Fall 2001: English 3450-001; CRN23764--Dryden, Swift, and Pope

TR 12.45-2.00 White 120 Hugh Ormsby-Lennon, SAC 466 Office Hours TR 2.15-3.30

COMMUNICATION. E-mail: hugh.ormsby-lennon@villanova.edu (this is best). Feel free to call me directly at home: 215-592-8102. A call there is more immediately effective than one to my office: x94655. For emergencies with papers, I have a home fax 215-238-1187, but please clear the transmission with me first.

I shall be using e-mail to communicate with the class on a regular basis. Please keep up to date. Students who have personal e-mail accounts (yahoo, hotmail &c) must still use Villanova e-mail. If you wish to continue using your personal accounts, go into your Villanova web mail account and set it to forward all communication to your personal account. I shall not take any personal e-mail addresses.

Please note that my home page has many links to sites that are of direct relevance to this class; visits to them will prove rewarding.

Both this syllabus and protocols for my classes can be directly accessed from my home page.

CLASS DESCRIPTION. The restoration of Charles II to the throne of England in 1660 inaugurated a new and exciting (if divisive) age. The impact of the king's restoration upon literature was far-reaching. In prose, a new "plain style" established itself as the norm; in poetry, the "heroic couplet" became the form most commonly used; in drama, new varieties of comedy and tragedy were now acted indoors, with actresses assuming female roles, which had previously been played by boys.

The era of John Dryden (1631-1700), Jonathan Swift (1667-1745), and Alexander Pope (1688-1744) was an intensely exciting one with spectacular changes in politics, religion, science, architecture, music, and culture. Dryden witnessed (from afar) the execution of Charles I in 1649. The aftermath of the Puritan Revolution (1640-1660) was experienced well into the eighteenth century. All three writers commented so extensively upon the events of their times that we may see them as "public" rather than as "private" writers.

In this class, we shall study Dryden, Swift, and Pope against the backdrop of their era. The court of Charles II, the Plague of London, the Great Fire of London, the rebuilding and growth of London, the Popish Plot, the Exclusion Crisis, the Glorious Revolution, the Hanoverian Succession, and Jacobite Rebellions will all provide a context for studying literary masterpieces. Just as importantly, we shall be concerned with the popular culture--fairs, pulp literature, astrology, religious cults--to which all three writers responded. In addition, we shall sample the works of some of their important contemporaries like Samuel Pepys, John Wycherley, and the Earl of Rochester. The engravings of William Hogarth will provide us with a vibrant sense of the physical world through which all of these writers moved, both indoors and outdoors.

Students are exhorted to read the introduction to "The Restoration and the Eighteenth Century" in the Norton Anthology (7^th ed), I, 2045-2070, as well as the headnotes to the individual authors whom we shall discuss. Highly recommended, too, are the headnotes in A Pepys Anthology; these are especially succinct and informative.

READING LIST: please note acronyms

The Norton Anthology of English Literature. 7^th ed. (Norton, 2000): NA

R. and L. Latham ed., A Pepys Anthology. (Univ. of California Press, 1999): PEP

John Dryden, Marriage-a-la-Mode, ed. D. Crane (Norton/New Mermaids, 1991)

William Wycherley, The Country Wife, ed. K. Bush (Cambridge, 1996)

Lord Rochester, Poems, ed. P. Lyons (Everyman, 1996)

William Hogarth, Engravings, ed. S. Shesgreen (Dover, 1973): HOG

J. Mullan and C Reid ed, 18^th C. Popular Culture (Oxford, 2000): POP

Jonathan Swift, Writings, ed. R. Greenberg and W. Piper (Norton, 1973)

Strongly Recommended: R. Lanham, Revising Prose (Allyn & Bacon, 4^th ed)

SYLLABUS:

Aug 28 Introduction to the course. Begin screening of the Oscar-winning film Restoration. 30 Complete screening of Restoration. Review introduction to the class.

In each of the thematic units, as assigned to several classes, we shall examine the works listed sequentially. The speed with which we cover them will depend upon the excitement they engender and the liveliness of our discussion.

Sept T4/R6;  {St Thomas of Villanova Day: Meet 11.15-12.05}; T11/R13; Aftermath of the Puritan Revolution; Restoration; Royal Society; Plague; Fire; London.

Please familiarize yourselves with the map of London in the NA endpapers (inside the cover).

Sept 4-6-11: Aftermath and Restoration.

Samuel Butler, from Hudibras, NA, 2155-2161.

Hogarth, Hudibras, HOG, plates 5-16.

Pepys and the Restoration, PEP, 3-9,`129-132, 143-153, 173-5, 273 138-42.

Edmund Waller, "On St. James's Park" (to be distributed).

