This course will explore the evolving mythic power and enduring imaginative force of the art the Brontes created. Readings will begin with the famous fantasy kingdoms the Bronte children-Charlotte, Emily, Branwell, and Anne-produced while living in an isolated parsonage on the Yorkshire moors in mid-nineteenth-century England. We will then turn to three novels by Charlotte (Jane Eyre, Villette, and Shirley), Emily's poetry and her novel, Wuthering Heights, and selected writings by Anne and Branwell. In addition, each student will read and report on one of the many competing biographies of the Brontes. Subjects for discussion will include the Brontes' own myth-making; the aesthetic transformation of their childhood experiences into fiction and poetry; and the mythologizing and demythologizing of their life and work in contending nineteenth- and twentieth-century biographical and critical accounts of the Brontes. In addition to regular class discussion, the course entails six colloquia, three involving student-led exploration of critical readings on Bronte texts, the others focusing on independent work-in-progress on term projects and competing Bronte biographies. Format: discussion/colloquium. Requirements: active participation, three colloquia presentations, two short papers, and a 15-page term paper. Prerequisite: at least one 300-level English course. Enrollment limit: 15 (expected: 15). Preference to English majors and concentrators in Women's and Gender Studies. (1700-1900)