ENGL 20412 - Inventing Modernity in Restoration and Eighteenth-Century England

Institution:

University of Notre Dame

Subject:

English

Description:

Much of what we consider to be modern first emerged in the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Our two-party system has its roots in the political upheavals of the seventeenth century, and our paper economy began with the creation of the Bank of England in 1694. Trade, consumerism, and advertising grew dramatically during the period, and shopping became a pastime. The scientific revolution unsettled traditional understandings of the world, and the importance of classical learning decreased. These political, economic, and intellectual changes were accompanied by significant shifts in cultural values. The sexual libertinism of many late-seventeenth-century literary works gradually gave way to celebrations of sensibility and domesticity. These new ideals contributed to the development of the conception of marriage as a loving partnership and not an economic contract between two families. This change in ideas about marriage was part of a larger reconsideration of the role of women in society. During this period, women began to make significant public contributions to the arts and society. Women actors appeared on stage for the first time, and women writers made well-regarded contributions to the formerly male-dominated literary marketplace. We will examine how writers of this period (roughly 1660-1780s) engaged with these breaks with the past and what seemed to be the emergence of modernity. In addition to tracing this theme, we will consider how the idea of modernity affected language and literary form. Assignments: A quiz, a group presentation, three short papers, two longer papers, and a final exam. Major texts: "Moll Flanders," Daniel Defoe; "The Battle of the Books" and "Gulliver's Travels," Jonathan Swift; "Humphry Clinker," Tobias Smollett; "The Man of Mode," George Etherege; "The Rover," Aphra Behn; "The Beggar's Opera," John Gay; poems by the Earl of Rochester, John Dryden, Alexander Pope, Oliver Goldsmith, and William Cowper.

Credits:

3.00

Credit Hours:

Prerequisites:

Corequisites:

Exclusions:

Level:

Instructional Type:

Lecture

Notes:

Additional Information:

Historical Version(s):

Institution Website:

www.nd.edu

Phone Number:

(574) 631-5000

Regional Accreditation:

North Central Association of Colleges and Schools

Calendar System:

Semester

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