Rochester, "To his Sacred Majesty," 3-4 ["In the Fields of Lincoln's Inn"48-9],"A Ramble in St. James's Park," 51-55, "In the Isle of Britain," 88-9, "On the King," 96, "Nelly," 99 "Dialogue," 108.

Sept 11: Royal Society

Dryden, "To Dr. Charleton" (to be distributed)

Abraham Cowley, "Of Wit," NA, 1676-8; "To Hobbes" and "To the Royal Society" (to be distributed)

Thomas Sprat, from The History of the Royal Society (to be distributed)

Pepys on the new science and old beliefs, PEP, 118-126, 167-173, 220-28

Hogarth, "Doctors," HOG, plates 12, 35, 40, 53, 80.

Sept 11-13: London

Pepys on the Plague and Fire, 200-204, 118-26.

Dryden, from Annus Mirabilis, NA, 2073-4; sample his "Prose Criticism," NA, 2114-22.

Dryden, "Mac Flecknoe," NA, 2100-2106.

Swift, "A Description of Morning," "A Description of a City Shower," Writings, 518-20.

Hogarth, "Midnight Modern Conversation," "Four Times of Day," "Beer Street," "Gin Lane," HOG, Plates, 25, 42-5, 75-6.

Sept 18-20-25: Dryden's Marriage a la Mode in context

Dryden, Marriage a la Mode.

Pepys as husband and theatre-goer, PEP, 58-57, 112-117.

Rochester, "All my past life," 35, "Against Constancy," 15, "Woman's Honour," 50, "An Allusion to Horace," 67-70,"The Mistress," 80-1.

Hogarth, "Marriage-a-la-Mode," HOG, plates 51-56.

Sept 27; Oct 2-4-9-11: Wycherley's Country Wife in context

Wycherley, The Country Wife.

Pepys's wardrobe, amours, and jealousies, 72-75, 83-7, 247-254, 255-69

Rochester, "On Poet Ninny," 37-8, "Regime de Vivre," 46, "Vulcan, contrive me," 66, "Signior D.," 91-93

Hogarth, "The Rake's Progress," "Before and After," HOG, plates 28-35, 37-8.

FIRST PAPER DUE

October 15-21 Fall Break

Diligent students will begin reading Swift's Tale of a Tub &c, Writings, 263-420 (skip the "Apology") and POP, 1-179.

October 23----30: Politics, Aesthetics, Philosophy, Criticism

SCHEDULING OF CONFERENCES

Dryden, Absalom and Achitophel, NA, 2075-99; a difficult masterpiece, but concentrate upon lines 1-83, 150-86, 543-67, 631-681, 723-810, 939-1031; passages from Absalom and Achitophel, Part II (to be distributed)

Dryden, "A Song for St. Cecilia's Day," "Alexander's Feast," NA, 2106-2113

Rochester, "A Satire against Mankind," 27-32

Pope, "Essay on Criticism," NA, 2509-2525

Swift, "Meditation," "Tritical Essay," Writings, 421-6.

Hogarth, "Analysis of Beauty," "Battle of the Pictures," HOG. plates 50, 84-5.

Wednesday October 24, Thursday October 25: Student Conferences

October 30: Politics, Aesthetics, Philosophy, Criticism (continued)

November 1, 6-8, 13-15, 20: Swift in Context

Nov 1, 6-8:

Swift, A Tale of a Tub (skip the "Apology"), Battel of the Books (skim this unless you are really having fun),Writings, 263-396. Concentrate, initially, on the opening "Prolegomena" (275-301) and the "Digressions" in the Tale.

Backgrounds to London, argot, pulp literature, fairgoing: POP, 41-65, 78-85, 115-145.

Hogarth, "Southwark Fair," "Distrest Poet," "Bedlam," HOG, plates 27, 41, 35.

Nov 13-15, 20 Swift in Kaleidoscopic Context

Swift, the religious "tale" in A Tale of a Tub, Writings, culminating in The Mechanical Operation of the Spirit; riff The Tatler 230, 448-52 (on language); ruminate upon "An Argument against Abolishing Christianity, 460-471.

Backgrounds to religious enthusiasm, "The French Prophets," POP, 86-114

Swift on astrology, "The Bickerstaff Papers," Writings, 426-441 + xerox.

Astrology on the Protestant Streets, POP, 146-178

Hogarth, "The Sleepy Congregation," "Credulity, Superstition and Fanaticism," 36, 95.

22^nd November: Thanksgiving Recess.

November 27-29: Swift's Poetry

Swift, Writings, 522-79. We shall pay particular attention to "The Progress of Beauty," "Stella's Birthday" (1719 + 1721 + 1727), "The Lady's Dressing Room," "A Beautiful Young Nymph Going to Bed," "Strephon and Chloe," "Cassinus and Peter," "Verses on the Death of Dr. Swift." Students should bear in mind potential comparisons both with Dryden and Lord Rochester.

