Cost and Registration Information

Early Registration Price (by February 10): $220
Regular Price (after February 10): $242

This seminar is full. Please call (312) 255-3700 to be on the waitlist.

Seminar Description

This seminar explores two of Edith Wharton’s most important novels—The House of Mirth (1905) and Pulitzer-Prize winner, The Age of Innocence (1920). We will spend several sessions on each novel, allowing for an in-depth and appreciative look into Wharton’s literary technique, as well as her treatment of art, architecture, culture, personal change, and historical transformation. We will also sample film adaptations of the novels. Seven sessions.

Steven J. Venturino, PhD, has taught at Loyola University Chicago and the Newberry Library and is the author of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Literary Theory and Criticism.

Materials List

Required:

• Wharton, The Age of Innocence. New York: Oxford, 2006 (1920). ISBN: 978-0199540013
• Wharton, The House of Mirth. New York: Oxford, 2009 (1905). ISBN: 978-0199538102

First Readings:

• Please read Chapters 1 and 2 of The House of Mirth for the first class, but do not read the introduction to either novel.

This class is part of the Newberry’s Adult Education Seminars Program. Learn more about our registration procedures.