🗓 4 sessions from February 12th - March 5th
🕰️ $80-250 sliding scale
🕰️ Wednesdays 7pm-9pm
🗺 Neighbor NYC, 176 9th Ave (Manhattan)
I highly recommend taking this course if you are looking for:
This course will explore the art of deep engagement through the practice of close reading. Using Edith Wharton's first novel The House of Mirth as our guide, we will cultivate skills that extend beyond literature, enhancing our ability to analyze, interpret, and find meaning in various aspects of our lives.
The reading approach will be: to read slowly, to document our impressions and associations, to trace words and patterns, to write in the margins and in journals, to inquire into Wharton's use of key terms, and to examine themes across the social tableaux she creates.
Each session, I will provide supplementary materials to deepen our understanding of the cultural context, Wharton’s philosophy, and the novel's relation to the literary canon.
This course welcomes participants from all walks of life - literature enthusiasts, professionals seeking new perspectives, anyone eager to engage with literature.
Published in 1905, The House of Mirth marked Edith Wharton's emergence as a major American novelist after years of writing short stories and books on interior design. Originally serialized in Scribner's Magazine throughout 1905, it became her first bestseller. Drawing on her intimate knowledge of New York society, she crafted an insider's view of the world she knew firsthand. The novel's acute observations of social customs, fashion, and etiquette reflect Wharton's own experiences in the exclusive circles she depicts.
We'll examine topics such as the interplay between gambling and social performance, the calculations of friendship and romance, the capital of beauty, and how social customs mask ruthless competition.
