The House of Mirth and the Art of Fiction

Class Description

This class offers a deep dive into Edith Wharton’s intricate and beautifully crafted novel, The House of Mirth. As we explore the various fortunes of the novel’s main character, Lily Bart, we will also investigate the building blocks of literary fiction itself, with weekly comparative excerpts drawn from the work of Ernest Hemingway, Henry James, Zora Neale Hurston, and Virginia Woolf.

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.

Steven J. Venturino, PhD, the author of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Literary Theory and Criticism, has taught classes at the Newberry Library since 2015 and is a former Adjunct Professor of English at Loyola University Chicago.

What to Expect

Format: Virtual

Class Capacity: 30

Class Style: Mix of lecture and discussion; participation encouraged

Materials List

Required

• Edith Wharton, The House of Mirth. New York: Oxford World’s Classics. ISBN: 978-0199538102

• Other Instructor-Distributed Materials

First Reading

• For the first session, please read Ernest Hemingway’s “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place” (pdf) as well as chapters 1-3 (pages 5-40) of The House of Mirth. Please do not read the introduction to the novel.

A Brief Syllabus

1. The House of Mirth, chapters 1.1-1.3. Hemingway excerpt.
2. The House of Mirth, chapters 1.4-1.12. James excerpt.
3. The House of Mirth, chapters 1.13-2.5. Hurston excerpt.
4. The House of Mirth, chapters 2.6-2.14. Woolf excerpt.

Cost and Registration

4 Sessions, $220 ($198 for Newberry members, seniors, and students). Learn about becoming a member.

We offer our classes at three different price options: Regular ($220), Community Supported ($205), and Sponsor ($235). 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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View our full schedule of adult education classes.

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Questions?

Call us at (312) 255-3700 or send us an email at adulteducation@newberry.org.

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