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The Romantic period was a time of profound social change and of an extraordinary richness in writers of genius. The module attempts to do justice to both aspects with lectures and seminars on individual authors and works as well as those that address important historical movements, genres, and themes. In the Autumn term lectures situate the literature of the period historically and introduce a number of key works by the period’s most important and influential writers, such as Wordsworth, Coleridge, Wollstonecraft, Blake, Austen, Keats, Byron, and M.W. Shelley. Each Autumn term seminar leader selects four of these works that students in their group will have the opportunity to discuss and examine closely over the course of the term. You are encouraged to use the seminars as a basis for exploring the period more widely, and to read in Romanticism: An Anthology (edited by Duncan Wu), as a good sampler and guide to further reading.

In the Spring term lectures introduce a number of crucial cultural issues, such as the impact of revolutionary politics, constructions of gender and sexuality, the role of literature in times of crisis, and the influence of empire. They also discuss a number of genres and modes, which may include the essay, the Gothic novel, autobiographical writings, or the sublime. Seminars in the Spring term are organised into courses that address a single author (such as Austen), genre (such as life-writing), or theme (such as Romanticism and ecology). Students have the opportunity to express a preference for the course that interests them most.

Examination is by means of a three-hour written exam paper, or by Course Essay if preferred and if no other Course Essay is being submitted by the candidate in that year.