Lessons in Admiration: George Eliot's Beautiful Atheistic Religiousness

Lessons in Admiration: George Eliot's Beautiful Atheistic Religiousness

Audio recording of a lecture given by tutor Richard McCombs on June 24, 2026 as part of the Graduate Institute Summer Lecture Series. The Graduate Institute Office has provided this description of the event: “After rejecting Christianity and God, George Eliot continued to speak, seemingly with approval, of conversion, saints, worship, and religion. One might be tempted to write off her extensive use of religious language as mere metaphor or as vague and impotent spirituality. But before adopting this easy explanation, one must reckon with several highly suggestive facts. First, there is the utter seriousness of her moral vision. Second, it is very tempting to venerate the protagonists of her last two novels as saints. And third, she writes many stories of conversion, two of which at least are perhaps more moving than that of St. Augustine in his Confessions. In this lecture I will argue that George Eliot’s last three novels should be read as attempts to reveal that the best human life is lived with a kind of secular or natural religiousness.”

Santa Fe, NM

2026-06-24

Meem Library has been given permission to make this item available online.

sound

mp3

English

SF_McCombsR_Lessons_in_Admirations_2026-06-24

M4A

00:46:13