Gender, Sexuality, and Literature (361-0-22)
Topic
Dangerous Liaisons: Passion, Betrayal, & Intrigue
Instructors
Samantha Jo Botz
Meeting Info
Parkes Hall 214: Mon, Wed 12:30PM - 1:50PM
Overview of class
Topic: Dangerous Liaisons: Passion, Betrayal, and Intrigue in 18th Century Literature.
The recent surge in popularity of the 18th-century period drama evinced by series like Bridgerton and The Great, and films like The Favourite and Portrait of a Lady on Fire, speak to our modern moment's fascination with the era when, arguably, modernity was born. This course will approach a number of key 18th-century writings and their contemporary adaptations to reflect on the timeless appeal of the historical costume drama. In what ways does the eighteenth-century novel—a category only just beginning to define itself during the period—particularly lend itself to modern adaptation? And what do contemporary films and television series reveal about our relationship with the cultural sensibilities and complex politics of the past? Reading Enlightenment-era and Regency fictions like Jane Austen's satirical novella Lady Susan, Henry Fielding's rakish romp, Tom Jones, and Pierre Choderlos de Laclos's novel of the French Revolution, Dangerous Liaisons alongside films like Stanley Kubrick's Barry Lyndon, Sophia Coppola's Marie Antoinette, and Amma Asante's Belle, we will investigate the ways in which visual and written mediums attempt to offer us a glimpse into the past, as well as how we use might use them to historicize and critique questions of class, race, gender, and sexuality—then and now.
Teaching Method
Discussion-based.
Evaluation Method
Participation, short writing assignments and final essay/project.
Class Materials (Required)
Texts will be available at: Norris.
Class Materials (Suggested)
Texts may include: Henry Fielding, Tom Jones; Pierre Choderlos de Laclos, Les Liasons dangereuses (in translation); Anonymous, The Woman of Colour; Jane Austen, Lady Susan and Sanditon; Mary Wollstonecraft, Mary & The Wrongs of Woman. Films may include: Barry Lyndon, Dangerous Liaisons, Marie Antoinette, The Favourite, Love and Friendship, Belle, Portrait of a Lady on Fire.
Class Attributes
Literature & Fine Arts Distro Area