Long Live the Queen!": Women, Royalty and Power in the Literature of the Ancien Régime. This seminar will examine historical, cultural and literary portrayals of female royalty in seventeenth-century France. An object of exchange in international relations, a physical "carrier" of the future king, a regent who can rule—but not in her own name—the queen poses thorny questions for political and artistic representations of power. An analysis of her social, symbolic, and politically ambiguous status reveals the paradoxes of a woman exercising sovereignty in a time when the king's body comes to define the State. Readings will include Corneille, Racine, Lafayette, Perrault, Saint Simon, and Saint-Réal.

Units: 1

Max Enrollment: 12

Prerequisites: Two units, FREN 210 or above.

Distribution Requirements: LL - Language and Literature; HS - Historical Studies

Semesters Offered this Academic Year: Not Offered

Notes: