Family Fictions in the Enlightenment

This course will study the changing representation of the family in the literature, art and culture of Enlightenment Europe. We will analyze the critique of traditional models of the family and the construction of an ideal of domesticity based on new concepts of childhood, education and marriage. We will read stories of “domestic misfortunes” as well as proposals for alternative solutions to “ill husbandry.” Readings will include novels, plays, theoretical texts and visual documents (paintings and caricatures).