Dangerous Reading: The Eighteenth-Century Novel in England and France
Professors Frank and Rosbottom
Fall 2010: English 48/European Studies 36/ French 62
Office hours: Frank, Johnson Chapel 12, MW 3:30-4:30, jefrank@amherst.edu
Rosbottom, Converse 214, T2-4, Th2-3, rcrosbottom@amherst.edu
Required reading (texts available at Amherst Books or The Option; please buy these
editions, so we’re all on the same page):
1. Daniel Defoe, Moll Flanders, ed. Albert J. Rivero (Norton)
2. Abbé Prévost, Manon Lescaut (Oxford)
3. Samuel Richardson, Clarissa, ed. Sheila Ortiz Taylor (Signet)
4. Choderlos de Laclos, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, (Oxford)
5. Maria Edgeworth, Belinda (Oxford)
6. Isabelle de Charrière, Letters of Mistress Henley, Published by Her Friend (MLA)
One of either (but you have permission to read both, if you wish), for final discussion of the
Gothic:
7a. Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey (Oxford)
7b. Sade, The Misfortunes of Virtue (Oxford)
OR
8. There are also course e-reserves, available on the CMS course site, for which you will be
billed for copyright fees.
Requirements:
A. One take-home exam, due Friday, Oct. 1, at 4 pm (20% of final grade)
B. One paper, 5-6 pages, due Friday, Nov. 12 at 4 pm (25%)
C. Final paper, 8-10 pages, due Tuesday, Dec. 21, at noon (40%)
D. Three (3) commentaries (15%), due by midnight the night before assigned class,
posted on Blackboard.
NB: Unapproved late commentaries will not be considered.
Due dates are designated by alphabetical order, dividing the class into two.
***
This is a large class, but we expect excellent attendance (we know when you don’t
come), and participation (we know when you don’t raise your hand). Borderline grades,
e.g., “shall I give her a B+ or an A-?,” will be influenced by these factors.
Late work, without prior permission, will be accepted, but graded down appropriately.
Finally, we will expect all work to be submitted to us on-line as WORD documents,
appropriately formatted. We will comment on-line and return the work to you that way.
So, learn how to submit attachments in Word, and BACK UP your work. Computer
crashes will not be accepted as excuses for late work.
Speaking of computers: no computers in class, please. And please turn your phone
off before class begins.
SYLLABUS
*on e-reserves
Part I: Reading and Criminality
I.
Sept. 8 Introduction: Is reading still dangerous?
II.
Sept. 13 Moll Flanders; Watt*; 18th-c. London (visit by Prof. Hunt)
Sept. 15 Moll Flanders; Laqueur*
III.
Sept. 20 Moll Flanders; Davis*


COMMENTARY, A- L (subject on Blackboard site)
Due midnight before class
Sept. 22 Manon Lescaut; Darnton*
IV.
Sept. 27 Manon Lescaut; Godineau*


COMMENTARY, M-Z
Due midnight before class
Sept. 29 Manon Lescaut; *Tanner

TAKE-HOME EXAM due by 4 pm, Friday, Oct. 1
Part II: Dangerous Letters
V.
Oct. 4 “Painting Intimacy” (Rosbottom on French art)
Oct. 3 Clarissa; Beebee*
VI.
Oct. 11 fall break
Oct. 13 Clarissa
VII.
Oct. 18 Clarissa; Diderot*


COMMENTARY, A-L
Due midnight before class
Oct. 20 Clarissa
VIII.
Oct. 25 Liaisons Dangereuses (re-read Beebee*)
Oct. 27 Liaisons Dangereuses


IX.
COMMENTARY, M-Z
Due midnight before class
Nov. 1 Liaisons Dangereuses; Laclos*
Nov. 3 Liaisons Dangereuses; Hellman*
Part III: The Dangers of Marriage
X.
Nov. 8 Art of Britain (Lizzie Barker, Mead Art Museum)
Nov. 10 Belinda

XI.
PAPER DUE by 4 pm, Friday, Nov. 12
Nov. 15 Belinda
Nov. 17 Belinda


COMMENTARY, A-L
Due midnight before class
Thanksgiving Break (give thanks for the break)
XII.
Nov. 29 writing workshop, led by Prof. Frank
Nov. 30 Letters of Mistress Henley


XIII.
Dec. 6
Dec. 8
COMMENTARY, M-Z
Due midnight before class
Letters of Mistress Henley/Northanger Abbey
Northanger Abbey/Misfortunes of Virtue; Miles*
XIV. Dec. 13
Dec. 15
Misfortunes of Virtue; Botting*
Conclusion: Do you feel safer about reading now?
FINAL PAPER DUE by 2 pm, Tuesday, Dec. 21