Readings & Films

[LDT] = Anonymous. Lazarillo de Tormes. Edited and translated by Ilan Stavans. W. W. Norton & Company, 2015. ISBN: 9780393938050. [Preview with Google Books]

[LLD] = Choderlos de Laclos, Pierre. Les Liaisons dangereuses. Reissue edition. Translated by Douglas Parmée. Oxford University Press, 2008. ISBN: 9780199536481. [Preview with Google Books]

[TR] = Zola, Émile. Thérèse Raquin. Reprint edition. Penguin Classics, 2005. ISBN: 9780140449440. [Preview with Google Books]

[KSW] = Puig, Manuel. Kiss of the Spider Woman. Reissue edition. Vintage, 1991. ISBN: 9780679724490.

[TBP] = Rulfo, Juan. The Burning Plain and Other Stories. Illustrated by Kermit Oliver. Translated by George D. Schade. University of Texas Press, 1971. ISBN: 9780292701328. [Preview with Google Books]

SES #	TOPICS	READINGS & FILMS
1	Introduction to the course	[LDT] Prologue and Ch. 1–2
2	Discuss: Lazarillo de Tormes	[LDT] Finish reading Thought questions on Lazarillo de Tormes
3	Discuss: Lazarillo de Tormes	[LLD] Read to Letter 22 Notes on Les Liaisons dangereuses to Letter 22
4	Les Liaisons dangereuses	[LLD] Read to Letter 82 Notes on Les Liaisons dangereuses Letters 40–99
5	Discuss: Les Liaisons dangereuses	[LLD] Read to Letter 146 Notes on Les Liaisons dangereuses Letters 114–146
6	Discuss: Les Liaisons dangereuses	[LLD] Finish reading Notes on Les Liaisons dangereuses Letters 147–End
7	Discuss: Les Liaisons dangereuses	Watch: Dangerous Liaisons
8	Discuss film: Dangerous Liaisons	Watch: Cruel Intentions Notes on Dangerous Liaisons and Cruel Intentions
9	Discuss film: Cruel Intentions Compare two movie versions	[TR] Start reading Important moments in Thérèse Raquin (first half)
10	Discuss: Thérèse Raquin	[TR] Continue reading
11	Discuss: Thérèse Raquin	[TR] Finish reading Important moments in Thérèse Raquin (second half)
12	Finish: Thérèse Raquin	de Assis, Machado. Dom Casmurro. Translated by Helen Caldwell. Reprint edition. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2009. ISBN: 9780374523039. [Preview with Google Books] Person, Ethel S. “Love Triangles.” The Atlantic. February 1988.
13	Discuss: Dom Casmurro	Watch: Doña Flor and Her Two Husbands
14	Discuss: Doña Flor and Her Two Husbands Finish discussion of Dom Casmurro	Mann, Thomas. Dead in Venice. Translated by Stanley Appelbaum. Dover Publications, 1995. ISBN: 9780486287140. [Preview with Google Books]
15	Discuss: Death in Venice	No assigned readings
16	Discuss: Death in Venice	Watch: Death in Venice
17	Discuss film: Death in Venice Finish discussion of Death in Venice	Watch: Cat People [KSW] Ch. 1–11
18	Discuss: Kiss of the Spider Woman to Ch. 11	[KSW] Finish reading
19	Finish discussion of Kiss of the Spider Woman	Watch: Kiss of the Spider Woman
20	Discuss film: Kiss of the Spider Woman	[TBP] “They Gave Us the Land.” [Preview with Google Books] [TBP] “Tell Them Not to Kill Me!” [Preview with Google Books] [TBP] “Paso del Norte.”
21	Discuss: Short stories by Juan Rulfo Guest lecturer: Joaquín Terrones	Márquez, Gabriel García. Chronicle of a Death Foretold. Translated by Gregory Rabassa. Reprint edition. Vintage, 2003. ISBN: 9781400034710.
22	Discuss: Chronicle of a Death Foretold Final discussion	Fourth essay due three days after Session 22

Description of Camille: How is this description different from other descriptions of characters you have read? pp. 13–14; p. 17—the difference between Camille and Thérèse; also last paragraph of p. 18
Description of Thérèse: pp. 15–16: How is this description different from other descriptions of characters you have read? p. 17—the difference between Camille and Thérèse; also last paragraph of p. 18
Description of Laurent: pp. 26–28—what distinguishes this description from others you have read in other novels? (Chapter 5)
p. 46 Analyze the description of Laurent’s physical state. (Chapter 9)
p. 52 Analyze the language of paragraphs 3 and 4. (Chapter 10)
Chapter 16: Changes that occur in the way Laurent and Thérèse think about each other.
Ch. 17 & 18: Terrors shared by Laurent and Thérèse. How do they emerge in the descriptions? Are these descriptions different from ones you’ve read in other novels?
The wedding: Chapter 21. What is the tone of the event?

