French Classical Theater

3 units

A study of works by Corneille, Molière, and Racine. We consider how the theater contributes to the rise of absolutism in France in the seventeenth century. The depiction of kings and the role of primogeniture; the function of sacrifice; the marginalization of women; the glorification of Ancient Rome; Orientalism; tensions between family and State; and the rise of the bourgeoisie in these plays suggest how the dramas played out on stage mirror the historic spectacle of the court over the course of the century as it develops an increasingly centralized authority culminating in the image of an all-powerful Louis XIV. Prereq: Fr 325 and Fr 326 or one of these courses and the equivalent WU transfer literature course from Toulouse or Paris. One-hour preceptorial required for undergraduates.