Abstract
D.Litt. et Phil. (English)
This study investigates George Eliot's approach to the existential dilemma
of her times, the collision of the individual with the general. It takes into account
the historical context in which political radicalism and religious controversy
threatened the stability and continuity of the individual and of society. The novels
fictionalize the philosophical ideas expressed in earlier writings in terms of the
individual experience of the characters. Each of the eight chapters is devoted to
one ofthe novels and is discussed in chronological order of publication. Reference
is made to George Eliot's letters and essays where relevant. The affinities of
George Eliot with Auguste Comte and with Wordsworth are also considered.
The nature and extent of a protagonist's rebellion is defined as it appears
in each specific novel. The forms of active and passive rebellion are diverse. An
utterance, usually an extended speech act made in complete sincerity, is a visible
sign of the shift of consciousness which occurs when the individual moves from a
state of rebellion to one of continuity of being. The two main categories of
utterance are those of confession and those of commitment. The continuity of
being towards which the individual strives consists of a belief in the innate
goodness of the individual and trust in another sympathetic human being to
release the good.
Chapter One, Scenes of Clerical Life and Chapter Two, Adam Bede,
emphasize the ceI,ltral role of a confessional utterance in the attainment of
coherence of self. Chapters Three to Six focus on the novels published between
1860 and 1866 that are marked by key utterances of commitment and belief,
arising from a sympathetic feeling towards another person. In The Mill on the
Floss, Silas Marner and Romola, the pervasive Antigone theme is evaluated in
which there is an opposition of two equally valid claims proposed by characters
uttering contrary points of view in their expression of a rebellion against accepted
norms. With the novel Felix Holt in Chapter Six, a political dimension appears
and is further emphasized in the criticism of contemporary mores of the last two...