The Quest for Anonymity: The Novels of George EliotIn a new treatment of Eliot's booklength fiction, Alley argues that from the very moment she adopted a male pseudonym through to the major epic and tragic novels of her later life, the transcendence of fame was her major consideration. Focusing on one novel in each chapter, the study shows how the plights of Eliot's heroines and heroes do not end in frustration but in an affirmation of anonymous achievement, "the growing good of the world." For Eliot, heroism emerges through disclosure, rather than grandly executed action, and since the revelation requires discerning effort on the part of those watching, both observer and observed are celebrated. |
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Page 147
... Gwendolen's education is also a way of allowing us to see the Promethean myth and " heroic Promethean effort " anew . In the early chapters of the novel , she is mocked by the narrator , and yet this mockery is later undercut by the ...
... Gwendolen's education is also a way of allowing us to see the Promethean myth and " heroic Promethean effort " anew . In the early chapters of the novel , she is mocked by the narrator , and yet this mockery is later undercut by the ...
Page 149
... Gwendolen . Although Catherine might be taken as a morally chastening contrast to Gwendolen's self- doubt and fear of artistic exile , as Gillian Beer certainly insists ( 220 ) , she proves to be more like the Greek characters in the ...
... Gwendolen . Although Catherine might be taken as a morally chastening contrast to Gwendolen's self- doubt and fear of artistic exile , as Gillian Beer certainly insists ( 220 ) , she proves to be more like the Greek characters in the ...
Page 152
... Gwendolen at the novel's conclusion and cause a questioning of her triumph . The androgynous evolution that we have ... Gwendolen's favor , leaving Deronda behind . Just prior to the drowning , the narrator compares the heroine to ...
... Gwendolen at the novel's conclusion and cause a questioning of her triumph . The androgynous evolution that we have ... Gwendolen's favor , leaving Deronda behind . Just prior to the drowning , the narrator compares the heroine to ...
Contents
Acknowledgments | 9 |
Scenes of Clerical Life and the Art of Indirect | 27 |
Heroic Perception in Adam Bede | 40 |
Copyright | |
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achieve acknowledge action Adam Adam Bede Aeschylus allusion anonymous heroism apparent artist balance becomes begins better called Casaubon chapter character clear close comes complete context continuity create critics Daniel Deronda death develop Dorothea earlier early effect Esther example experience fact father feeling Felix female fiction final Floss frequently George Eliot given gives Greek tragedy growing Gwendolen hand hero heroic human ideal imagination important Irwine later learned light living look Lydgate Maggie male means memory Middlemarch Mill mind moral narrative narrator nature never novel offers once past perceive perhaps present Press reader reading represents role Romola scene seems seen sense serves shows Silas Silas Marner soul speaks spirit story suffering suggest sympathy things thought tion tragedy true turn University vision voice whole woman writes