The Nine Living Muses of Great Britain.
 By Page after Richard Samuel (http://needled.wordpress.com/2008/04/)
[Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

The long eighteenth century abounds with voices of outspoken, independently minded women authors, perhaps the most notable of whom is praised by Virginia Woolf in A Room of One’s Own: “All women together ought to let flowers fall upon the tomb of Aphra Behn, [...] for it was she who earned them the right to speak their minds.” The authors of this period offer a unique vision into their culture with tales of illicit affairs, debauchery, deception, and good, old-fashioned adventure; they likewise deliver poignant social and educational critiques that were to mark the Blue Stockings Society of the 1750s. Selections for this course will include drama, fiction, poetry, and nonfiction by such notables as Behn, Eliza Haywood, Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, Jane Barker, Charlotte Lennox, and Frances Burney, among others, ending with Jane Austen. Assignments in this discussion-based course will include a blend of short-response writings, in-class content presentations, and a conference-length research essay. Given the content of the course, gender studies upgrades will be available for students interested in this opportunity.

The undergraduate level of this course is 4810; graduate level is 6810. Assignments will be adjusted accordingly for graduate students.