Middlemarch is George Eliot’s (real name Mary Ann Evans) masterpiece. The 900-page Victorian novel is about the people living in a fictional English town in a time of enormous changes.

In this episode, Shilo Brooks sits down with Dominican friar Father Jonah Teller to discuss what makes the book worth reading. Their conversation tackles the novel’s major themes: marriage in all its mismatched forms, political upheaval around reform and the rise of liberalism, the promises and limits of scientific progress, and the facets of human nature revealed in ordinary domestic life. They highlight Eliot’s conviction that there are no truly insignificant lives—that quiet, “unhistoric” acts and small, private decisions are of great importance.

Old School is proudly brought to you by the Jack Miller Center. If you believe in the importance of civic education and want to help prepare the next generation to carry on our democracy, join us at JackMillerCenter.org.

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