Their wedding night. How does this foreshadow the rest of the novel?
Chapter 22: Analyze p. 123 from paragraph that begins: “Thérèse’s dry…” and the rest of the chapter. Specifically address the differences in Cecile’s and Laurent’s responses to the situation. Pay special attention to their physiological responses.
Ch. 23, p. 131: How does this chapter end?
Ch. 25, p. 140: A turning point—Laurent leaves his job. What is Thérèse worried about?
Ch. 25, p. 141: Why had Laurent’s painting changed?
Ch. 24, p. 144: They all look like Camille… Why did he have to stop painting?
Ch. 28: Why did Thérèse and Laurent fight continually?
Ch. 29: Mme. Raquin’s torture. Thérèse’s needs. What did Laurent fear?
Ch. 30: What was Laurent’s obsession?
Ch. 31: What is their new obsession?
Ch. 32: Was their death expected? Why?

Everyone will watch both movies as the assignment for Session 8, but each group will pay special attention to one film. Each group should be prepared to run a discussion on either Dangerous Liaisons or Cruel Intentions.

Pay attention to the following (this is not, by any means, a list of issues you must rigidly address in your discussion; just some ideas you might want to consider):

Track the evolution of the characters of your film. Think about the protagonists and the story arc and the similarities and differences in the film version and the novel.
In the novel the Code of Conquest followed by Valmont and Merteuil is rigid. Is this code reflected in the movie?
Considering the fact that a central theme of Liaisons Dangereuses is sexual conflict between Merteuil and Valmont, there are surprisingly few overtly sexual scenes, yet there is a great deal of sexual tension. How is this tension created in the novel? In your movie? Is the movie successful in this regard?
Consider the differences related to film/print. As you compare the unfolding actions, which is more successful in developing character, plot, 18th Century Enlightenment France?
Does the visual representation of the novel allow you to better understand the characters’ dilemmas or did you feel the book deepened your understanding of their actions in ways the film did not?

Of course other points of reference will occur to you … these are just some ideas.

Letter 114: What is Tourvel’s tone? What does it reveal?

Letter 115: What is Valmont’s attitude towards Tourvel here? Do you think he’s putting on an act to show Merteuil that he is sticking to his libertine morals? Why doesn’t he want her to have an affair with Danceny? He volunteers himself as a way to assuage her boredom. “I already have a first inkling that the husband of my young pupil runs no danger of dying childless and that the future head of the house of Gercourt will be a scion of the house of Valmont” (p. 259) what does this mean?

Letter 118 : First letter from Danceny to Merteuil.

Letter 119: Rosemonde tells Tourvel that Valmont is now going to mass!

Letter 120: Valmont to Father Anselme. Asks him to be a go-between with Tourvel. Wants priest to get Tourvel to grant him a meeting. Gives him all the letters.

Important letter — Letter 122: Is Rosemonde taken in by Valmont?

Letter 123: Priest has convinced Tourvel to see Valmont. What is the priest’s language like? Is he a fool? What role does religion play in his blindness?

Letter 124: Tourvel’s distress, guilt at having ever seen Valmont. “humiliating fate” that Valmont no longer (she thinks) cares about her, but she cares about him.

PART IV

Important letter — Letter 125: Valmont tells Merteuil that he has “taken” Tourvel. Valmont worries that he has been overcome by passion—“I must first of all fight it and analyze it more closely.” Valmont presented self as “a timid and penitent slave…” (p. 278) Valmont threatens suicide if he can’t have her; SHE implores him not to leave. (p. 281) Now Valmont wants Merteuil to devote herself to him.

Letter 126: Rosemonde assumes Tourvel has ended with Valmont. Praises Tourvel’s desire to “reform him” but notices that it doesn’t work for women to try to reform men.

Important letter — Letter 127: Merteuil rejects Valmont’s offer of sex. Is she jealous of Tourvel? Ultimate insult: She says that Danceny might give her more pleasure than Valmont.

Important letter — Letter 128: Tourvel explains why she succumbed to Valmont. How does she justify it to herself? “Valmont is happy” (p. 288)

Important letter — Letter 130: What does Rosemonde mean when she says “you are far too worthy of being loved ever to be happy in love”…(p.291) What are some of the differences between men and women expressed here? “A man enjoys the pleasure he feels, a woman the pleasure she bestows” (p. 292)

Letter 131: What do we learn about the dynamic between Merteuil and Valmont?

Important letter — Letter 133: Valmont wants to know what sacrifices Merteuil demands in order to achieve her love again… “but because the mind is absorbed, does it follow that the heart is infatuated?” (p.298) According to Valmont, none of the pleasures they have enjoyed apart can separate them.

Letter 134: Merteuil’s demands that he relinquish Tourvel and her reasons that explain why he won’t do it.

Letter 135: Tourvel explains to Rosemonde Valmont’s betrayal. Why has he acted this way?

Letter 138: Why does Valmont consider Merteuil’s characterization of his love of Tourvel, “libel?” (p. 308)

Letter 140: What is Ceciles’s condition? Valmont worried about Merteuil’s silence.

Important letter — Letter 141: What is Merteuil’s gripe?

