Student-Researched Reference Topics

the Catholic Emancipation Act (1829) (John Kim)	Mechanics Institutes
GE's translation of DS Strauss's Das Leben Jesu (Leyla Ballantyne)	Dissenters and the repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts (1828)
the Apothecaries Act of 1815	the Reform Bill of 1832 (Jae Ha)
Thomas Wakley and the Lancet (founded in 1823)	realism in the visual arts of the Victorian Period

Reading Foci

• the feminine ideal, as variously configured by the novel's male and female characters
• the untrustworthiness of appearances--of apparent propriety, wealth, beauty, religiosity
• the novel's portrayal of rural and provincial life, values, and prejudices
• the narrator's reflections on human psychology and motivation
• the purpose of marriage, as variously configured by the novel's characters
• the presence of the narrator's own bias and opinions: obtrusive or helpful?
• the novel's attitude towards various social & personal manifestations of religious faith
• the poetic and philosophical ideals of Will Ladislaw, as echoes of certain Romantic poets
• the narrator's habit of describing various characters as pitiful, or "poor"
• commentary concerning the novel's era (c.1829-32)--its politics, scientific advances, etc.

Week Four: Jan 29-Feb 4