What makes a novel a novel? How have our everyday reading practices and habits of media consumption today changed since the Victorian period? And why has novel-reading become such a central part of education in the Liberal Arts and Humanities?
To approach these questions, this course introduces the Victorian “novel of education” as a self-framing genre alongside the period’s social problem and industrial novels. In addition to examples of the Bildungsroman, or coming-of-age narrative, by Charles Dickens, Charlotte Brontë, and others, we will turn to cultural history to examine how discourses of childhood and education, moral and creative development, maturity, identity, and vocation become central concerns for the Victorian novel—and we’ll explore how our understanding of these ideas has shifted over time by revisiting some popular contemporary examples of YA literature.
Our engagement with education and the novel will be framed by a critical approach to the way(s) we read now, drawing on the resources of contemporary cultural criticism, critical university studies, theories of the novel, and our study of literature by and for young readers. You will practice research skills, bring their analytical writing into dialogue with scholarly sources, and develop familiarity with library resources. Assignments will include regular reading responses, in-class presentations, and a critical essay.
Tues-Thurs, 9:30-10:45 am
Spring 2026
Dr. Hannah LeClair
ENG 4880: Literature of the Victorian Period: Education and the Victorian Novel
ENG 4880: Literature of the Victorian Period: Education and the Victorian Novel