The War of Ideas: Politics, Plebeians, and Paranoia in the 1790S

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School of English Sophister Module Description Template 2020-21 Full Name: The War of Ideas: Politics, Plebeians, and Paranoia in the 1790s Short Name: War of Ideas Lecturer Name and Email Address: David O’Shaughnessy / doshaug ECTS Weighting: 10 Semester Taught: MT Learning Outcomes: 1. Articulate the various political positions taken by key literary and political figures during the 1790s. 2. Articulate how less well known forums for political debate such as the theatre, caricature, and political societies contributed to the period’s literary culture. 3. Discuss the impact of Irish political events and writing on British literary and political culture during the period. 4. Examine the historical, political and cultural contexts informing the period. 5. Use high-level transferable skills of analytical and writing techniques in relation to chosen topics studied in the module. Learning Aims: The clash of liberal and conservative factions in Britain during the 1790s and beyond marks the period as one of the most contentious, fertile, and exciting of British literature. We will begin with the Revolution Debate or what has been now termed the ‘war of ideas’, described by one historian as ‘perhaps the last real discussion of the fundamentals of politics’ in Britain. The exchange of pamphlets between Edmund Burke, Thomas Paine, William Godwin, and Mary Wollstonecraft were only the major broadsides in a flurry of literary production in the early 1790s. These texts set in place the central thematics of the rich field of cultural production that would follow. All too often the Romantic period is considered to be concerned solely with poetry but this course sets out to provide a holistic view of the period by considering other genres such as novels, plays, essays, lectures, and political caricature. At a time when the novel was exploding in popularity and the playhouse was a political battlefield between pro- and anti-war partisans from all strata of society, this inclusive approach is essential to understanding fully the magnitude of the debate. Moreover, this course will pay attention to the Irish dimension of the 1790s – a decade that is often considered exclusively from an Anglo-French perspective. In addition to those named above, writers covered may include, for example, playwrights Elizabeth Inchbald and Richard Brinsley Sheridan, novelists Matthew Lewis and Mary Shelley, poet William Blake, and political caricaturist James Gillray. Page 1 of 2 School of English Assessment Details: • Assessment: 2 essays. Essay 1 will be 2000 words (25%) and Essay 2 will be 4000 words (75%). Preliminary Reading List if Available: Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey (1817 Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790) William Godwin, Caleb Williams (1794) Elizabeth Inchbald, Lovers’ Vows (1798) Matthew Lewis, The Monk (1796) Thomas Paine, Rights of Man (1791-2) Mary Shelley Frankenstein (1818) Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792) Page 2 of 2 .

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Politics and Power in the Gothic Drama of MG Lewis
University of Southampton Research Repository ePrints Soton Copyright © and Moral Rights for this thesis are retained by the author and/or other copyright owners. A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the copyright holder/s. The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given e.g. AUTHOR (year of submission) "Full thesis title", University of Southampton, name of the University School or Department, PhD Thesis, pagination http://eprints.soton.ac.uk UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON FACULTY OF LAW, ARTS & SOCIAL SCIENCES School of Humanities Politics and Power in the Gothic Drama of M.G. Lewis By Rachael Pearson Thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy December 2011 1 2 UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON ABSTRACT FACULTY OF LAW, ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES SCHOOL OF HUMANITIES Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy POLITICS AND POWER IN THE GOTHIC DRAMA OF M.G. LEWIS Rachael Pearson Matthew Lewis‟s 1796 novel The Monk continues to attract critical attention, but the accusation that it was blasphemous has overshadowed the rest of his writing career. He was also a playwright, M. P. and slave-owner. This thesis considers the need to reassess the presentation of social power, primarily that of a conservative paternalism, in Lewis‟s dramas and the impact of biographical issues upon this.
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