Pride Before the Fall: Seventeenth-Century French Theater

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

This seminar constitutes quite simply an introduction to seventeenth-century French theater. Considered the golden age for the genre in France, with the ‘Big Three’ playwrights Molière, Corneille, and Racine, this period produced the greatest tragedies and comedies in the French tradition. We will ride the highs of the tragic heroes, descend with them into the depths of their lows, and then learn to laugh at these ups and downs with our study of some of the most famous comedies in Western literature. While we will primarily approach these plays as literature––for the text is usually the star––we will also explore their embodiment as a living, breathing work of art. Taught in French.