On The Conflicts Between Ideals And Realities In George Gissing's New Grub Street

This thesis aims to explore the fates of the major characters in the novel New Grub Street. Similar to the life of George Gissing, the tragic fates of Reardon, Biffen and Yule in New Grub Street, invariably derive from the irreconcilable conflict between the personal ideals and the harsh reality. These characters are unwilling or unable to adapt to the spirit of the Victorian age and to the new mentality, while immersed in the ancient classicals and history to attain artistic perfection of their own, which the necessity of making a living deems impossible for them to realize.This thesis is divided into five parts: in the first part, the introduction will be made to the life experience of George Gissing, which is very helpful for an in-depth understanding of the author; then relevant literature reviews will be made on the previous critical studies on George Gissing and the his novel New Grub Street.Chapter One focuses on the conflict between the ideals and the reality in literary composition. First, a general picture of what the Victorian reading public was like will be offered and then my attention will go to analysis of the individual ideals of writing of four main male characters: Reardon, Biffen, Alfred Yule and Jasper Milvain.In Chapter Two, the conflict between the ideals and the reality in marriage will be explored. First, the poor single female in the novel Marian and the Milvain sisters will be analyzed, and then the sad marriages in poverty: Reardon and his wife Amy, Alfred Yule and his wife will be elaborated.Chapter Three reflects on the possible causes of the above conflicts. There are mainly two causes for the conflict between the ideals and the reality: the prevalent utilitarian social milieu and the disparity between the writers'ideal writing style and the interest of the general public.Conclusion will be made in the end to establish a further understanding of the respective fates of the major characters in the novel and the underlying causes for their fates.