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 58
... death of his earlier education is recapitulated by the sym- bolism of the flood . His violent death by the hand of Nature is only consistent with the qualities ascribed to that force - half mechanism , half personification — that never ...
... death of his earlier education is recapitulated by the sym- bolism of the flood . His violent death by the hand of Nature is only consistent with the qualities ascribed to that force - half mechanism , half personification — that never ...
Page 114
... death but also its emphasis on its transcendence . The overall rhythm of Gray's poem is the same , with loss and obscurity giving rise to the resurrection of the reader and of the scribe of anonymous heroism . For Doro- thea and Eliot ...
... death but also its emphasis on its transcendence . The overall rhythm of Gray's poem is the same , with loss and obscurity giving rise to the resurrection of the reader and of the scribe of anonymous heroism . For Doro- thea and Eliot ...
Page 164
... death of her mother , she had written , " words are very clumsy things - I like less and less to handle my friends ' sacred feelings with them ” ( 2 : 464 ) . Apart from Casaubon's story , the theme is taken up in the Bulstrode murder ...
... death of her mother , she had written , " words are very clumsy things - I like less and less to handle my friends ' sacred feelings with them ” ( 2 : 464 ) . Apart from Casaubon's story , the theme is taken up in the Bulstrode murder ...
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