The Egoist: A Comedy in Narrative

by George Meredith

Overview

The tragicomic book The Egoist was written by George Meredith. The novel showcases the narrative of a self-absorbed Sir Willoughby Patterne's marriage attempts. After being dumped by his first intended bride-to-be, he vacillates between the sympathetic Laetitia Dale and the determined Clara Middleton. The story focuses more on Clara's attempts to break free from her engagement to Sir Willoughby, who views women as mirrors of himself and finds it difficult to comprehend why she would not want to wed him. The Egoist dramatizes the challenges faced by women in Victorian society as a result of the exchange of women's bodies and brains between dads and spouses in order to strengthen masculine relationships. The plot of The Egoist has many twists and turns that engage the reader. With an eye-catching cover and professionally typeset manuscript, the book is both modern and readable.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9789357484350
Publisher:	Double 9 Booksllp
Publication date:	01/03/2023
Pages:	542
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 1.21(d)

About the Author

George Meredith OM (February 12, 1828-May 18, 1909) was born in Portsmouth, United Kingdom. He was an English poet, writer, and author, whose books are noted for their intelligence, extraordinary dialogues, and aphoristic way of writing. Meredith's books are also recognised for psychological studies of character and a highly subjective perspective on life that is a long way ahead of its time, considering women are equals to men in all streams. His most popular works are The Ordeal of Richard Feverel (1859) and The Egoist (1879). He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature seven times.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements
Introduction
George Meredith: A Brief Chronology
A Note on the Text

The Egoist: A Comedy in Narrative

Appendix A: Comedy

1. From Anonymous [Molière?], “Letter on The Imposter” (1667)
2. From George Meredith, “On the Idea of Comedy” (1877; 1898)

Appendix B: From George Meredith, Modern Love (1862)

Appendix C: The Egoist in Meredith’s Letters (1879–1907)

Appendix D: Contemporary Reviews

1. From William Ernest Henley, Athenaeum (1 November 1879)
2. From Unsigned, Examiner (1 November 1879)
3. From James Thomson, Cope’s Tobacco Plant (January 1880)
4. From Unsigned, New Quarterly Magazine (January 1880)

Appendix E: Feminine Conduct and Women’s Education

1. From Sarah Stickney Ellis, The Daughters of England (1842)
2. From Sarah Stickney Ellis, The Wives of England (1843)
3. From Elizabeth Missing Sewell, Principles of Education (1865; 1866)

Appendix F: Harriet Taylor Mill and John Stuart Mill on Women’s Liberties

1. From Harriet Taylor Mill, Enfranchisement of Women (July 1851)
2. From John Stuart Mill, The Subjection of Women (1869)

Appendix G: Appendix G: From Mrs. Henry Wood, East Lynne (1861; 1862)

Appendix H: From Edward J. Thompson, Suttee, A Historical and Philosophical Enquiry into the Hindu Rite of Widow- Burning (1928)

Appendix I: Charles Darwin

1. From On the Origin of Species (1859)
2. From The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex (1871; 1877)

Appendix J: From Virginia Woolf, “The Novels of George Meredith” (1932)

Select Bibliography

Editorial Reviews

Richard C. Stevenson is our finest critic of George Meredith. His superb edition of The Egoist makes Meredith’s most poised and brilliant achievement fully accessible to contemporary readers. Illuminating the novel’s contexts in the theory of comedy, the ‘woman question,’ and Darwinian biology, as well as in its author’s life and career, Stevenson restores the radical force of Meredith’s intervention in mid-Victorian sexual politics.” — Ian Duncan, University of California, Berkeley

“This is a fine edition of The Egoist. The treatment accorded this often-neglected novel by Richard C. Stevenson is predictably first rate, considering his earlier work on George Meredith. Following Meredith’s revised text is a plus here, offering, as it does, the author’s final intent. Stevenson’s apparatus also furnishes a useful guide to works relevant not just to The Egoist but to Meredith’s aims and techniques overall. Seldom have I encountered such a project, in which everything is in its proper place. This will be the indispensable edition of The Egoist for years to come.” — Benjamin Franklin Fisher, University of Mississippi

From the Publisher