American Literature in the Gilded Age

The Gilded Age (approximately 1877-1900) was a period marked by rapid industrialization, obscene oppression, and extraordinary wealth. Mark Twain described it as a "time of greed, corruption, and material excess." Industrial monopolies, like the railroad and oil, wielded their power unchecked, while a booming immigrant labor force, seeking the American dream, found themselves in a desperate struggle to survive. Students in this course read Gilded Age authors like Mark Twain, Edward Bellamy, Sutton Griggs, Frank Norris, and Edith Wharton as they examine the turbulent cultural and historical forces that ushered in the twentieth century.