Courses, seminars, workshops
C1: The Victorian novel and film (re-)presentation
The Victorian novel: overview, characteristics, development, content and construction. The modern age as civilisation of the eye and dominance of the visual, techniques of visual representation.
Bibliography: Radu, Perceptions 136-140.
C2 / S1: Charles Dickens, Great Expectations
The film: Great Expectations (2012), directed by Mike Newell, screenplay by David Nicholls, starring: Jeremy Irvine, Helena Bonham Carter, Holliday Grainger, Ralph Fiennes and Robbie Coltrane. Re-creation of the plot, characters and situations. The novel vs. the film: similarities / differences: the setting: Satis House, Victorian London; the characters: Pip, Estella, Miss Havisham, Abel Magwitch, Joe Gargery; discussion: the final scene between Pip and Estella (‘Estella’). Representation and reception.
Bibliography: Radu, Perceptions (153-156}. Radu, The Palace of Art (41-50). Allen (174-82). Galea (89-106). Ford (147-53). Daiches (1059-64). James (170-1). Levine (183-7).
C3 / S2: Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre
The film: Jane Eyre (1996), directed by Franco Zeffirelli, screenplay by Hugh Whitemore, starring: William Hurt, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Anna Paquin. Re-creation of the plot, characters and situations. The novel vs. the film: similarities / differences – the setting: Lowood School, Thornfield Hall: the characters: Jane, Mrs Reed, Helen Burns, Mr Rochester, Bertha Mason; discussion: the scene after the wedding (‘I Will not Be Yours’). Representation and reception.
Bibliography: Radu, Perceptions (170-172). Radu, The Palace of Art (66-74). Allen (180-90), Galea (114-126), Daiches (1064-6), Ford (256-8). James (107-8 and 160-1). Levine (87-99, 108-10, 126-7 and 136-7)
W1: Research project presentations 1
C4 / S3: Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights
The film: Wuthering Heights (1992), directed by Peter Kosminsky, screenplay by Anne Devlin, starring: Juliette Binoche, Ralph Fiennes, Janet McTeer. Re-creation of the plot, characters and situations. The novel vs. the film: similarities / differences – the setting: Wuthering Heights, Thrushcross Grange, the moors; characters: Catherine, Cathy, Heathcliff, Hindley, Hareton, Mrs Dean; discussion: the scene of Heathcliff’s last visit to Catherine (‘How Can I Bear It?’). Representation and reception.
Bibliography: Radu, Perceptions (176-182). Radu, The Palace of Art (79-87). Allen (194-8). Galea (128-141). Daiches (1064‑6), Ford (260‑73). James (160-1)
C5 / S4: Thomas Hardy, Tess of the d’Urbervilles
The film: Tess (1979), directed by Roman Polanski, screenplay by Gérard Brach and Roman Polanski, starring: Nastassja Kinski, Peter Firth, Leigh Lawson. Re-creation of the plot, characters and situations. The novel vs. the film: similarities / differences – the setting: the house of the d’Urbervilles, the rural countryside; characters: Tess, Alec d’Urbervilles, Angel Clare; discussion: the scene of Tess’ apprehension (‘Stonehenge’). Representation and reception.
Bibliography: Radu, Perceptions (218-221). Radu The Palace of Art (189-196). Galea (180-201), Daiches (1073-82), Ford (406-19), Baugh (1464-74). James (183-4)
C6 / S5: Elizabeth Gaskell, Cranford
The BBC miniseries: Cranford (2007, 2009), created by Sue Birtwistle, Susie Conklin, teleplay by Heidi Thomas, directed by Simon Curtis and Steve Hudson, starring: Judi Dench, Julia McKenzie, Imelda Staunton. The novel Cranford and the novella ‘Mr Harrison’s Confessions’ vs. the miniseries: similarities / differences – the setting: Cranford and the recreation of the Victorian provincial town, the characters: Miss Matty Jenkyns, Mrs. Forrester, Miss Octavia Pole, Lisa Dillon, Dr Harrison; discussion: particularities of the script as adaptation from three novellas by Elizabeth Gaskell published between 1849 and 1858: Cranford, ‘My Lady Ludlow’, and ‘Mr Harrison’s Confessions’ (plus ‘The Last Generation in England’) . Representation and reception.
Bibliography: Radu, Perceptions (191-2).
Dr. Adrian Radu 