The Egoist

By George Meredith

The novel recounts the story of self-absorbed Sir Willoughby Patterne and his attempts at marriage; jilted by his first bride-to-be, he vacillates between the sentimental Laetitia Dale and the strong-willed Clara Middleton. More importantly, the novel follows Clara's attempts to escape from her engagement to Sir Willoughby, who desires women to serve as a mirror for him and consequently cannot understand why she would not want to marry him. Thus, The Egoist dramatizes the difficulty contingent upon being a woman in Victorian society, when women's bodies and minds are trafficked between fathers and husbands to cement male bonds.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Start Publishing LLC
• Release date: Jan 3, 2013
• ISBN: 9781625582720

George Meredith

George Meredith (1828-1909) was an English author and poet active during the Victorian era. Holding radical liberal beliefs, Meredith first worked in the legal field, seeking justice and reading law. However, he soon abandoned the field when he discovered his true passion for journalism and poetry. After leaving this profession behind, Meredith partnered with a man named Edward Gryffdh Peacock, founding and publishing a private literary magazine. Meredith published poetry collections, novels, and essays, earning him the acclaim of a respected author. Praised for his integrity, intelligence, and literary skill, Meredith was nominated for seven Nobel Prizes and was appointed to the order of Merit by King Edward the Seventh in 1905.

Reviews for The Egoist

[fersher_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This book was rather slow going for me. I did enjoy the conversational banter between the characters, but I was lost as to where the story was going most of the time. Not one of my favorites.

[branful · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I was sympathetic with Sir Willoughby until he elected to employ the tricks on Clara Middleton in Chapter XL, after his marriage proposal was snapped by Laetitia Dale in the midnight conference with her. After that, Sir Willouby would fall in everyone's esteem. I resent the unfortunate twist in the plot. Prior to that, he seemed passable, just another romatic hero dreaming to fulfil his impossible dream. • Have you seen the 1956 film "Giant," directed by George Stevens, starring James Dean and Liz Taylor? On seeing it for the third time, I noticed that it contained some propaganda on Women's Lib. (The film also brings back memory of another film "Five Easy Piece," in which Jack Nicholson talks about the Big Thaw in Alaska, with a woman resembling Yoko Ono, though "Five Easy Pieces" does not stand anywhere near Womoen's Lib.) This novel has much to contribute, I think, to the Women's Lib movement, in that it gives a good description of the poor state the women were thrown, unable to sustain themselves, and subject to men's initiatives with every which subject. In this sense, this novel is quite different from the works by Jane Austen or Thackeray or Henry James. The novel's treatment of Clara's assertion is quite fair. It doesn't depict her as peculiar or flippant. Rather, it supplements the general plight of women by Mrs. Mountstuart's confession to Clara. • I guess this is where this novel struck and deeply influenced Soseki Natsume. It tells difficulty of social independence for women. It tells near impossibility of romantic love between a man and a woman. The situation is generally unchanged today. • Speaking of George Stevens, I guess this novel could have been filmed by him, in an ideal world, starring his long-time cohort, Katharine Hepburn as Clara Middleton.