Start Date
3 October, 2025
There will be 10 weekly meetings on Friday, 11am - 1pm, starting from 3 October.
Overview
On this course we will look at three novels which in various ways respond to three major events in France’s history: the French Revolution itself, particularly the year 1794; the 1832 June Rebellion ; and the 1848 February Revolution which led to the foundation of the Second Republic.
Anatole France’s Les Dieux ont soif , written in 1912, traces the rise of a young painter, a fiercely Jacobin adherent of Marat and Robespierre, and his eventual fate amid the madness of the Reign of Terror.
Victor Hugo’s monumental 1862 novel, Les Miserables, so well known through many adaptations, tells the story of Jean Valjean, a former convict, and the characters he encounters on his journey to redemption.
Gustave Flaubert’s L’Education sentimentale, published in 1869, follows with bitter irony the life of a young man named Frederic Moreau against the background of French Revolution of 1848 and the founding of the French Second Empire.
All three novels look closely at a range of human behaviour in remarkable and exceptional times and each has a gallery of memorable and intriguing characters.
The class has run for many years and the atmosphere is supportive and collaborative. Students generally read texts in advance of the classes, and sections are read and discussed along with selected critical writing.
Syllabus
Week 1 Historical overview of the period and introduction to Anatole France
Week 2 The Gods will have Blood early chapters
Week 3 The Gods will have Blood
Week 4 Introduction to Victor Hugo and Les Miserables early chapters
Week 5 Les Miserables
Week 6 Les Miserables
Week 7 Les Miserables
Week 8 Introduction to Gustave Flaubert and L’Education Sentimentale early chapters
Week 9 L’Education sentimentale
Week 10 L’Education sentimentale and reflections on the term
Please note that the ‘last date available to book’ date is only a guide. We reserve the right to close bookings earlier.
In order to avoid disappointment, please be sure enrol as soon as possible. Registrations will not be processed until the following day if received after 3pm.
Course Lecturer: Mark Halton
I am a retired English teacher with a lifelong interest in European languages and literature and have been a student on this course for several years. My MA from Liverpool was in Victorian Literature. We work as a group and students bring a stimulating range of experience and opinion to the classes. Seminars on the course will be largely tutor-led but there is always the opportunity for group members to lead discussion on topics of particular interest to them. No former knowledge or experience of European languages is required. All are welcome.
Courses fees: Full fee £155/Concession £80.
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