Spring 2013
Nineteenth-Century British Novel
Paper #1 Assignment
Length:
Due date:
5-8 pages
Tuesday, March 26th beginning of class
1. We have talked about the relative advantages and disadvantages of endogamy
(“cousin marriage” or marriage within one’s class, familiar location, and/or
family) and exogamy (marriage to an “other”—one from a different class,
location, and/or family). Some heroines choose endogamous marriages; some
choose exogamy. Consider the marriage choices offered the heroines of Pride and
Prejudice, Jane Eyre, and Mary Barton. Trace the strengths and weaknesses of
the two types of partners each novel offers its heroine and identify how each
novel implicitly or explicitly argues for the benefits of a particular kind of
marriage (endogamous vs exogamous). What do the choices the heroines make
tell us about normative masculinity in these novels? Do the novels make different
choices or compromises than the heroines? What happens when the exogamous
choice is of a radically different class? What happens when the endogamous
choice is literally related? What are the dangers associated with each position?
2. We have focused in class on two frequently linked plots or narrative and cultural
structures: the education plot and the marriage plot. For example, Pride and
Prejudice shows us how Elizabeth and Darcy must be educated out of their
prejudices to be able to complete their marriage plot. One might also argue that
Darcy has to learn how to propose for Elizabeth to be able to accept him. Do the
protagonists of Jane Eyre and Mary Barton undergo similar education plots as
part of their movement toward (or away from) marriage? Do these plots come
together similarly in Pride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre, and Mary Barton? Does the
relationship between marriage and education differ according to the gender of the
person being educated? Is there room in any of these plots for something less
individual, less psychologically oriented? Are death, work, politics, or religion,
for example, part of other possible plots? Do the endings of these novels give us
any clues about the relative power and persuasiveness of these plots?
3. Each of these novels struggles to represent sexual desire and passion without
offending nineteenth century norms of authorial propriety. While there are clearly
no “sex scenes,” as we have learned to recognize them, in any of these novels,
each text has its own way of introducing passion, its own place for it. Choose one
or two scenes each from Pride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre, and Mary Barton where
you feel the author is, however, codedly, representing physical passion. Compare
these scenes, identifying the codes they use to represent unspeakable desires. Is
one novel more open than the other about passion? Are the scenes that deal most
explicitly with love and marriage always the most passionate? What kinds of
situations does the author create so that she may safely introduce the body to our
view? Are male and female passion represented differently? Remember to focus
closely on the language of each scene.
4. All of the protagonists of these novels are readers of some sort; we see them at
work interpreting books, letters, and faces. In some novels (MB in particular)
literacy itself is an issue. What kinds of readers are the various protagonists?
What do they read and how do they read it? Does reading have a different
meaning in a novel where many of the characters literally can’t read? How is the
act of reading related to the act of teaching, writing, loving, and healing? What
are some of the possible effects on readers of reading a novel about reading?
General specifications and policies for papers:
• No late papers will be accepted unless previous agreement has been made with me
Please be sure your paper follows the following guidelines. It should:
• be typed or word processed, one inch margins Times New Roman 12 pt. font or
equivalent
• be double-spaced
• have an interesting title [not just “Paper #1” or “Marriage in Austen, Brontë and
Gaskell”]; The title should reflect some aspect of the paper’s argument.
• have page numbers
• provide analysis of relevant quotations (at last one or two from each of the
novels your paper covers).
• offer a clear, explicit, and specific analytical thesis