My Humanities teacher used to say that the purpose of literary criticism isn't to tear down or set out a particular framework for our classics that everyone should stick within. That, while this might be what it amounts to in modern circles more often than not, the real purpose is to provoke a community of original and intelligent thought by offering up an opinion that is well written and poignant enough to inspire the creation of new thought. Like the authors that write what we critique, we should focus on what our efforts bring into the world after being expressed- always striving for the open-minded and even open-ended because that is what ends up building something worthwhile.

I had a really great Humanities teacher. I also happen to believe that Bloom has edited a book that, through focused effort, is a wonderful companion piece to the experience of Middlemarch. One that sparks intelligent thought and seeks to build something that readers and admirers of Eliot can turn to.

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