OLLI0148 - Passion, Fashion, and Murder in 19th Century Paris

Course Description

Paris in the long 19th century overflowed with fictional characters created by the likes of Victor Hugo, Honoré de Balzac, George Sand, Émile Zola, Rachilde, and Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette. These characters are so deeply ensconced into the imaginations of readers that they seem to have made the leap from fiction to reality, so that we can still imagine them showing off their fashions—and their passions—in contemporary Paris. In this course, we’ll get to know some of these characters as we stroll around Paris like “flaneurs”, those urban explorers who Charles Baudelaire so memorably described in The Painter of Modern Life (1863). Once we’ve spent time with such characters, we’ll want to return regularly to the novels and short stories where they reside; and if we have the great chance to (re)visit Paris, we’ll do so in the company of our new friends. Many of them are outlandish indeed, but they are really fun! This course will be recorded.