num_pages: 168
description: "Eternally to strive towards the highest state of being"This line from Goethe's Faust, which is quoted in the text, is indicative of the main preoccupations in Middlemarch. In it George Eliot portrays the eternal confict between individual egoism and the need for social duty and reveals a persuasive enthusiasm for a development from egoism to altruism.In her discussion of theme and characterization Catherine Neale analyses the degree to which the characters manage to achieve this aim. She also considers the intellectual climate in which George Eliot lived-- a time that saw the emergence of Darwin's theory of evolution and was suspicious of the self-seeking core of human nature, be it called selfishness or subjectivity-- and examines its influences on George Eliot's ideology and writing.
language: English
title: Middlemarch
titlecomplete: Middlemarch (Critical Study)
ratings_count: 8
publisher: Penguin Books