If You Were Teaching...

[intertext]

a one semester 2nd year college course in "Women's Lit," what novel would you teach???

I'm thinking about Jane Eyre, but would welcome other suggestions, just NOT The Handmaid's Tale, please.

ETA and not Mrs Dalloway, much as I love it, because I teach it in my 20th century lit course that some of my students in this upcoming course might have taken. And lidocafe teaches it in hers, so the same argument applies.

Comments

[frumiousb.livejournal.com]

Only one novel?

Two books came to mind for me, both probably wrong. Evelina is a great book, and one they're unlikely to read other places.

Suggesting The Golden Notebook is probably as bad as suggesting The Handmaid's Tale, but I'm going to do it anyhow.

[intertext.livejournal.com]

Well, I could do two if they were both fairly short. I haven't decided yet if I'm going to do the course historically or by theme or what, but one possibility would be starting with Jane and ending with something else.

Evelina? I'm ashamed to say I don't know it...

[frumiousb.livejournal.com]

Oh, it's lovely. Frances Burney. Not quite the only reason that I dropped prevet to major in English, but at least one of the factors. She's considered a major influence on Austen and I like the book very much. Often shocking, actually, and for a romantic novel it is quite low on sentiment.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evelina

[intertext.livejournal.com]

Oh, I'll have to check it out. I've read one or two of her plays, I think. It would be an interesting choice... again, maybe another year.

Sigh. So many books, so little time :)

[egretplume.livejournal.com]

Would just like to quietly caution that when I recently reread The Golden Notebook, after many years, I found it had not aged well.