Modernizing George Eliot : The Writer As Artist, Intellectual, Proto-Modernist, Cultural Critic

This book is available as open access through the Bloomsbury Open Access programme and is available on www.bloomsburycollections.com. George Eliot's work has been subject to a wide range of critical questioning, most of which relates her substantially to a Victorian context and intellectual framework. This book examines the ways in which her work anticipates significant aspects of writing in the twentieth and indeed twenty first century in regard to both art and philosophy. This new book presents a series of linked essays exploring Eliot's credentials as a radical thinker. Opening with her relationship to the Romantic tradition, Newton goes on to discuss her reading of Darwinism, her radical critique of Victorian values and her affiliation with the modernists. The final essays discuss her work in relation to Derridean themes and to Bernard Williams' concept of moral luck. What emerges is a very different Eliot from the conservative figure portrayed in much critical literature. Annotation. George Eliot's work has been subject to a wide range of critical questioning, but most of her critics relate her substantially to a Victorian context and intellectual framework. This book seeks to demonstrate that more thany any of her Victorian contemporaries she anticipates significantaspects of writing in the twentieth and indeed twenty-first century in regard to both art and philosophy. Although rightly associated with "realism" her concept of the real is philosophically informed and her writing is also highly allusive. This new book presents a series of linked essays exploring Eliot's credentials as a radical thinker and her engagement with political and ethical issues. Opening with her relationship to the Romantic tradition and Byron in particular, he goes on to discuss her reading of Darwinism, her radicalcritique of Victorian values and her affiliation with modernists such as Joyce. The final essays discuss her work in relation to Derridean themes and to the philosopher Bernard Williams' concept of moral luck. What emerges is a very different Eliot from the rather conservative figure portrayed inmuch of the critical literature, who might justly be thought of as the most significant Victorian writer for twenty-first century readers and critics "George Eliot's work has been subject to a wide range of critical questioning, most of which relates her substantially to a Victorian context and intellectual framework. This book examines the ways in which her work anticipates significant aspects of writing in the twentieth and indeed twenty first century in regard to both art and philosophy. This new book presents a series of linked essays exploring Eliot's credentials as a radical thinker. Opening with her relationship to the Romantic tradition, Newton goes on to discuss her reading of Darwinism, her radical critique of Victorian values and her affiliation with the modernists. The final essays discuss her work in relation to Derridean themes and to Bernard Williams' concept of moral luck. What emerges is a very different Eliot from the conservative figure portrayed in much critical literature."--Publisher's website 1. Eliot's Critique Of Darwinism -- 2. Eliot And The Byronic -- 3. Eliot And Moral Philosophy: Kant And The Mill On The Floss -- 4. The Role Of The Narrator In Eliot's Fiction, Especially Middlemarch -- 5. Prototypes And Symbolism In Middlemarch -- 6. Anticipations Of Modernism In Eliot's Fiction -- 7. Realism And Romance: Allusion And Intertextuality In Daniel Deronda -- 8. Circumcision, Realism And Irony In Daniel Deronda -- 9. Formal Experiment And Ideological Critique: Silas Marner And 'victorian Values' -- 10. The Post-colonial Critique Of Eliot: Is Edward Said Right About Daniel Deronda? -- 11. Eliot And Racism: How Should One Read 'the Modern Hep! Hep! Hep!'? -- 12. Eliot And Derrida: An Elective Affinity? -- 13. The Role Of Luck In The Arts, Ethics And Politics Of Daniel Deronda. K.m. Newton. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 216-225) And Index.

George Eliot's work has been subject to a wide range of critical questioning, most of which relates her substantially to a Victorian context and intellectual framework. This book examines the ways in which her work anticipates significant aspects of writing in the twentieth and indeed twenty first century in regard to both art and philosophy. This new book presents a series of linked essays exploring Eliot's credentials as a radical thinker. Opening with her relationship to the Romantic tradition, Newton goes on to discuss her reading of Darwinism, her radical critique of Victorian values and her affiliation with the modernists. The final essays discuss her work in relation to Derridean themes and to Bernard Williams' concept of moral luck. What emerges is a very different Eliot from the conservative figure portrayed in much critical literature.

Cover Half-title Title Copyright Dedication Contents Acknowledgements Introduction 1 Eliot's Critique of Darwinism 2 Eliot and the Byronic 3 Eliot and Moral Philosophy: Kant and The Mill on the Floss 4 The Role of the Narrator in Eliot's Fiction, Especially Middlemarch 5 Prototypes and Symbolism in Middlemarch 6 Anticipations of Modernism in Eliot's Fiction 7 Realism and Romance: Allusion and Intertextuality in Daniel Deronda 8 Circumcision, Realism and Irony in Daniel Deronda 9 Formal Experiment and Ideological Critique: Silas Marner and 'Victorian Values' 10 The Post-Colonial Critique of Eliot: Is Edward Said Right about Daniel Deronda? 11 Eliot and Racism: How Should One Read 'The Modern Hep! Hep! Hep!'? 12 Eliot and Derrida: An Elective Affinity? 13 The Role of Luck in the Art, Ethics and Politics of Daniel Deronda Notes Bibliography Index Ken Newton argues that George Eliot's fiction is more innovative than previous critics have admitted, anticipating significant aspects of writing in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.