Seminar in Reading and Interpretation (300-0-20)

Topic

Jane Eyre and Its Afterlives

Instructors

Jules D Law

Meeting Info

University Hall 418: Mon, Wed 9:30AM - 10:50AM

Overview of class

In this course we will study one of the most famous and influential novels of the 19th century, Jane Eyre, a novel of brilliant idealism and forbidden love whose sinister undertones have weighed increasingly on subsequent generations of readers. How do we read this novel now, and how have adaptations of it over the years addressed its problematic feminism and its subtly racialized romance? We will look at two novelistic adaptations of the novel, Jean Rhys's post-colonial classic Wide Sargasso Sea and Patricia Park's contemporary trans-Pacific novel Re Jane. We will also look at two film adaptations of the novel: the voodoo-inspired I Walked With a Zombie and Carey Fukunaga's brooding Jane Eyre. Finally, we will look at some influential scholarly articles on the novel.

Teaching Method

Seminar discussion.

Evaluation Method

One short paper (15%), one midterm paper (25%), one final paper (40%), class participation (20%).

Class Materials (Required)

Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre (1847) (Penguin, 2006), ISBN 9780141441146
Jean Rhys, Wide Sargasso Sea (1966) (Norton), ISBN 9780393352566
Jane Park, Re Jane (2016) Penguin, ISBN 9780143107941
I Walked With a Zombie (1943, dir. Tourneur)
Jane Eyre (2011, dir. Fukunaga)
Gilbert and Gubar, selections from The Madwoman in the Attic (online)
Spivak, "Three Women's Texts and a Critique of Imperialism" (online)

Texts will be available at: Norris Bookstore.

Class Attributes

Advanced Expression
Literature and Arts Foundational Discipline
Literature & Fine Arts Distro Area
Attendance at 1st class mandatory