Victorian England and Brave New World - The Novel (1875 - 1925): Background Papers for Discussion Group Use

Abstract

The following course, which has been arranged for discussion groups of five or more people or for individuals working alone, presupposes the reading of the second volume of Arnold Kettle's two volume study, 'An Introduction to the English Novel' (Home University Library), to which reference is made from time to time. Kettle's study has been chosen because, besides being a sound one, it is easily obtainable. It is suggested that all students endeavour to secure copies for their own library. The method followed by Kettle in his discussion of eminent novelists is to give special attention to single representative novels. The same process is followed both in this course and in the one entitled 'The Rise of the English Novel - 1700-1875', based on the first volume of Kettle's work. The current course is not so concentrated as that on the early English novel, but seeks to anchor the texts to the social and mental climate, presenting the novels as the products of a specific time and environment, despite their universal qualities. Thus the detailed literary analysis is more intense in the evenly numbered chapters, although the course is designed to present the organic growth of the art form in the period in question.