Professor Andrea Kaston Tange’s Musings on Middlemarch Madness

by Beja Puškášová ’26

For those of you who did not know, Professor Andrea Kaston Tange not only teaches and studies Victorian literature, but she also organizes the English department’s literary tournament challenge: Middlemarch Madness.

When I asked Prof Tange what this tournament challenge is inspired by, she revealed to me that the roots of this tradition go back to the novel Middlemarch and the basketball tournament referred to as “March Madness.” If sportspeople have competitions, why can’t English majors and literature nerds have competitions too, right? 

For people, like me, who are not made for sports, and for whom sports are not made, I would love to explain what March Madness is to the best of my ability. The basketball tournament begins with sixty-four teams vying for the title of best college basketball team in the country and facing off in games where one loss means elimination from the tournament. Before the tournament begins, people fill out brackets predicting the winners and earn points for each correct guess. The number of these points increases as the tournament progresses and the matches get more serious. Middlemarch Madness has similar rules, except the “teams” are fictional characters, and the contest (this year) is to determine who would make the worst Macalester professor. At the end, there is a prize for the winner, which, according to Kaston Tange, is “surely gonna be something great.” 

The first year Prof Tange organized this event, Middlemarch Madness only happened in the “Ladies and Monsters” class. The competition was a battle of “ladies vs. monsters.” After huge success, Middlemarch Madness expanded beyond just the Ladies and Monsters classroom to include anyone on campus who wanted to participate. Last year, students and faculty were determining who the best fictional dinner party invite would be. There have been a number of delightful face-offs, the most absurd of which being Sauron pitted against Cookie Monster. 

When nominating literary characters, students write a short justification for why they specifically chose their character. This makes the whole process easier to understand for those who may not read as many books as Prof Tange does. There has also always been a wide range of characters from various genres. This makes it more possible for everyone to find their niche in the voting-related discussions happening in the last rounds of the tournament! They are heated.

Even though voting for these characters sounds fun, I would personally advise all of you to take precautions not to become addicted to Middlemarch Madness, as, according to Prof Tange, it is “totally like gambling.” Jokes aside, Prof Tange is very grateful about the number of voters and participants in the last two years, and she hopes that this level of interest remains as Middlemarch Madness continues on.

After a long deliberation during the English’s Coffee House on April 2nd, Victor Frankenstein has been announced as the worst Macalester professor!