HUAS82041 - Dickensian England

Course Description

Charles Dickens (1812-1870) was an emblematic Victorian figure, representative not least of his age’s relentless concern about the Condition of England. Industrial capitalism and urbanization were transforming an age-old landscape. Victorians had to deal with massive population growth and the disorienting effects of new technologies such as the railroad and telegraph. Ideologies such as utilitarianism and evangelical Christianity altered the way people thought early in the century, while in latter decades they were confronted with the intellectual challenge of Darwinian evolution. We will approach the age in this course using Dickens as a lens through which to understand and evaluate the Victorians.