FREN3541: Wicked Women

• French Language 2 (FREN2051) plus one or more from: FREN2011, FREN2031, FREN2061 OR an equivalent qualification to the satisfaction of the Chair of the Board of Studies in MLAC or their representative.

• Modern Languages, Combined Honours and all Joint and 'with' programmes: French Language 4 (FREN3041)). Other: see Chair of the Board of Studies in MLAC or their representative.

• N/A

• To introduce students to a range of texts (plays and novels) depicting supposedly wicked women.
• To consider how these works relate to perceptions of women in the society of the time.
• To look at examples of contemporary real-life wicked women.
• To look at the reception of these plays and novels and think about the pleasure obtained by reading/watching works about supposedly wicked characters.

• Students will study a number of texts (plays and novels) performed and published in France during the 17th and 18th centuries, each of which features as its heroine/anti-heroine a supposedly wicked woman. They will also examine the cases of at least two real-life wicked women of the period (Madame Brinvilliers and Madame Lescombat), together with documents and other materials relating to their cases. The plays to be studied will be taken from a variety of genres: tragedy, comedy and spectacle theatre (machine play). The novels include sentimental, clandestine, and libertine fiction. The works studied will be contextualised by reference to the societal values of the time and attitudes towards women. Students will also consider the works reception and the pleasure obtained by reading/watching works dealing with supposedly wicked characters.

Subject-specific Knowledge:

• Familiarity with 17th-century works from a range of genres.
• Familiarity with key works of the 18th century.
• An enhanced understanding of the different roles occupied by women in 17th- and 18th-century society.
• An awareness of the contemporary debates surrounding the role of women in society.
• Knowledge of key female figures of scandal in 17th- and 18th-century France.

Subject-specific Skills:

• The ability to read, understand and analyse a wide range of early modern theatrical and literary works.
• The ability to read and evaluate related critical and historical works in both French and English.
• The ability to undertake research on a topic related to early modern theatre, the novel or society.

Key Skills:

• Improved reading skills.
• An enhanced familiarity with different varieties of French.
• An improved ability to conduct research.
• Improved essay writing skills.
• Improved skills in oral presentation.

• Weekly lectures and fortnightly seminars.
• Students will be called upon to give sole or group presentations.
• Assessment will be by means of two summative essays (each 50%), with students being given the opportunity to design their own essay titles and research a topic of their choice.
• Teaching will be in English.

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