ENGL 20146 - Heroes and the Heroic in Literature

Institution:

University of Notre Dame

Subject:

English

Description:

This course focuses on depictions of heroes and heroines in British texts from the 18th to the 20th century, and on the various ways literature of this period engages the theme of the heroic. As we read examples of both poetry and prose, we will investigate how the hero/heroine functions and changes as a literary figure, and how different heroes and heroines reflect cultural values and developments. More specific topics that will be addressed include: this period's new emphasis on previously "unsung heroes," such as the rural and industrial poor; the growing importance of women as authors and as literary subjects; the portrayal of the poet as a kind of hero; and, at the same time, the ironization of the figure or concept of the hero. Potential authors on our reading list will include: Eliza Haywood, Henry Mackenzie, Thomas Gray, William Wordsworth, Lord Byron, Felicia Hemans, Jane Austen, Alfred Lord Tennyson, Robert Browning, Charles Dickens, Thomas Hardy, Wilfred Owen, T.S. Eliot, and Virginia Woolf.

Credits:

3.00

Credit Hours:

Prerequisites:

Corequisites:

Exclusions:

Level:

Instructional Type:

Lecture

Notes:

Additional Information:

Historical Version(s):

Institution Website:

www.nd.edu

Phone Number:

(574) 631-5000

Regional Accreditation:

North Central Association of Colleges and Schools

Calendar System:

Semester

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