This course will introduce students to some of the best known authors of French Literature.
Drawing on texts from the Renaissance period through to the development of the Realism in the nineteenth century, this course will provide an insight into the major movements and personalities that have shaped French Literature through the ages. The opening of intellectual horizons in the Renaissance is represented by Montaigne, French Classical theatre by Moliere, the daring satire of the Enlightenment by Montesquieu, the Romantic Movement by Victor Hugo, and Realism by Flaubert and Balzac. The texts to be studied cover a wide range of themes and styles, and include drama, poetry and prose.
The aim of the course will be to explore the evolution of French literature, and to discover how writers from different historical periods interacted with and reacted to the political and social circumstances of their time.