Letter 144: How has Tourvel reacted to Valmont’s letter? How has Cecile’s “illness” affected Danceny?

Letter 145: What is the tone of this letter from Merteuil? “Vanity is the enemy of happiness” (p.320) Why?

Letter 147: Tourvel has returned to the convent where she was educated as a girl. Has stated she’d only leave there when she was dead. Delirious.

Letter 148: Danceny in love with Merteuil

Important letter—Letter 152: Why is Merteuil angry with Valmont? Why did she not remarry?

Important letter Letter 153: “as of today, I shall be your lover or your enemy.” (p. 337) He prefers peace and alliance.

Letter 155: Is Valmont sincere when he says “love is the only thing that can bring happiness?” (p. 341)

Letter 158: What is Valmont’s tone?

Letter 161: Tourvel to? Who is the “?”

Important letter—Letter 162: What is Danceny saying here?

Important letter—Letter 163: What is the outcome of the duel?

Letter 164: Rosemonde wants to pursue lawsuit against Danceny

Letter 167: Unsigned—whom do you think it comes from?

Important letter—Letter 168: Volanges tells of rumors about Merteuil

Important letter—Letter 169: What art has Danceny acquired in the course of the novel? Why does he enlist Rosemonde’s help?

Letter 173: Volanges suspects Cecile wants to become a nun because of Danceny

Important letter—Letter 174: What is Danceny’s decision?

Letter 40: continued—“a husband’s veto adds spice to one’s appetite” (p. 83) Why is it important to Valmont to know who is maligning him?

Letter 44: complications—manservant; maid; Valmont

Rage: against Volange

Letter 50: “Who can wish for a happiness which involves sacrificing reason when its short-lived pleasure lead at best to regret, if not to remorse?” (p.97)

PART II:

Letter 51: “I got her to give Danceny an interview” (p.100)

Letter 54: “I got the girl “so worked up”… What does it mean? (p. 105)

Letter 56: “I enjoy the esteem… ” (p. 108)

Letter 63: Merteuil becomes confident of both (p. 117)

Letter 69: Is the M/V strategy working? (p. 130)

Letter 70: Prévan’s name appears: in what context? (p. 131)

What is the new challenge for Merteuil?

Letter 71: Game with the threesome. Again warns of Prévan (p. 137)

Letter 79: What did Prévan do exactly?

Letter 81: Crucial—why? “People rarely acquire the qualities they can do without” (p. 161) “If, in the course of all these frequent and violent changes, my reputation has remained unscathed… " (p. 162–163) How she learned to dissemble. Decoding facial gestures. (p. 165) “love” is a pretext for pleasures (p. 168) “you are the only one of my flames who, for a moment, made me lose self-control… ” “I use my brains.” As for Prévan I want to have him and have him I shall… ”

Letter 85: How she traps Prévan

Letter 89: Valmont complains to Danceny of Cecile’s not trusting his advice to copy the key to her room/Letter 92: Danceny takes this as a sign of her lack of love

Letter 90: Tourvel’s love for Valmont

Letter 95: Valmont seduces Cecile… comment.

Letter 99: Valmont crushed by Cecile’s rejection—has locked door against him. Back to Tourvel; moving scene…

What do we learn about Cécile from the letters to Sophie?
What do we learn about the relationship of Merteuil to Valmont?
P. 14 “we are fated to be conquerors"…
Why doesn’t Valmont want to seduce Cecile? Whom is he after?
Tone of letter 5. Peeved? Not obeying her? Why?
In letter 6 what is Valmont’s plan? Why?
What is the importance of letter 9?
Letter 10 gives us some crucial info: what is it?
Letter 15: Viconte wants to “recant the pact” what does that mean?; what insight do we get from the Viconte’s letter?
What is the challenge Merteuil gives the Viconte in letter 20?

What are some of the different attitudes towards religion expressed in these first chapters?

What does “Libertine” mean in this context? “Prude?”

How does Lazarillo establish his identity: what fundamental changes occur in the book? Is it possible to compare the maturity Lazaro finally attains with our definition of maturity today? How does Lazarillo have to change in order to form part of his society?
What is the relationship between the spiritual death of Lazarillo and the historical and social ambience of Inquisitional Spain?
There are two distinct voices in Lazarillo: that of Lazarillo whose tone is cynical and honest, and that of the author, who in his intentional anonymity rejects the fame that his protagonist seeks. Discuss the relationship between these two voices in the novel.
How does the anonymous author of Lazarillo de Tormes criticize the church? How does he use irony to share his message? (To deal with this question you should consider the language in chapters two and five.)
The rogue is a lonely person who never achieves authentic dialogue with others—everyone distrusts him and, after his experiences, he also distrusts them. Thus, the story of a rogue derives from the fact that the falsity of those around him becomes clear. How do you see technique operating in Lazarillo? Do we lose something in the mode of story-telling? What? What does it accomplish?

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Introduction to European and Latin American Fiction: Great Books on the Page and on the Screen