Literature of the English Country House

Reconstruct the literary history of the English country house

For over 450 years, country houses have attracted the attention of celebrated writers like Thomas More and Charles Dickens.

On this six-week course, you’ll trace depictions of country houses through the works of some of England’s most celebrated writers and some lesser known authors. You’ll journey through the early 16th century to the late 19th century, exploring what the country houses depicted in literature represent and say about society at the time.

Explore the country house as a tool for social commentary

From Jane Austen to Oscar Wilde, many writers throughout history have used their work to highlight social inequality and difference.

Drawing on a range of perspectives including politics and gender, you’ll discuss what close readings of key texts can tell us about contemporary attitudes, and develop your own textual interpretations.

Expand your knowledge of the literary canon

Guided by experts in English Literature, you’ll gain insights from leading academics in the fields of various forms and periods of literature.

Collaborating with your fellow learners throughout, you’ll be introduced to new perspectives and approaches to literature, enriching how you engage with both the texts on this course and beyond.

Access materials from the Special Collections archives at the University of Sheffield

Using archival material including prose, poems, and plays, you’ll develop key close reading skills and research approaches, allowing you to interpret each text more thoroughly and deepen your knowledge of literary history.

By the end of this course, you’ll have explored a wide range of texts centred on the English country house. Using the perspectives you’ve explored, you’ll be able to discuss representations of country houses in literature and engage with texts more deeply.

This course is designed for anyone who enjoys reading and discussing literary texts in English. It would be particularly beneficial for those who are preparing for further study in English Literature, building your text analysis skills. If you are already at degree level in English, this course will supplement your studies.

• Introduction
• Welcome to the course
• An introduction to close reading
• Thomas More's 'Utopia'
• Research approaches: literature and history
• Quiz and review
• Reconstructing the literature of the country house
• Welcome to Week 2
• Research approaches: context, composition and reception
• Working with manuscript material
• Quiz and review
• Additional activity
• Politeness and the 18th-century country house
• From coffee houses to country houses: politeness and conversation in the 18th century
• Understanding print culture
• Women, politics and the literature of the country house
• Quiz and review
• Minds and manners: Jane Austen and the country house
• The country house in 'Pride and Prejudice'
• Quiz and a look forward to next week
• Additional activities
• The malevolent or reclusive owner
• Nameless deeds
• Research Approaches: intertextuality
• Behind closed doors: 'Great Expectations' and the reclusive owner
• Quiz and reflections on the week
• Exit through the giftshop: Transformation
• Oscar Wilde and the end of the century
• 'The Importance of Being Earnest'
• Wilde times
• Check your understanding
• Making connections
• Final reflections