George Eliot and Nineteenth-Century Science: The Make-Believe of a Beginning

by Sally Shuttleworth

Overview

This study explores the ways in which George Eliot's involvement with contemporary scientific theory affected the evolution of her fiction. Drawing on the work of such theorists as Comte, Spencer, Lewes, Bain, Carpenter, von Hartmann and Bernard, Dr Shuttleworth shows how, as Eliot moved from Adam Bede to Daniel Deronda, her conception of a conservative, static and hierarchical model of society gave way to a more dynamic model of social and psychological life.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521335843
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	03/12/1987
Series:	Landmarks of World Literature Series
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 9.02(h) x 0.75(d)

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements; Preface; 1. Science and social thought: the rise of organic theory; 2. Adam Bede: natural history as social vision; 3. The Mill on the Floss: the shadowy armies of the unconscious; 4. Silas Marner: a divided Eden; 5. Romola: the authority of history; 6. Felix Holt: social and sexual politics; 7. Middlemarch: an experiment in time; 8. Daniel Deronda: fragmentation and organic union; Conclusion; Notes; Bibliography; Index.