ENG 302: English Literature II: Restoration through Revolutions; or, Remapping the Modern (1660-1815)

ENG 302 provides a survey of English language works covering the time period between 1660, the year of the Restoration of King Charles II to the throne, and 1815, the year of Napoleon’s ignominious defeat at Waterloo. This “long” eighteenth century saw sweeping historical changes for Britain and the world: including the 1707 Union of England, Scotland and Wales; the expansion of the Transatlantic slave trade; the consolidating power of the British Empire in the Indian Ocean; and revolutions in America, France, and Haiti. In short, we can observe in this period the development of many assumptions and anxieties associated with “modernity,” especially concerning nation, race, and gender. Together we will explore how English language writing of the long eighteenth century reflected and negotiated these histories.