Writing, writing, writing

First term of the Victorian Studies MA is over: I spent Christmas writing, writing, writing, and the essays were submitted, heart in mouth, the day before the deadline.

For the 'Progress and Anxiety' module, I wrote on Dickens' Bleak House – I looked at the highly ambivalent representation of domestic and household spaces, focusing on the way that the novel abounds with dirt, disorder and disoriented domestic life. I argued that Dickens sets up a moral spectrum of 'approved' and 'disapproved' household systems and domestic topographies, and that it is difficult to establish if this should be read as a radical or conservative moral project. I was so happy writing it!

For the 'Faith and Doubt' module, I wrote on Alfred, Lord Tennyson and Christina Rossetti – I compared the way the two poets explore the efficacy of the poetic voice in approaching an understanding of the divine, arguing that, despite their different poetic styles and belief systems, a shared approach can been seen, even down to shared metaphorical and lexical registers, and both sensing that language is limited and inadequate when it comes to faith. This one was more problematic for me: I will have to think very, very carefully when choosing my dissertation topic, to make sure I have enthusiasm enough to carry me through the required 15,000 words!

This term, 'Race and the Victorians' and 'Fin de Siècle'...

I feel a bit sad that it's one third over already as I am thoroughly enjoying myself – but no time for brooding, there's so much more to do!