We will consider the construction and impact of gender roles and sexualities from the 1840s to the 1890s, with attention to literary representation of femininities and masculinities, theories of gender and sexuality, and legal developments. Key course texts will include Tenant of Wildfell Hall, Mill on the Floss, Picture of Dorian Gray, and the series of Pall Mall Gazette articles entitled "The Maiden Tribute of Modern Babylon."