Edith Wharton: The Major Works (BA core course—core area: the novel)

Edith Wharton is today broadly recognized as one of major American writers of early twentieth century, and one whose works offer an invaluable vantage point from which to assess the cultural attitudes of the Progressive Age and post-WWI era. This course will be devoted to close readings of her major novels and novellas, as well as to discussions of the historical, artistic and political issues informing her work. We will discuss Wharton’s trademark ironic style; her sympathy for and criticism of the world of her youth; her steadfast commitment to the genre of realism, as well as her uneasy relation to modernism. Special place will be reserved for Wharton's treatment of gender, class and race.

Requirements: reading, attendance, midterm exam, take-home exam