ENG-304 Restoration and Eighteenth-Century English Literature

GER: TA (Critical, Analytical Interpretation of Texts)
Prerequisite: any first year writing seminar
A survey of English literature and culture from the Restoration of Charles II in 1660 to around 1800, covering a wide range of literary genres, such as Restoration drama, satiric poetry, the travel narrative, the periodical essay, and the novel. The course examines the historical, social, political, and intellectual backgrounds for these texts, such as the declining influence of court culture, the construction of a colonial market economy, discourses of slavery and abolition, and the reevaluation of traditional class and gender hierarchies. Authors studied include Rochester, Wycherley, Behn, Haywood, Aubin, Defoe, Pope, Swift, Fielding, Equiano, and others. 4 credits.