Eastern Illinois University Homepage

English 3805 Restoration and Eighteenth-Century British Literature

This course surveys British literature and culture from roughly 1688 to 1780. We will study a variety of literary and visual forms relevant to the print culture of the period, including novels, poems, plays, diaries, essays, periodicals, paintings, engravings, and illuminated texts. Our core objectives include gaining an overarching sense of the intellectual history of the Restoration and Eighteenth Century; developing the analytical and verbal skills necessary to discuss the literature and culture of this period; thinking critically about significant issues in cultural history, including authorship, gender, race, and status; and examining the relation of another cultural and historical context to our own. (Group 3A)