Seminar in 19th-Century British Literature: Writing a Life

This course will explore various forms of "life writing" (biography; fictional biography; and biodramas in particular) as it relates to the following group of authors: Jane Austen; the Brontë sisters; and Agatha Christie (our 20th century outlier). Among the topics we’ll discuss are the characterization of real people; the hybridization of literary biography, literary criticism, and cultural history; the significance of politics and historical context; the blending of fact and fiction; gender and biography; and the ethics of undertaking biographical projects. 

Students will prepare a 20-minute presentation on one of the course readings; a 3pp.review of one of the books we’re reading; and a 15-20pp essay on a biographical subject of their choosing. Texts include Wild for Austen by Devoney Looser; The Brontë Myth by Lucasta Miller; Agatha Christie: A Mysterious Woman by Laura Thompson; Becoming Jane (film); Miss Austen Regrets (film); To Walk Invisible: the Brontë Sisters (film); Agatha (film); and Agatha and the Truth of Murder (TV series). We will also read a variety of essays, some craft-oriented; some critical/theoretical; some reflective, on life writing. These include essays by Virginia Woolf, Leon Edel, Sidonie Smith as well as essays from Metabiography by Caitríona Ní Dhúill and Biography in Theory by Wilhelm Hemecker and Edward Saunders.