Treść książki
Przejdź do opcji czytnikaPrzejdź do nawigacjiPrzejdź do informacjiPrzejdź do stopki
Introduction/17
Eliot’sworkandtoHardy’sneedtoreengagecriticallywith
Eliot’sheritage.
AsallstudentsofGeorgeEliot,Ineedtopayhomageto
GordonS.Haight,whoseeditionofGeorgeEliot’slettersIused
tofindevidenceofEliot’sreactionstoreviewsofherwork,
especiallyinhercorrespondencewithpublisherandlifelong
friendJohnBlackwood.GeorgeEliot:TheCriticalHeritage,
acollectionofcriticismofEliot’snovelseditedbyDavid
Carrollwasindispensable.IamalsoindebtedtoRosemarie
Bodenheimer’sTheRealLifeofMaryAnnEvans:GeorgeEliot,Her
LettersandFiction(1994)forherpioneeringchronologicalstudyof
GeorgeEliot’scorrespondenceinwhichsheanalysesthewriter’s
correspondencealongsidetheliteraryworksshewaswritingat
thesametimeanddrawsattentiontoarangeofcommonthemes
andpreoccupations.
Todate,thenotionofpopularliteratureelementsinGeorge
Eliot’sfictionhasnotbeentreatedcomprehensively.However,
arangeofcriticalworksthatcentreonindividualmotifsexists.
Forinstance,thethemesofsecrecy,publicopinionandblackmail
areanalysedbyAlexanderWelshinthemonumentalGeorgeEliot
andBlackmail(1980).Welshisaperceptiveandoriginalcriticof
popularfictionmotifsinGeorgeEliot’sfiction,andhismuch
earlierarticlecentringonTheMillontheFloss,titledHGeorge
EliotandtheRomance”(1959)stillretainssomeinterest.Usually,
popularmotifsinGeorgeEliot’sliteraryoutputareanalysed
alongsidetheworkofotherwriters;forexample,thenotionofthe
AustenianromanceintheworksofCharlotteBrontëandGeorge
EliotisstudiedbyJeanKennardinTheVictimsofConvention
(1978),whereasthenotionofsuspenseinAusten,Eliot,Hardy
andConradisanalysedindetailbyC.N.SmithinSuspensein
theEnglishNovelfromJaneAustentoJosephConrad(1982).Another
interestingstudythatanalysesGeorgeEliot’snovelsinthecontext
ofthepopularromanticliteratureofherdayisSusanRowland
Tush’sGeorgeEliotandtheConventionsofPopularWomen’sFiction
(1993).Lastly,K.M.Newton’srecentModernizingGeorgeEliot:The
WriterasArtist,Intellectual,Proto-Modernist,CulturalCritic(2012)
containsachapterdevotedtotheanalysisofromancetropesin
DanielDeronda.
