Nineteenth-century London expanded tremendously due to British imperialism. The Britons were acquinted with new cultures and religions. Besides the benefits of the forming of London as metropolis,...Show moreNineteenth-century London expanded tremendously due to British imperialism. The Britons were acquinted with new cultures and religions. Besides the benefits of the forming of London as metropolis, the citizens experienced new anxieties. Urbanisation from immigrants led to xenophobia. The use of alcohol and opium rose and the city became even more divided wealth wise. Stevenson, Wilde and Stoker explore these Victorian anxiety.Show less
In 2017 Noordhoff Uitgeverij BV published a set of “Blackbird Classics” for the following academic year which included Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890), William Shakespeare’s Macbeth...Show moreIn 2017 Noordhoff Uitgeverij BV published a set of “Blackbird Classics” for the following academic year which included Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890), William Shakespeare’s Macbeth (1606), and Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter (1850). What is so telling about this set is that all three of these works are associated with the Gothic genre through similar tropes and themes. While finding Shakespeare in this set might raise a few questions, Desmet and Williams explain that to fully understand the Gothic it is important to recognise the genre’s “Shakespearean Origins” (2). Intrigued, I looked further into the publishing history of the Blackbirds and found many instances of Gothic and supernatural novels being published for high-school students. The list included many editions of The Picture of Dorian Gray, several books by Susan Hill, who wrote The Woman in Black (1983), and many other modern Gothics, and a simplified version of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde adapted to be understandable for a younger reading audience. This discovery led me to ask the question what the appeal is of such works for the high-school classroom. Why does the main publisher of educational material for Dutch high schools persistently turn to Gothic classics and other dark supernatural fictions as teaching texts? What follows is a critical examination of what the genre of the Gothic, and specifically the three texts published for 2017 by Noordhoff, have to offer literary education in Dutch high-schools.Show less
