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Adam Bede, Realism, the Past, and Readers in 1859

Gail Marshall    University of Reading, UK    

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abstract

This article gives an account of the immediate publication context of George Eliot’s first novel, Adam Bede, in terms of competing opportunities for leisure, anxieties about the reading of fiction, the publishing industry, and the social and political context of February 1859. It examines the way in which the novel engages with its first readers, specifically through its treatment of the experience of reading fiction, and the ways in which Adam Bede differs from readers’ previous experiences. The article argues that the novel’s impact is determined by its engagement with the past of its setting, and by the ways it which it encourages a historically-nuanced appreciation in its readers, and that these factors are integral to Eliot’s articulating a new form of realist fiction.

Published
March 9, 2020
Accepted
Nov. 21, 2019
Submitted
Nov. 14, 2019
Language
EN

Keywords: George EliotMudie’s leisureGeraldine JewsburyAdam BedeQueen VictoriaPopular theatreRealism

Copyright: © 2019 Gail Marshall. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.