18th-Century Fiction (344-0-21)

Topic

Marriage Plots Before Austen

Instructors

Helen F Thompson

Meeting Info

University Hall 312: Tues, Thurs 11:00AM - 12:20PM

Overview of class

This class will trace the surprising plots that led to marriage—or not—in prose fiction before the modern novel. Jane Austen's chaste courtship plots were preceded by renditions of desire, frustration, rebellion, and amorous failure. Due to women's exclusion from most forms of paid labor, girls were expected to become wives. This expectation was interrogated and subverted in British prose fiction across the "long" eighteenth century (1660 - 1820). We'll encounter extra-marital sex, sapphic desire, incest, sex work, delusion, discipline, remarriage, and many other plot twists which show that the road to the courtship plot was rocky, contested, and definitely not predictable. Texts not purchased in hard copy will be available in a course pack (these are Penelope Aubin, The Life of Charlotta Du Pont, An English Lady; Henry Fielding, The Female Husband).

Class Materials (Required)

Anonymous, The London Jilt. Broadview Editions (ISBN-10: 1-55111-737-1)
Anonymous, The Woman of Colour. Broadview Editions (ISBN-10: 1-55111-176-4)
Daniel Defoe, Roxana. Broadview Editions (ISBN-10: 1-55111-807-6)
Charlotte Lennox, The Female Quixote. Penguin Random House (ISBN-13: 9780140439878)
Sarah Scott, Millenium Hall. Broadview Editions (ISBN-10: 1-55111-015-6)

Class Attributes

Literature & Fine Arts Distro Area
SDG Reduced Inequality
SDG Gender Equality