FREN 351 - The Art of Deception in Early Modern French Drama

In this course, we will read plays by Corneille, Molière, and Racine that thematize questions of deception, illusion, dissimulation, and dishonesty. We will ask how these playwrights invite both social and literary skepticism in the face of the multiple deceptions they both unveil and create. We will investigate theater’s particular strength as a site for exploring duplicity, asking whether theater functions as a skeptical tool for advancing social critique during this and other periods. Conducted in French.

Unit(s): 1
Group Distribution Requirement(s): Distribution Group I
Prerequisite(s): FREN 212
Instructional Method: Conference
Grading Mode: Letter grading (A-F)
Group Distribution Learning Outcome(s):

Understand how arguments can be made, visions presented, or feelings or ideas conveyed through language or other modes of expression (symbols, movement, images, sounds, etc.).
Analyze and interpret texts, whether literary or philosophical, in English or a foreign language, or works of the visual or performing arts.
Evaluate arguments made in or about texts (whether literary or philosophical, in English or a foreign language, or works of the visual or performing arts).