English Literature,
1745-1800
An introduction to the literature and culture of the second half
of the eighteenth century, often known as the Age of Johnson. We
will try to place the readings in their historical and
intellectual contexts, and will chart the great shifts in
sensibility between the so-called Augustanism of Swift and Pope
in the 1720s to the Romanticism of the 1800s. We'll stop along
the way to explore sentimental novels, Gothic and Oriental tales,
comedies of manners, feminist tracts, and prophetic poetry.
Readings will include works by Thomas Gray, Samuel Johnson, James
Boswell, Tobias Smollett, Horace Walpole, Mary Wollstonecraft,
and William Blake.
A temporary syllabus -- still subject
to changes -- is now on-line. If you have questions, contact me
at jlynch@andromeda.rutgers.edu.