FREN 3290 - Introduction to 17th Century France

# (LA-AS) Satisfies Option 1.

Spring. 4 credits.

Prerequisites: FREN 2210, FREN 3010, or FREN 3050, CASE Q++ placement.

M. Greenberg.

This course is designed to introduce students to the major literary and cultural currents of seventeenth century France. This period which spans the reigns of Louis XIII and Louis XIV is generally considered the apex of France’s political and esthetic domination of Europe. We will examine the development of “Classicism” in its dramatic, poetic and prose forms (Corneille, Molière, Racine, Mme de Lafayette, Mme de Sevigné, La Rochefoucauld). The important religious and philosophical debates (Pascal, Descartes) will also be brought in to give students an overview of the major epistemic changes of the period.