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English Literature: Literature and Society: Enlightenment, Romantic and Victorian MSc

Awards: MSc

Study modes: Full-time, Part-time

Funding opportunities

This masters programme offers an encounter with a range of topics in literary study centred on the literary history of England, Scotland and Ireland in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

The two core seminar courses, one per semester, survey the development of literary genres in prose and verse in relation to their intellectual, social and political contexts as these changed from the ‘Glorious Revolution’ of 1688 to the end of the Victorian period. These are the centuries which see:

  • the Enlightenment, the invention and elaboration of modern ‘liberal’ ideas of society
  • Romantic conceptions of nationality and national history
  • the challenge to these ideas presented by industrial society and a global Imperial polity

The core courses of this programme will examine the ways in which novels and poems mediated and resisted these and other developments.

Alongside the core courses, each semester students will take an additional seminar course chosen from a range of options.

In both semesters, a research methods course helps prepare students for their masters dissertation, written on a topic of their own choosing between April and August.

The programme will be taught in seminars over two semesters, after which you will write an independently researched dissertation.

You will complete:

  • 2 compulsory (core) courses, each worth 20 credits
  • 2 option courses, each worth 20 credits
  • 40 credits of mandatory training in research methods

The core courses will cover the periods 1688 to 1815 and 1815 to 1900 respectively. You can find out more about these courses, and browse indicative reading lists for them, on our Course Catalogue. Please note that the catalogue is for the current academic year, and may be subject to change.

Option courses

You will take two option courses. The choices we will offer you may include:

  • The Reign of Terror: Fear and Loathing in Romantic Literature
  • Modern Love: Victorian Poetry and Prose
  • Fairy Tales
  • Digital Humanities for Literary Studies
  • Green Thoughts: Landscape, Environment and Literature
  • The Long Summer: Edwardian Texts and Contexts 1900–1910
  • The Novel in the Romantic Period: Gender, Gothic, and the Nation
  • Great Victorian Novel
  • Illness Narratives through History

Your MSc dissertation will be worth 60 credits.

Find out more about compulsory and optional courses

We link to the latest information available. Please note that this may be for a previous academic year and should be considered indicative.

AwardTitleDurationStudy mode
MScLiterature and Society: Enlightenment, Romantic and Victorian1 YearFull-timeProgramme structure 2024/25
MScLiterature and Society: Enlightenment, Romantic and Victorian2 YearsPart-timeProgramme structure 2024/25

Students who successfully follow this programme will gain:

  • knowledge and understanding of 18th and 19th century literary writing in Britain and Ireland in relation to its social, political and intellectual contexts
  • practice in reading literary texts in relation to a range of theoretical and philosophical ideas
  • a grounding in the research methods of literary studies

This programme will help you to identify possible topics for advanced research in English literature, potentially leading to an academic career.

The transferable skills you gain, such as communication, project management and analysis, will give you an edge in a competitive employment market.

Meet our graduates

These entry requirements are for the 2025/26 academic year and requirements for future academic years may differ. Entry requirements for the 2026/27 academic year will be published on 1 Oct 2025.

A UK 2:1 honours degree, or its international equivalent, in English literature or a relevant discipline.

Students from China

This degree is Band C.

International qualifications

Check whether your international qualifications meet our general entry requirements:

English language requirements

Regardless of your nationality or country of residence, you must demonstrate a level of English language competency which will enable you to succeed in your studies.

English language tests

We accept the following English language qualifications at the grades specified:

  • IELTS Academic: total 7.0 with at least 6.5 in each component. We do not accept IELTS One Skill Retake to meet our English language requirements.
  • TOEFL-iBT (including Home Edition): total 100 with at least 23 in each component. We do not accept TOEFL MyBest Score to meet our English language requirements.
  • C1 Advanced (CAE) / C2 Proficiency (CPE): total 185 with at least 176 in each component.
  • Trinity ISE: ISE III with passes in all four components.
  • PTE Academic: total 73 with at least 65 in each component. We do not accept PTE Academic Online.
  • Oxford ELLT: 8 overall with at least 7 in each component.

Your English language qualification must be no more than three and a half years old from the start date of the programme you are applying to study, unless you are using IELTS, TOEFL, Trinity ISE or PTE, in which case it must be no more than two years old.

Degrees taught and assessed in English

We also accept an undergraduate or postgraduate degree that has been taught and assessed in English in a majority English speaking country, as defined by UK Visas and Immigration:

We also accept a degree that has been taught and assessed in English from a university on our list of approved universities in non-majority English speaking countries (non-MESC).

If you are not a national of a majority English speaking country, then your degree must be no more than five years old at the beginning of your programme of study.

Find out more about our language requirements:

AwardTitleDurationStudy mode
MScLiterature and Society: Enlightenment, Romantic and Victorian1 YearFull-timeTuition fees
MScLiterature and Society: Enlightenment, Romantic and Victorian2 YearsPart-timeTuition fees

Funding for postgraduate study is different to undergraduate study, and many students need to combine funding sources to pay for their studies.

Most students use a combination of the following funding to pay their tuition fees and living costs:

  • borrowing money

    • taking out a loan

    • family support

  • personal savings

  • income from work

  • employer sponsorship

  • scholarships

Explore sources of funding for postgraduate study

Search for scholarships and funding opportunities:

Due to high demand, this programme operates a gathered field approach to admissions, with two application deadlines as noted below.

Each application round has a decision deadline, also listed below, but note that we may make offers to the strongest candidates on an ongoing basis, in advance of the published decision deadline.

We strongly recommend that you apply as early as possible, especially if you intend to apply for funding. Applications may close earlier than published deadlines if there is exceptionally high demand. If you are considering applying for our pre-sessional English Language programme, please make sure you apply in Round 1.

Please note that for an application to be reviewed, it must be a complete application by the application deadline with all supporting documentation uploaded, including references and transcripts. If you already have evidence that you meet the English language entry requirements e.g. via an approved English language test, please upload this evidence at the time of your application. If you have not already met your English language requirements, please upload that evidence as soon as you have it.

Selection deadlines

Round Application deadline Places awarded by
1 13 January 2025 17 April 2025
2 29 May 2025 30 June 2025

Deadlines for UK/Scotland fee status

After Round 2, if there are still places available, applications will remain open only to applicants who are eligible for the UK/Scotland fee rate, including the EU/EEA Pre-settled Scotland fee status. Applications will remain open no later than 30 June 2025 and may close earlier than this if the programme becomes full, so we strongly recommend you apply as soon as possible.

If you apply with another fee status after 29 May 2025, your application will be rejected.

(Revised 17 October 2024 to add application deadlines and selection process information)

You must submit one reference with your application.

The online application process involves the completion of a web form and the submission of supporting documents.

Find out more about the general application process for postgraduate programmes:

Further information

  • School of Literatures, Languages & Cultures
  • 50 George Square
  • Central Campus
  • Edinburgh
  • EH8 9LH