in Shelley. NY: Oxford, 1989.
• Clemit, Pamela. The Godwinian Novel: The Rational Fictions of  Godwin, Brockden Brown, Mary Shelley. NY: Oxford UP, 1993.
• Conger, Syndy M.,  Frederick S. Frank, and Gregory O’Dea, eds. Iconoclastic Departures: Mary Shelley after Frankenstein. Madison, NJ: Fairleigh Dickinson UP, 1997.
• Eberle-Sinatra, Michael.  Mary Shelley’s Fictions: From Frankenstein to Falkner. NY: St. Martin’s, 2000.
• Eisler, Benita. Byron: Child of Passion, Fool of Fame. NY: Vintage, 2000.
• Fisch, Audrey, Anne K. Mellor, & Esther H. Schor, eds. The Other Mary Shelley: Beyond Frankenstein. NY: Oxford, 1993.
• Gilmour, Ian.  The Making of the Poets: Byron and Shelley in Their Time. NY: Carroll & Graf, 2004.
• Gittings, Robert and Jo Manton. Claire Clairmont and the Shelleys, 1798-1879. NY: Oxford, 1995.
• Hill-Miller, Katherine. “My Hideous Progeny”: Mary Shelley, William Godwin, and the Father-Daughter Relationship. Newark, DE: U Delaware P, 1995.
• Hogle, Jerrold. Shelley’s Process: Radical Transference and the Development of His Major Works. NY: Oxford UP, 1988.
• Holmes, Richard. Shelley:  The Pursuit. NY: NY Review of Books, 2003.
• Jacobs, Diane. Her Own Woman: The Life of Mary Wollstonecraft.  NY: Simon & Schuster, 2001.
• Kilgour, Maggie. The Rise of the Gothic Novel. NY: Routledge,  1995.
• MacCarthy, Fiona. Byron: Life and Legend.  NY: Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 2002.
• MacDonald, D. L. Poor Polidori: A Critical Biography of the Author of The Vampyre. Toronto: U Toronto P, 1991.
• McGann, Jerome. Byron and Romanticism. NY: Cambridge UP, 2002.
• Mellor, Anne.  Mary Shelley: Her Life, Her Fiction, Her Monsters. NY: Routledge, 1989.
• Seymour, Miranda.  Mary Shelley. London: Grove, 2002.
• St. Clair, William. The Godwins and the Shelleys: The Biography of a Family. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP, 1991.
• Stabler, Jane. Byron, Poetics and History. NY: Cambridge UP, 2003.
• Sunstein, Emily.  Mary Shelley:  Romance and Reality.  Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP, 1991.
• Todd, Janet.  Mary Wollstonecraft:  A Revolutionary Life. NY: Columbia UP, 2000.