RLFR 206 The Female Prison: Convents and Brothels (Not offered 2006-2007; to be offered 2007-2008)
In this course, we will examine eighteenth-, nineteenth-, and twentieth-century
texts in which woman's destiny is defined in terms of spatial, social, and psychological confinement in mysticism or sexuality, excluding her from marriage and
society. Convents and brothels, schools that teach ambiguous sexuality, subversion, and revolt, may be more interchangeable than antithetical. Texts include
Diderot's La Religieuse, Prevost's Manon Lescaut, Laclos's Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Mme. de Lafayette's La Comtesse de Tende, Mme. de Duras's Ourika,
Maupassant's La Maison Tellier, Zola's Nana, Colette's Gigi, and Beauvoir's Le
Deuxieme Sexe. Conducted in French.
Format: seminar. Requirements: active class participation, several short papers
and class presentations.
Prerequisites: any French literature course. Enrollment limit: 15 (expected: 10).
If overenrolled, preference will be given to French majors and those with compelling justification for admission.