Dangerous Reading: The Eighteenth-Century Novel in England and France

Professors Frank and Rosbottom

Fall 2010: English 48/European Studies 36/ French 62

Office hours: Frank, Johnson Chapel 12, MW 3:30-4:30,

Rosbottom, Converse 214, T2-4, Th2-3,

Required reading (texts available at Amherst Books or The Option; please buy these editions, so we’re all on the same page):

1. Daniel Defoe, Moll Flanders, ed. Albert J. Rivero (Norton)

2. Abbé Prévost, Manon Lescaut (Oxford)

3. Samuel Richardson, Clarissa, ed. Sheila Ortiz Taylor (Signet)

4. Choderlos de Laclos, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, (Oxford)

5. Maria Edgeworth, Belinda (Oxford)

6. Isabelle de Charrière, Letters of Mistress Henley, Published by Her Friend (MLA)

One of either (but you have permission to read both, if you wish), for final discussion of the Gothic:

7a. Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey (Oxford) OR

7b. Sade, The Misfortunes of Virtue (Oxford)

8. There are also course e-reserves, available on the CMS course site, for which you will be billed for copyright fees.

Requirements:

A. One take-home exam, due Friday, Oct. 1, at 4 pm (20% of final grade)

B. One paper, 5-6 pages, due Friday, Nov. 12 at 4 pm (25%)

C. Final paper, 8-10 pages, due Tuesday, Dec. 21, at noon (40%)

D. Three (3) commentaries (15%), due by midnight the night before assigned class, posted on Blackboard.

NB: Unapproved late commentaries will not be considered.

Due dates are designated by alphabetical order, dividing the class into two.

***

This is a large class, but we expect excellent attendance (we know when you don’t come), and participation (we know when you don’t raise your hand). Borderline grades, e.g., “shall I give her a B+ or an A-?,” will be influenced by these factors.

Late work, without prior permission, will be accepted, but graded down appropriately.

Finally, we will expect all work to be submitted to us on-line as WORD documents, appropriately formatted. We will comment on-line and return the work to you that way. So, learn how to submit attachments in Word, and BACK UP your work. Computer crashes will not be accepted as excuses for late work.

Speaking of computers: no computers in class, please. And please turn your phone off before class begins.

SYLLABUS

*on e-reserves

Part I: Reading and Criminality

I. Sept. 8 Introduction: Is reading still dangerous?

II. Sept. 13 Moll Flanders; Watt*; 18th-c. London (visit by Prof. Hunt)

Sept. 15 Moll Flanders; Laqueur*

III. Sept. 20 Moll Flanders; Davis*

·  COMMENTARY, A- L (subject on Blackboard site)

·  Due midnight before class

Sept. 22 Manon Lescaut; Darnton*

IV.  Sept. 27 Manon Lescaut; Godineau*

·  COMMENTARY, M-Z

·  Due midnight before class

Sept. 29 Manon Lescaut; *Tanner

·  TAKE-HOME EXAM due by 4 pm, Friday, Oct. 1

Part II: Dangerous Letters

V. Oct. 4 “Painting Intimacy” (Rosbottom on French art)

Oct. 3 Clarissa; Beebee*

VI. Oct. 11 fall break

Oct. 13 Clarissa

VII. Oct. 18 Clarissa; Diderot*

·  COMMENTARY, A-L

·  Due midnight before class

Oct. 20 Clarissa

VIII.  Oct. 25 Liaisons Dangereuses (re-read Beebee*)

Oct. 27 Liaisons Dangereuses

·  COMMENTARY, M-Z

·  Due midnight before class

IX. Nov. 1 Liaisons Dangereuses; Laclos*

Nov. 3 Liaisons Dangereuses; Hellman*

Part III: The Dangers of Marriage

X. Nov. 8 Art of Britain (Lizzie Barker, Mead Art Museum)

Nov. 10 Belinda

·  PAPER DUE by 4 pm, Friday, Nov. 12

XI. Nov. 15 Belinda

Nov. 17 Belinda

·  COMMENTARY, A-L

·  Due midnight before class

Thanksgiving Break (give thanks for the break)

XII. Nov. 29 writing workshop, led by Prof. Frank

Nov. 30 Letters of Mistress Henley

·  COMMENTARY, M-Z

·  Due midnight before class

XIII. Dec. 6 Letters of Mistress Henley/Northanger Abbey

Dec. 8 Northanger Abbey/Misfortunes of Virtue; Miles*

XIV. Dec. 13 Misfortunes of Virtue; Botting*

Dec. 15 Conclusion: Do you feel safer about reading now?

FINAL PAPER DUE by 2 pm, Tuesday, Dec. 21