Eamonn Hughes, PhD
Tess Maginess, BA, MA, PhD, PFHEA
New Year 2025
5 weekly sessions on Wednesdays 10.00 am to 12.00 noon, starting 22 January
The Big House has occupied an important, if equivocal ground on the island of Ireland. In this five-week course, we will explore a number of Big House novels and two poems on the subject. We will first look at examples of Big house novels written by people from an Anglo-Irish background who lived within the walls and then turn our attention to how writers from outside the walls viewed the Big House. Whether from inside or outside, the perspective of the Big House writers is complex, sometimes tragic, sometimes comic, sometimes both, but always shot through with an ironic and quizzical set of viewpoints on the nature of power, on the meaning of place and the complexities of identity. Works to be discussed are:
22 January - Sommerville and Ross, The Real Charlotte – tutor, Tess Maginess
29 January - Elizabeth Bowen, The Last September – tutor, Eamonn Hughes
5 February - Aidan Higgins, Langrishe Go Down – tutor, Eamonn Hughes
12 February - Molly Keane, Good Behaviour – tutor, Eamonn Hughes
19 February - Paul Muldoon, ‘The Big House’ and Derek Walcott’s ‘Ruins of a Great House’ – tutor, Tess Maginess
Fee £46.00 (concession rate £33.00)
5 CATS Points (Level 1)
This class will take place in QUB campus
Concession: The concession rate is available for those who are in receipt of State Benefits (including pension), or are full-time students, part or full-time Queen’s students or are members of University staff holding a valid staff card:
Course:
