Eagleton 100 Word Summary - note that it is precisely 100 words... ;)

Terry Eagleton describes the reasons behind “The Rise of English” as an academic course of study. The basis of his argument is that literature replaced religion, at least to a degree. In Victorian England, there was a spiritual and moral crisis, which led to a heightened sense of the value of literature as experiential and emotional. Studying literature became a way of studying all subjects, most importantly society, history, and spirituality. The original idea that literature made scholars good people was overly idealistic, but the value of literature as an exploration of humanity was recognized then and remains important now.