Gothic

The evolution of Gothic fiction coincides with the flowering of Romanticism and its subsequent nineteenth century transformation as modern literature was invented. On this course you will journey through an ample selection of Gothic literature from its beginnings in the eighteenth century, with Horace Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto, through to twentieth-century transmutations of the genre. Classic works of fiction will be studied including Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, R.L. Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde and Bram Stoker’s Dracula. The course is intended to nurture careful and fresh readings of key works as students work out imaginative ways to talk about the texts. Study visits in Oxford will allow a broader appreciation, through art and architecture, of the ‘gothic’. Participants will be encouraged to reflect on the development of Gothic fiction while focusing on individual writers and their critical reputations.