English 333 - George Eliot

Doug Patey

Th 3-4.50

This seminar will afford a chance to explore the work of Victorian Britain's greatest novelist: George Eliot. We'll read nearly all her major fiction, and some of her nonfiction (essays and reviews). Our texts will certainly include:

   Adam Bede (1859)

  The Mill on the Floss (1860)

  Romola (1862-63)

  Felix Holt (1866)

  Middlemarch (1874)

  Daniel Deronda (1876)

(For anyone who wants to read ahead, we'll use Penguin editions of these titles.) We may also read one movel by Walter Scott, the writer Eliot said most influenced her.

Assignments will include two 15-minute oral presentations and two papers (one of 6-8 and one of 12-14 pages).

The best preparation for this seminar is previous courses on the novel (especially the 18th and 19th century novel in Britain).

TWO PRODUCT WARNINGS:

  (1) George Eliot's novels are long -- be prepared, if you want to take this course, for lots of reading.

  (2) I'm not an Eliot expert; I'm just a fan. So expect a class in which the teacher is learning as much as the students.

As part of the application process, please pick up a questionnaire from Bobbie Kozash in Pierce Hall 105, and return completed by Friday, April 16th.