George Eliot: Critical Issues: 14 - Softcover

Nestor, Pauline

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0333722019 ISBN 13: 9780333722015

Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan, 2002

Synopsis

George Eliot was one of the great thinkers of her time, a figure central to the main currents of thought and belief in the nineteenth century. Yet when this distinguished public intellectual turned to fiction writing at the age of thirty-six, she regarded it not as a lesser pursuit, but as the distillation of all of her knowledge and ideas. For Eliot, fiction enabled the consideration of life 'in its highest complexity', and had the capacity not merely to elicit, but actually to create, moral sentiment by surprising readers into the recognition of realities other than their own.

In this new study, Pauline Nestor offers a challenging reassessment of Eliot's contribution to the critical debates, both of her age and of her own era. In particular, she examines the author's literary expolration of ethics, especially in relation to the negotiation of difference. Nestor argues compellingly that, through a reading of their sophisticated drama of otherness, Eliot's novels can be seen as freshly relevant to contemporary theoretical debates in feminism, moral philosophy, post-colonial studies and psychoanalysis.

Covering the writer's complete body of major fiction, this is an indispensable voume for anyone studying the work of one of the most important and influential novelists of the nineteenth century.

About this title

Review:

'Useful up-to-date critical survey, written in accessible but scholarly way.' - Clare Pettit, Newnham College, Cambridge

'This useful and incisive book does an excellent job of introducing Eliot to readers unfamiliar with her work...' - S.F. Klepetar, Choice

'...well-written and based on close readings of the texts...characterized by accessible, detailed and interesting analyses of the stories and novels. Suitable for readers not familiar with the whole of Eliot's canon, therefore, it also offers the specialist the added bonus of lucidly tracing Eliot's evolving insight into individuals and groups negotiating difference - and proving that such ideas remain important.' - A. G. van den Broek, Forest School, The George Eliot Reviews

Synopsis:

Covering all of George Eliot's novels, this book offers a challenging re-assessment of the writer's contribution to the critical debates of her own period and of our time. It examines Eliot's literary exploration of ethics, especially in relation to the negotiation of difference, and demonstrates that through a reading of the novels' complex and sophisticated drama of otherness, her work can be seen as freshly relevant to contemporary debates in feminism, post-colonial studies, psychoanalysis and moral philosophy.

About this edition

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0333722019
• ISBN 13: 9780333722015
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 194