George Eliot believed that art could teach us how to be better people, and she wrote novels that she hoped would make a difference in the world. That’s Wellesley’s mission too. In this course, we’ll read five of Eliot’s seven major works (Scenes of Clerical Life, Adam Bede, Mill on the Floss, Middlemarch, Daniel Deronda) and consider the “difference” Eliot wanted to make in her readers and their communities. We will explore not only the novels themselves but also their contemporary reviews as well as Eliot’s letters and essays. In addition, we will take up the wider questions that Eliot raises about the force and function of literature and examine recent essays about how and whether fiction changes its readers.

Units: 1

Max Enrollment: 15

Prerequisites: Open to all students who have taken two literature courses in the department, at least one of which must be 200 level, or by permission of the instructor to other qualified students.

Distribution Requirements: LL - Language and Literature

Semesters Offered this Academic Year: Not Offered; Spring