What are some details in the novel reflecting that Dorothea's perception of life and choices can be unreliable?
Theory of the Novel HKU 2021 Dashboard
Description
The novel has been one of the most important cultural forms of the past two hundred years. Yet in contrast to poetry and drama, the distinctive formal qualities of the novel have been difficult to define. What is a novel? This course will survey the ways that theorists have sought to understand the novel’s development and its unique form. We will begin with critical accounts of the novel’s rise in the eighteenth century. Why did the novel emerge at this moment, and what is its relationship to other literary and non-literary forms, like the romance and the newspaper? We will then think about the form of the novel and how theorists offer various accounts of its formal structure and its relationship to the world it represents. We will conclude the semester by looking to postcolonial approaches to the novel. This course will focus on the British novel, and we will think about these theories in relationship to the Victorian novel, George Eliot’s Middlemarch.
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What role does the narrator play in the tension (i.e. exacerbating/ briding etc.) between Dorothea's intellectual pursuit and the reality of her position as a woman bound by expectations of marriage and servitude?
How do Dorothea and Celia fulfill and oppose Victorian feminine ideals?
Dorothea sees her relationship to Casaubon not only as lovers, but more as a teacher and a student, or a disciple to a God. Some hints of servitude can also be seen. (“Kissing his unfashionable shoe ties as if he were a Protestant Pope”, “as Milton’s daughters did to their father”) What is Eliot trying to convey through their unique dynamic?
To what extent is Dorothea's attraction towards Mr. Casaubon, and romantic disinterest in Sir James, a reaction to her uncle's continual frustrastions of her attempts to be taken seriously in her intellectual pursuits? Is Dorothea trying to acquire by marriage the intellectual gravitas, one she considers Mr. Casaubon to be in possession of, that a patriarchal society, one represented by Mr. Brooke and his belief that "Young ladies don't understand political economy", has denied her by dint of her gender?
In the few chapters we have read, Dorothea is described as a non-conventional woman who has a great pursuit of knowledge and religion. Both Mr Brooke and Celia see her uniqueness as a woman and it is brought up repeatedly in the story. It is hinted that Dorothea knows the unconventionality of her and is somehow proud of seeing things others are not aware of (i.e. the soul of others.) What is the significance of bringing out the notion of someone's soul (e.g. Casaubon's soul) help develop and shape Dorothea's personality and the readers' impressions of her?
Despite taking pride in seeing things others cannot see, Dorothea considers herself inferior to Casaubon and admires him so much for his scholarly personality. We are told that Dorothea falls in love with Casaubon because of how sophisticated he speaks. There is not much interaction between Dorothea and Casaubon. In fact, Dorothea plans to marry Casaubon because she wants to improve herself, learn from...
moreDorothea's intense religious devotion is prominent in her characterization. However, Eliot chose to introduce her by first describing her physical beauty. What is the intended effect of such an introduction?
What is the significance of narrator intervention in the first ten chapters of Middlemarch?
What does Sir James’ patronizing manner in his intervention in Dorothea’s marriage suggest about female’s role in Middlemarch?
How is idealism contributing to those single-sided admirations seen among the characters? Can idealism itself explain this observation?
What does womanhood mean to Celia and Dorothea Brooke, and to what extent can Dorothea be seen as a parallel to Saint Theresa?
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What are some details in the novel reflecting that Dorothea's perception of life and choices can be unreliable?
What role does the narrator play in the tension (i.e. exacerbating/ briding etc.) between Dorothea's intellectual pursuit and the reality of her position as a woman bound by expectations of marriage and servitude?
How do Dorothea and Celia fulfill and oppose Victorian feminine ideals?
Dorothea sees her relationship to Casaubon not only as lovers, but more as a teacher and a student, or a disciple to a God. Some hints of servitude can also be seen. (“Kissing his unfashionable shoe ties as if he were a Protestant Pope”, “as Milton’s daughters did to their father”) What is Eliot trying to convey through their unique dynamic?
To what extent is Dorothea's attraction towards Mr. Casaubon, and romantic disinterest in Sir James, a reaction to her uncle's continual frustrastions of her attempts to be taken seriously in her intellectual pursuits? Is Dorothea trying to acquire by marriage the intellectual gravitas, one she considers Mr. Casaubon to be in possession of, that a patriarchal society, one represented by Mr. Brooke and his belief that "Young ladies don't understand political economy", has denied her by dint of her gender?
In the few chapters we have read, Dorothea is described as a non-conventional woman who has a great pursuit of knowledge and religion. Both Mr Brooke and Celia see her uniqueness as a woman and it is brought up repeatedly in the story. It is hinted that Dorothea knows the unconventionality of her and is somehow proud of seeing things others are not aware of (i.e. the soul of others.) What is the significance of bringing out the notion of someone's soul (e.g. Casaubon's soul) help develop and shape Dorothea's personality and the readers' impressions of her?
Despite taking pride in seeing things others cannot see, Dorothea considers herself inferior to Casaubon and admires him so much for his scholarly personality. We are told that Dorothea falls in love with Casaubon because of how sophisticated he speaks. There is not much interaction between Dorothea and Casaubon. In fact, Dorothea plans to marry Casaubon because she wants to improve herself, learn from...
moreDorothea's intense religious devotion is prominent in her characterization. However, Eliot chose to introduce her by first describing her physical beauty. What is the intended effect of such an introduction?
What is the significance of narrator intervention in the first ten chapters of Middlemarch?
What does Sir James’ patronizing manner in his intervention in Dorothea’s marriage suggest about female’s role in Middlemarch?
How is idealism contributing to those single-sided admirations seen among the characters? Can idealism itself explain this observation?
What does womanhood mean to Celia and Dorothea Brooke, and to what extent can Dorothea be seen as a parallel to Saint Theresa?