FREN 354 The Desiring Self: Introduction to Renaissance and Seventeenth-Century French Literature
This course is an introduction to Renaissance and seventeenth-century French literature through the theme of “the self that desires.” We will explore the expression of female desire in women Renaissance poets including Louise Labé and Pernette du Guillet in the context of French Neoplatonism. We will consider Molière’s critiques of hypocritical desires of seventeenth-century French society. We will also analyze plays by Jean Racine, where the self with “inner conflict” of desires is staged. Through these and other works, we will examine what shapes the “self” in this time period, what sorts of selves are expressed in the literature, and what selves are enacted through the desiring literary text.