Repressed Love in the French Ancien Regime

Catalog description

French literature is often approached through the perspective of romance, passion, and desire. In this course, students examine love in the Ancien regime through its negation. What are the philosophical, religious and social underpinnings of the imperative to refuse both the other and the self? How are these internal conflicts and dilemmas represented in theater, poetry, and novels? How have these representations affected our contemporary understanding of the tension between amorous fulfillment and frustration? The course traces the tradition of erotic self-denial in French literature and thought from the early modern period through the Enlightenment, accompanied with examples in French cinema that reflect the lasting fascination with self-renunciation in modern media and lifestyle. Readings and discussions are in English.