Course Description
The dual aim of this course is to understand the literature and culture of the eighteenth century and to understand the filmic use of eighteenth-century settings, themes, and texts.
Athena Title
18TH C ON FILM
Prerequisite
Two 2000-level ENGL courses or (one 2000-level ENGL course and one 2000-level CMLT course)
Semester Course Offered
Offered fall
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
The impact of cultural studies on the criticism and scholarship of eighteenth-century British literature has been profound. The age's visual and aural impact, its ideological constructs, its institutional identities--all of these and more aspects of the culture are reflected in the literature and are available for study as texts in and of themselves. This course allows a focus on "text" in the broadest sense by focusing on "why and how" films reproduce the period in the telling of stories set in the eighteenth century. Internet resources make it possible for students to replicate (or even deepen) the knowledge a director will have had to master in order to re-create the world of Tom Jones or Moll Flanders or Barry Lyndon. The expected outcome of the course is a deep understanding of the literature of the period, the milieu in which the literature was produced, and the medium and message of twentieth-century filmic adaptations. Students will demonstrate this understanding in several short essays focusing on the relationship between the literature we read and the films we view; through a midterm and a final examination; and through a research paper that demonstrates their ability to bring knowledge of culture to bear on the analysis of texts. The total writing for the semester will be between 25 and 30 pages.
Topical Outline
Content will vary depending on the instructor, but a typical course outline follows. Course texts: The Engravings of William Hogarth, ed. Sean Shesgreen The Adventures of Tom Jones, Henry Fielding Moll Flanders, Daniel Defoe Barry Lyndon, William Makepeace Thackeray Les Liaisons Dangereuses, LaClos/Stone Poetry, John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester The Interesting Narrative, Olaudah Equiano Tristram Shandy, Laurence Sterne Week 1 Introduction to the eighteenth century: Epistemological and Psychological background; The Primacy of Sight and Narrative Assignments: Skim Books 1 and 2 of Locke’s Essay Concerning Human Understanding; and chapter 4 of Descartes’s Method; Hogarth, Four Times of the Day Film screening - The Eighteenth-Century Woman Week 2 Manners and Mores Assignments: Addison and Steele-read 5 essays (your choice) from the links to the Tatler and/or Spectator under “The Spectator Project”; Hogarth, The Rake’s Progress; Tom Jones Books 1-4; supplemental WebCT reading “Argument of Tom Jones”; Film screening - Tom Jones (1963 film) Week 3 Political and Narrative Authority in Tom Jones and in the process of Filmic Adaptation of literary works Assignments: Tom Jones Books 5-12; supplemental WebCT reading “Man of the Hill episode” under “Articles” Tom Jones Books 9-12; supplemental WebCT reading, “The Gypsey King Episode” under “Articles” Film screening: Tom Jones (BBC), p. 1 Week 4 Recreating the Look and the Significance of Eighteenth- Century London Assignments: Tom Jones Books 13-18; John Gay, "Trivia; or the Art of Walking the Streets of London"; Samuel Johnson "London"; Hogarth "Beer Street" and "Gin Lane" film screening - Tom Jones (BBC) p. 2 Week 5 Lives of the Lower Orders - Prostitutes Assignments: Hogarth, Harlot’s Progress; Moll Flanders; “Cinematic Techiques in A Harlot’s Progress” Film screening - BBC Moll Flanders, pt. 1 Week 6 Lives of the Lower Orders - Criminals Assignments: Moll Flanders, cont'd. Hogarth "Industry and Idleness"; WebCt Old Bailey website Film screening - BBC Moll Flanders p. 2 Week 7 Lives of the Others-Women/Servants/Slaves Assignments: Moll Flanders, 156-252; Selections from Robinson Crusoe; Catherine Parke's essay on Pen Densham's adaptation of Moll Flanders Film screening: Densham's Moll Flanders Week 8 Lives of Others - Slaves/Colonists/Dissenters Assignments: Equiano, Interesting Narrative; Anna Barbauld "Epistle to William Wilberforce"; Thomas Day "The Dying Negro" Film Screening: Amazing Grace Week 9 The Author/Auteur and the Eighteenth Century: William Makepeace Thackeray and Stanley Kubrick Assignment: Barry Lyndon Film screening - Barry Lyndon Week 10 Sentimentalism/Sensibility/Revolution Assignments: Four Stages of Cruelty; Les Liasons Dangereuses; Film screening - Valmont Week 11 Political Critique and Form: from Novel to Stage to Screen Assignment: articles on Liaisons and Scene 18 from Christopher Hampton’s play (on Course Content page); Film screening - Dangerous Liaisons Week 12 Marriage and Property Assignment: Hogarth’s Marriage a la Mode; Pope’s “Epistle to Burlington” WebCT (under “Primary Sources”) and “Interviews with Greenaway (under “Articles”) Film Screening: Peter Greenaway's Draughtsman's Contract Week 13 Philosophical Libertinism on Page and Screen Poetry of Rochester; WebCT reading of selections from Hobbes, Aphra Behn, de Sade Film Screening: Either The Libertine or Quills Week 14 Feminism and Freedom, Then and Now Assignment: WebCT reading Astell, Wollstonecraft, Burke, Godwin, Paine Film screening: Sophia Coppola's Marie Antoinette Week 15: The self-conscious narrative as self-conscious film Assignment: Tristram Shandy Books 1, 2, 8 and 9 Film Screening: Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Tale