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The Rise of the Gothic: 1764-1831

10 weekly sessions on campus, on Tuesdays at 6-7.30pm, starting from Tuesday 7 October - we are no longer taking enrolments for this course.

Overview

The Gothic - the literature, terror, thrills, chills and, occasionally, abominations - traces its history back to the mid-18th century. This course will explore the early development of the Gothic, looking at key texts and writers, and digging into key themes and concerns of the early Gothic. The course will look at a variety of forms, including novels, poetry, chapbooks and short stories. It will explore recurring features of the Gothic, from virtuous heroines to ruined castles, magnetic villains to blood-drenched vampires. 

The course will introduce you to a range of key early Gothic texts. It will enable you to identify and discuss key features and themes of the early Gothic. It will develop knowledge of contemporary history to understand how the Gothic reflects and comments on contemporary issues.

This course will appeal if you have an interest in the Gothic or the Romantic period or a desire to explore one of the 18th century's most popular and influential genres. You'll be asked to read a novel or short texts for each week but we do understand that, if you're a current student, you may have to prioritise your academic reading, so extracts will also be provided. All readings can be found free online or through the library and most are available in cheap paperback editions. You'll be provided with the opportunity to engage with critical arguments about the Gothic and produce creative work responding to the early Gothic. 

Syllabus

Week 1

  • Theme: Before the Gothic: terror and horror in the long eighteenth century
  • Text: A selection of contemporary extracts will be provided. 

Week 2

  • Theme: Founding the Gothic: Horace Walpole and Clara Reeve’s Gothic romancing
  • Text: Horace Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto (1764).

Week 3

  • Theme: Gothic terrors: virtuous heroines and ruined castles
  • Text: Ann Radcliffe, The Romance of the Forest (1791).

Week 4

  • Theme: Gothic horrors: bleeding nuns and monstrous monks
  • Text: Matthew Lewis, The Monk (1796).

Week 5

  • Theme: The oriental Gothic
  • Text: William Beckford, Vathek (1786).

Week 6

  • Theme: Chivalry and shades: Gothic balladry
  • Text: Selections from the work of Charlotte Dacre, Anne Bannerman and Mary Robinson.

Week 7

  • Theme: Shilling shockers
  • Texts: Isaac Crookenden, 'The Nocturnal Assassin' or 'Spanish Jealousy', and Sarah Wilkinson, 'The Castle of Montabino' or 'The Orphan Sisters'.

Week 8

  • Theme: Devils and doubles: the Scottish Gothic
  • Text: James Hogg, The Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner (1824).

Week 9

  • Theme: The Rise of the vampire
  • Text: John Polidori, ‘The Vampyre’ (1819).

Week 10

  • Theme: Monstrous creations
  • Text: Mary Shelley - Frankenstein (1818).

Course lecturer

Dr Sam Hirst completed their PhD at Manchester Metropolitan University and later turned this research into their first book Theology in the Early British and Irish Gothic, 1764-1834. They are currently working on a book on demonic representation in Gothic fiction. They have published and spoken widely on the Gothic, popular romance, and theologies of the supernatural. They run the weekly lecture programme Romancing the Gothic which invites expert speakers from around the world on all topics more or less Gothic. They are also a regular collaborator with Newstead Abbey, Byron's ancestral home, and the Bronte Parsonage. They have taught English at the universities of Liverpool. Sheffield, Manchester Metropolitan and Oxford Brookes and have conducted post-doctoral research on Byron's life and legacy at the University of Nottingham.

Course fee

  • Standard fee: £155
  • Concession fee: £80.