Evan Harrington

First edition title page

Evan Harrington is an 1861 novel by George Meredith, a glowing comedy of Victorian presumptions.

Setting and plot

The second of Meredith's 'mainstream' novels, the work is loosely autobiographical in inspiration; and concerns the social climbing family (three married daughters; one unmarried son) of the recently deceased tailor, Melchisedec (The Great Mel) Harrington.

Characters

Two of Meredith's most notable comic creations - The Great Mel and his daughter Louisa, the scheming Countess of Saldar - appear in the book. Among lesser comic figures are Jack Raikes and Mr Parsley.

The love interest of the hero, Evan - who is urged up the social ladder by his three sisters - is Rose Jocelyn: she was taken as the epitome of mid-Victorian womanhood by the scholar Henry Sidgwick.

See also

References

  1. ↑ D Daiches ed., Companion to Literature 1 (London 1963) p. 358
  2. ↑ I Ousby ed., Cambridge Guide to Literature in English (Cambridge 1995) p. 312
  3. ↑ D Daiches ed., Companion to Literature 1 (London 1963) p. 358
  4. ↑ I Ousby ed., Cambridge Guide to Literature in English (Cambridge 1995) p. 312
  5. ↑ I Ousby ed., Cambridge Guide to Literature in English (Cambridge 1995) p. 312
  6. ↑ G M Young, Victorian England (London 1964) p. 155
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