Hogarth, "A Harlot's Progress," "Before and After," HOG, plates 18-23, 37-8.

December 4-6: Pope on Women and Society

Pope, The Rape of the Lock, [Epistle to Arbuthnot, Dunciad] NA, 2525-44 [2563-73, 2573-79].

December 11: No class-University has adopted a Friday Schedule!

December 13: Retrospect; Gulliver's Travels (in a nutshell; see the video)

Swift, Gulliver's Travels (in Writings).

Hogarth, "The Times," "Bathos," HOG, plates 96-7, 100.

December 21 (Friday) 8:00 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.; Same room. FINAL EXAM AND DUE DATE FOR FINAL PAPERS.

Films Students are encouraged to see a series of movies/videos that will help bring the period to life: Barry Lyndon ( a Kubrick masterpiece), Dangerous Liaisons, Gulliver's Travels (with Ted Danson, Mary Steenburgen and James Fox as the villainous "Master Bates"), Joseph Andrewes, Ridicule, The Three Musketeers, The Four Musketeers, Tom Jones (another masterpiece)-and, of course, Restoration. Tell me what else I might add. You are encouraged to compose a paper exploring cinematographic approaches to the period.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

A detailed explanation of grades, attendance policies, mode of teaching, conferences, expectations of academic honesty, writing center visits, classroom etiquette, and other gravamina will be found in the "Protocols" which I distribute with this syllabus. Like the syllabus, these "Protocols" can be accessed from my home page.

This is a writing enriched class. Students will meet in conference with the instructor to discuss revisions to their first draft paper prior to its resubmission. When writing their papers, students should consult such relevant links from my home page as "Helpful Hints for Writing Essays" and "Quotation." In the former, I allude frequently to Richard Lanham's "paramedic method" from Revising Prose. This is an outstanding guide to writing well; I encourage students to buy it.

Grades will be based on the first draft paper (4-6 pp; 25%), revision (15%), final paper (6-10 pp; 25%), contributions to class discussion (15%), and final examination (20%). Since there will be no quizzes or mid-term examination, poor performance on the final will militate against a student's reception of a good grade. (Poor performance will suggest that a student's reading has been tardy, superficial, or desultory.) The final will be open book (bring the kitchen sink!) and will consist of two parts: (i) identification (with appropriate commentary on style and theme) of representative passages from the works that we have read together; and (ii) an essay question on one or more engravings from Hogarth (to be named at the examination) which invites you to consider them in conjunction with literary works or themes from our semester's reading.

The first draft paper (4-6 pp) is due on Thursday October 11^th. You are invited to write on one of the following topics but you should feel free to propose others (for example, on the film Restoration or on other movies that you have viewed).   

• Compare two short poems (or extracts from longer poems) or two passages of prose or a passage of prose and a short poem (or extract) in such a way as to highlight themes from the period that have been discussed thus far in the course. You may wish to explore contrasts between hudibrastics, pindarics, lyrics, and the heroic couplet.
  
• Explore Restoration attitudes to marriage and sexuality in connection with those presented in Dryden's Marriage a la Mode, Wycherley's Country Wife, and works by Pepys and Rochester which we have read in conjunction with those plays. Were women as powerless as some scholars have led us to believe?
  
• This is the first time that I have assigned works by Pepys and Rochester to illuminate the Restoration and early works by Dryden. Discuss the usefulness of these two new additions to the syllabus of the course. The weakest link (if any)? Be frank (but coherent).
•  

Topics (as well as a due date) for the term paper will be established during class discussion after the Fall Break. In the interim, here are some suggestions.

• This class represents the first time that I have used Mullan and Reid's Eighteenth-Century Popular Culture: A Selection (2000). Explore the ways in which this anthology has helped you to understand the individual works or the period more capaciously. Did it revivify Hogarth's Engravings or other works? Or did it comprise the weakest link?
  
• Compare Dryden's verse portrayal of Zimri (Absalom and Achitophel, lines 544-68) with Samuel Butler's prose character in "A Duke of Bucks" (to be distributed) in the context of Dryden's Discourse on Satire, NA, 2120-21. You should also consult either the Encyclopaedia Britannica (11^th ed) or the Dictionary of National Biography for the life of the Second Duke (make sure you have the right one!). How well does literary imagination of Dryden and Butler square with historical fact?
• Compare the portrayal of women by two bachelors, Jonathan Swift and Alexander Pope. Are the perpetrators of these works as sexist as they have been charged?

• Contrive a topic on A Tale of a Tub and Swift's related writings, Clear the topic with me before you begin tackling it.
  
• Paddle your own essayistic canoe with my blessings and encouragement.

I look forward to more student input.