This class introduces students to restoration and eighteen-century literature by focusing on the rise of the novel. Beginning with Aphra Behn’s Oroonoko and ending in the early nineteenth-century with Jane Austen’s Persuasion, we will trace the development of the novel in terms of form, content, and its engagement with social and political issues. We will examine how form affects and is affected by issues such as race, slavery, colonialism, gender, sex, and class. We will enhance our understanding of eighteenth-century literature and culture by reading and analyzing non-fiction primary texts, poetry, and paintings. Finally, we will also read contemporary criticism on the rise of the novel. Students will thus leave this class with knowledge of the novel’s development, the ability to understand how social and cultural issues are represented in the novel, and an understanding of eighteenth-century literature and culture. Assignments include short writings, midterm essay with required revisions, a final essay, student presentations, reading quizzes, attendance, and participation.
Required Texts:
Aphra Behn, Oroonoko
Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe
Eliza Haywood, Love in Excess
Samuel Richardson, Pamela
Frances Burney, Evelina
Jane Austen, Persuasion
Course pack with secondary and primary readings.