Commemorating the King

3 units

The court of Louis XIV at Versailles was remarkable for its grandeur, its consolidation of power, and its celebration of the Sun King. Arguably, all aspects of court life were regulated by the crown and all things produced--whether wars or monuments; art or science; novels or histories--were tributes to the king. All reflected a certain ideology of commemoration, that is, an implicit or explicit validation of the monarch's privilege and prestige, both for his contemporaries and for posterity. We will explore how authors (including Louis XIV, La Bruyère, La Rochefoucauld, Perrault, La Fontaine), artists (Lebrun, Rigaud, Poussin, Félibien), and historiographers/memorialists (Racine, Saint Simon) support the ambitions of the crown through their works. Modern critics Elias, Marin, Burke, and Merlin will guide our research into the activities of the royal family, the ideology of absolutism, and the role of art in affirming the power of Versailles as we continue to memorialize it through surviving texts, monuments, and images. 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 for required for undergraduates.