Morality and Maidens: The Ethics of Women in Literature
by Joanna Johnson
Bibliography
Readings (of course, this is a tiny fraction of the readings that could be assigned here, but I have listed a few I think relevant and/or are part of the curriculum)
Henrik Ibsen A Doll's House Virginia Woolf "A Room of Her Own" and "Shakespeare's Sister" Dorothy and William Wordsworth: Dorothy is still very much in the shadow of her brother William, and debate goes on as to how much of his poetry she informed, perhaps even contributing to his most famous poem "I Wandered Lonely As A Cloud." Kate Chopin, The Awakening Charlotte Perkins Gilman, "The Yellow Wallpaper" (short story); "An Obstacle" (poem) Charlotte Mew "The Farmer's Bride" Aphra Behn's works (Behn was the first female professional playwright: Virginia Woolf once wrote that "All women together ought to let flowers fall upon the tomb of Aphra Behn, for it was she who earned them the right to speak their minds.") Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre Emily Bronte, Wuthering Heights Jean Rhys, Wide Sargasso Sea Jane Austen's works (whichever is/are in the curriculum) Nathaniel Hawthorne The Scarlet Letter George Eliot's works
Secondary Readings Sandra M. Gilbert and Susan Gubar, The Madwoman in the Attic: The WomaN Writer and the Nineteenth Century Imagination. Yale University Press, 1978. Harold Bloom, The Western Canon; The Books and School of the Age
Websites The best general literature site is "Voice of the Shuttle." The literature in English page is http://vos.ucsb.edu/browse.asp?id=3. Has hundreds of links to literary sites. Is somewhat scholarly, but comprehensive. http://www.edb.utexas.edu/resources/booksR4teens/ is a site that lists contemporary texts for teenagers. For general information, book reviews etc. http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/ This site lists all the literature nobel laureates, and is worth exploring in detail. Each winner has a biography, and many have written about what they themselves liked to read when they were young. It's fascinating especially to see that all the scientists read voraciously-useful to point out to those more mathematical or science-oriented students who say they are not writers or readers! www.victorianweb.org This has a great section on the canon, and women's inclusion in it.
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