1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910826631703321

Autore

Rodden John

Titolo

Between self and society : inner worlds and outer limits in the British psychological novel / / John Rodden

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Austin : , : University of Texas Press, , [2016]

©2016

ISBN

0-292-75609-7

Edizione

[First edition.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (248 p.)

Collana

Literary modernism series

Classificazione

HG 680

Disciplina

823.009/353

Soggetti

English fiction - Psychological aspects

English fiction - Social aspects

Social psychology and literature

Psychology in literature

Psychological fiction, English - History and criticism

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Smollett's Roderick Random : in love with Narcissa -- Godwin's Caleb Williams : "A half-told and mangled tale" -- Hardy's The mayor of Casterbridge : the infernal triangle -- Ford's The good soldier : movements of the heart -- Lewis's Tarr : portraits of the failed artist -- Lawrence's Women in love : the role of miss "Dawington".

Sommario/riassunto

Between Self and Society explores the psychosocial dramas that galvanize six major British novels written between the eighteenth and twentieth centuries. The book challenges an influential misconception that has for too long hindered appreciation of the psychological novel. John Rodden argues that there should be no simplifying antithesis between psychological, “inner” conflicts (within the mind or “soul”) and institutional, “outer” conflicts (within family, class, community). Instead, it is the overarching, dramatic—yet often tortuous—relations between self and society that demand our attention. Rodden presents fresh interpretations of an eclectic group of prose fiction classics, including Tobias Smollett’s The Adventures of Roderick Random, William Godwin’s Caleb Williams, Thomas Hardy’s The Mayor of Casterbridge, Ford Madox Ford’s The Good Soldier, Wyndham Lewis’s Tarr, and D. H.



Lawrence’s Women in Love. Far from being merely admirable experiments, let alone daring though interesting failures, these fictions are shown to possess aesthetic unity, stylistic consistency, and psychic force. Between Self and Society thus impels our careful reconsideration of novels that represent major artistic achievements, yet have been either unjustly neglected or appreciated in limiting ways that do injustice to their psychological aspects. Rodden’s vibrant discussion invites an upward revaluation of these works and encourages the full recognition of their value and significance in British literary history.