Introductory description

Murder, bigamy, illegitimacy, disguises and secret identities are the heady ingredients of nineteenth-century sensation novels and dramas. But the genre is more than just an amalgamation of shocking events. Popular across boundaries of class and nation, these self-consciously modern works combat restrictive heteronormative ideas of gender and sexuality; engage with up-to-the-minute technologies; and ask provocative questions about contemporary nineteenth-century society. This module asks students to interrogate a range of canonical and lesser-known literary and dramatic works, and to analyse what it really meant to be “sensational” in the nineteenth century.

Module aims

Outline syllabus

This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.

The following is an indicative syllabus, which may vary from year to year.

Week 1: Dion Boucicault, The Octoroon (1859)
Week 2: Wilkie Collins, The Woman in White (1860)
Week 3: Wilkie Collins, The Woman in White (1860)
Week 4: Mary Elizabeth Braddon, Lady Audley's Secret (1862)
Week 5: C. H. Hazlewood, Lady Audley’s Secret (1863)
Week 6: READING WEEK
Week 7: Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, Rajmohan’s Wife: A Novel (1864)
Week 8: Augustin Daly, Under the Gaslight (1867)
Week 9: Florence Marryat, Miss Chester (1875)
Week 10: W. T. Stead, The Maiden Tribute of Modern Babylon (1885)

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

• Critically analyse the set texts in relation to key historical, literary, and dramatic contexts.
• Demonstrate a detailed and coherent understanding of how the sensation genre evolved in both literary and dramatic works, and their interrelations, and assess what impact these different forms have on the representation of sensational events.
• Work in collaboration with other students to examine the set texts, and the sensation genre more broadly, via participation in class discussions, creative exercises, and oral presentations.
• Articulate a fluent and original response to the course material in a summative written assessment.
• Identify and use a wide range of scholarly materials to deepen their understanding of the sensation genre, and its relation to key social, historical, and environmental contexts.

Research element

Students will be assessed via an essay, for which they will be expected to find, and think critically about, secondary literature.

Interdisciplinary

This module examines literature and theatre, and situates these texts within an understanding of key nineteenth-century historical, social, and cultural contexts.

International

The indicative syllabi includes texts from British, Irish, North American and Indian writers.

Subject specific skills

• Understanding of a genre of popular literature and theatre from the 19th century
• Ability to contextualise close readings of set texts within the historical period

Transferable skills

• Critical thinking, via close readings of the set texts and consideration of secondary literature
• Written communication, via a 4,500 word essay
• Oral communication, via in-class discussions
• Presentation skills, via a formative in-class presentation assessment