Class Description
This class explores George Eliot’s multi-layered story of love, loss, ambition, and achievement in manageable weekly reading installments. Our progressive, serial discussions—with no spoilers—will produce a wide-ranging and in-depth look at Eliot’s literary craft, as well as her challenging insights into character, social roles, culture, science, and art. Weekly discussions will be supplemented with images and film clips.
Steven J. Venturino, PhD, the author of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Literary Theory and Criticism, has led classes at the Newberry Library since 2015 and is a former Adjunct Professor of English at Loyola University Chicago.
All virtual classes are recorded and made available to participants registered in the class. These recordings are password-protected and available for up to two weeks after the class ends.
Materials List
Required
First Reading
- For the first session, please read only the novel’s Prelude and Book One: Miss Brooke (to page 112). Please do not read the edition's introduction.
A Brief Syllabus
- Prelude and Book One: The Patterns of Middlemarch
- Book Two: Memory, Ambition, and Art
- Book Three: Victorian Science
- Book Four: Victorians and Gender
- Book Five: George Eliot Biography Pt 1
- Book Six: George Eliot Biography Pt 2
- Book Seven: Money and Society
- Book Eight: The Nature of Conclusion
Cost and Registration
8 Sessions, $300 ($270 for Newberry members, seniors, and students). Learn about becoming a member.
We offer our classes at three different price options: Regular ($300), Community Supported ($280), and Sponsor ($320). Following the models of other institutions, we want to ensure that our classes are accessible to a wider audience while continuing to support our instructors. You may choose the price that best fits your situation when registering through Learning Stream.
To register multiple people for this class, please go through the course calendar in Learning Stream, our registration platform. When you select the course and register, you’ll be prompted to add another registrant.
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