This course will center on an intergenerational conversation that resulted in some of the most radical and influential writings of the Romantic movement. The parties in this conversation are the philosopher William Godwin, the feminist Mary Wollstonecraft, their fiction-writing daughter Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, and her poet-husband Percy Bysshe Shelley. We’ll discuss such texts as Godwin’s Enquiry Concerning Political Justice, his novel Caleb Willians, his scandalous memoir of Mary Wollstonecraft, Wollstonecraft’s Vindication of the Rights of Woman and a selection of her fiction, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and some of her shorter fiction, and two of Percy Shelley’s philosophical poems. As seems fitting, students’ interests will in part determine the shape of this study of four staunch democrats.

    W. St Clair, The Godwins and the Shelleys; W. Godwin, Caleb Williams; W. Godwin, Enquiry Concerning Political Justice; M. Wollstonecraft, Vindication of the Rights of Woman

    M. Shelley, Frankenstein; M. Wollstonecraft/ M. Shelley Mary and Maria and Matilda

    M. Shelley, Matilda; W. Godwin, Memoir of the Author of a Vindication...; P. Shelley, Queen Mab; P. Shelley, Prometheus Unbound

    1. Class participation (discussion in class and on the e-mail list) 10%

    2. Short writing assignments (journals, two papers) 30%

    3. Take-home final exam 10%

    4. Major project resulting in a presentation and term paper (c. 15-20 pages) 50%

    Week I (21-25 May)—St. Clair, pp. 1-140; Enquiry, books I-IV

    Week II (28 May-1 June)—St. Clair, 140-237; Caleb Williams; Memoir

    Week III (4-8 June)—St. Clair, 237-336; Vindication; Mary and Maria

    Week IV (11-15 June)—St. Clair, 336-495; Queen Mab

    Week V (18-22 June)—Prometheus Unbound; Frankenstein

    Week VI (25-29 June)—Matilda; presentations

Major Projects:

Center on one or more of the texts we’ve been discussing this term, or use one of our texts to illuminate another text not discussed. A diverse range of approaches is possible: you can be philosophical, lit-critical, cinematic, historical, or all of these. You might wish to examine a Godwin, Wollstonecraft, M. Shelley, or P. B. Shelley text (one of those assigned for class reading, or an outside text) in light of the philosophical principles enunciated in Enquiry or Vindication. You might read a literary text from the period or later and perform a Godwinian or Wollstonecraftian reading upon it, demonstrate how a Godwinian or Wollstonecraftian theme appears within it, or show how the philosophical influences of the Godwin circle shape it. For instance, you might appraise the literary fidelity of Kenneth Branagh’s so-called Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Alternatively, you might interpret a Jane Austen novel in light of Vindication, or trace the implications of Godwinian and Wollstonecraftian education of children as played out in Dickens’s Hard Times, or examine Virginia Woolf’s portrait of the idle, rich, neurotic Clarissa Dalloway (in Mrs. Dalloway) in light of Wollstonecraft’s ideas about the lives women should lead. See me early in the term to discuss possible ideas and approaches.

These projects should combine independent critical thought building upon points raised in class with careful, well-documented research. You should be working on your projects throughout the term. A two-page proposal describing your topic, your reasons for choosing it, the likely approach, and any particular problems you’re having with it is due on June 4. A week later, on June 11, you should turn in an annotated bibliography consisting of six sources you might find useful on your subject. The annotations should contain this information:

    Author, title, and bibliographical citation for source (follow MLA style).

    Brief synopsis of the source, including your evaluation of its authoritativeness or deficiencies.

    Quotation of key passages you might find useful.

    Short comments on how you might use this source in your long paper.

You need not use the same sources included in the annotated bibliography in your long paper, but that paper should contain at least six sources in addition to the primary text being examined. (Thus if you’re performing a Wollstonecraftian reading of Austen’s Sense and Sensibility, your list of six sources would include Wollstonecraft’s Vindication but would not include Austen’s novel.)

The major papers, due on June 28, should be typed, double spaced. Research should be appropriately documented according to MLA style. At the end of the term, each student will conduct a 30-minute seminar on the subject of his or her research.

While we are reading Enquiry and Vindication, you should write chapter-by-chapter abstracts. The abstracts, which can prove highly useful as you pursue your major projects and write your final exam essay, should contain this information: (1) a brief summary of the chapter, (2) selected quotations that strike you as particularly important, and (3) your ideas, impressions, and questions about the readings. Class discussion will be much livelier, informed, and substantive if you invest time and thought in these abstracts.

With the other readings, you should keep journal entries summarizing key points and ideas and your reactions to them. Use a format you find congenial for these entries; again, they’ll be of use to you in discussion and on the take-home final exam.

Reading journals will be due Friday of each week.

We’ll have a class e-mail list for continuing our in-class discussions and raising new ideas. Faithful participation in both in-class and online conversation will be a good thing.

Some of of the Godwin works assigned for class are out of print and thus were unavailable through the usual local bookstores. Some of you may find used copies of these texts at Softcovers or Past Pages; others may check out library copies—but anyone can download Godwin texts by going to the following addresses:

                http://www.socsci.mcmaster.ca/~econ/ugcm/3ll3/godwin/pj.html (for Enquiry Concerning Political Justice)

                http://calvin.pitzer.edu:8080/~dward/Anarchist_Archives/godwin/memoirs/toc.html (for Memoir).

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