Femme fatale in 19th century English poetry 3301-LB2041
This course intends to deal with the recurrent topos of the femme fatale as present in the poetry of the Romantic and Victorian periods. Particular emphasis will be put on the mode in which the fatal woman theme was exploited by various 19th century poets and how this topos evolved and transformed itself, at times subverting traditional perception of destructive, cruel, self-engrossed female in order to reveal gender anxieties inherent in the culture of the times. This will lead into a broader discussion about concepts of femininity and masculinity, female and male roles as they were conceived of in the 19th century. We will read chosen excerpts of non-literary texts related to these problems, by such authors as Mary Wollstonecraft, John Stuart Mill, Sarah Stickney Ellis, John Ruskin and W.M. Greg. We will also trace the connections between the literary topos of the femme fatale and the emergence of the New Woman in the second half of the 19th century, which influenced the Woman’s Liberation Movement. Reading list of the primary texts will include poems by S.T. Coleridge, J. Keats, P.B. Shelley, W. Morris, A. Tennyson. D.G. Rossetti, Ch. A. Swinburne, A. Levy and A. Webster.
The understanding of the subject of the course will be further facilitated by the discussion of such concepts as Romantic beauty, the sublime, characteristic 19th century fascination with ways of seeing, the Victorian polarisation of women into angels and demons. Additionally, the analysis of the topos will be aided by visual representations of the poems by Pre-Raphaelite painters.
We will consider contrastive readings of Coleridge’s ‘Christabel’ and Keats’s ‘La belle Dame sans Merci’ (or ‘Lamia’) to alert the students to different directions of criticism. The case of rehabilitating the femme fatale will be considered in Shelley’s ‘On the Medusa of Leonardo da Vinci’. Victorian fatal women will be exemplified by Venus and Dolores (Swinburne), Astarte Syriaca, Sister Helen, Lilith (Rossetti) and Lilian, Kate, Rosalind and Guinevere (Tennyson). Poems by A. Levy and A. Webster will complete the course, offering a fatal woman character created by the female author.
Additional reading will be assigned for each week of the course.
The course will prioritise text analysis (close reading), feminist and gender readings.
The course is offered for the second cycle (MA) students.
Topics of particular classes:
Class 1: Wprowadzenie do kursu
Class 2: S. T. Coleridge - Christabel
Class 3: J. Keats - Lamia
Class 4: P.B. Shelley - Medusa
Classes 5 and 6 - A. Tennyson's Lady Poems and Guinevere
Class 7: W. Morris - Guinevere
Classes 8, 9 and 10: D.G. Rossetti - sonnets and Eden Bower
Classes 11 and 12: Ch. A. Swinburne - Laus Veneris, Dolores
Classes 13 and 14: Amy Levy, Augusta Webster - Medea
Class 15: Final test
Course coordinators
Type of course
Mode
Learning outcomes
Knowledge
Students will have in-depth familiarity with:
K_W01 advanced terminology, theory and research methods corresponding to the state of the art in the disciplines of literary studies and culture and religion studies, in accordance with their chosen specialization (and educational path) - particularly regarding Romantic and Victorian poetry with due attention paid to the issue of "The Woman Question".
K_W04 concepts and principles concerning the protection of intellectual property and copyright
Abilities
Students will be able to:
K_U01 apply the advanced terminology, theories and research methods of literary studies and culture and religion studies to solve complex and original research problems in accordance with his/her chosen specialization (and educational path) particularly regarding Romantic and Victorian poetry and gender studies.
K_U04 apply the concepts and principles of intellectual property protection and copyright law
Social competences
Students will be ready to:
K_K01 critically appraise their knowledge and content obtained from various sources
K_K02 recognize the importance of knowledge in solving cognitive and practical problems; consult experts when required.
Assessment criteria
Carrying out tasks during classes, oral contributions (verified learning outcomes: W,U,K)
Final test (verified learning outcomes: W,U)
Bibliography
Ahern, Stephen. “Listening to Guinevere: Female Agency and the Politics of Chivalry in Tennyson's Idylls.” Studies in Philology. Chapel Hill: Winter 2004.Vol. 101, Iss.1.
Binias, Silke (2007) Symbol and Symptom: the Femme Fatale in English poetry of the 19th century and feminist criticism. Universitatsverlag Winter
Berger, John (1972) Ways of Seeing. London: BBC and Penguin Books.
Christ, Carol ‘The Feminine Subject in Victorian Poetry’ ELH, Vol. 54, No. 2 (Summer,1987), pp. 385-401
Hedgecock Jennifer (2008) The Femme Fatale in Victorian Literature: the danger and the sexual threat.Cambria Press.
Hoeveler, Diane (1990) Romantic Androgyny University Park: Penn State Press.
Jacobs, Carol (1985) "On Looking at Shelley's Medusa." In: Yale French Studies 69 (1985): 163-79
Mash, J. (1995) The Pre-Raphaelite Women: Images of Femininity in Pre-Raphaelite art. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson.
Maxwell, Catherine (2001) The Female Sublime from Milton to Swinburne. Bearing blindness. Manchester and New York: Manchester University Press.
Pearce, Lynne (1991) Woman/Image/Text. Readings in Pre-Raphaelite Art and Literature. Toronto and Buffalo:Toronto University Press.
Peterson, Linda H.‘Tennyson and the ladies’. Victorian Poetry (West Virginia University Press) (47:1) [Spring 2009] , p.25-43
Psomiades, Kathy Alex (1992) ‘Gender Ideology and British Aestheticism’ Victorian Studies Vol. 36, No. 1 (Autumn, 1992), pp. 31-52
Riede, David (1992) Dante Gabriel Rossetti Revisited. New York: Twayne Publishers (ed)(1992) Critical Essays on Dante Gabriel Rossetti. New York: G.K. Hall & Co.
Notes
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Term 2026Z:
The use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools in the classroom is governed by the rules set forth in Resolution No. 16 of the Teaching Council for the programs English Studies, English Studies – Linguistics, and English Studies – Literature and Culture of 9 December 2025 Limit of absences: 3 |