George Eliot's Idea Of Negotiation

George Eliot is the pseudonym of the famous Victorian female novelist Mary Ann Evans. Her novels are famous for profound philosophic thoughts, sincere moral sentiments, and vivid character portrayal. Adam Bede is her first full-length novel, which sets in a mid-England countryside town of the early 19th century. On the one hand, George Eliot discloses such social problems as class exploitation and contradiction, and the disintegration of social and moral standards of the Victorian society; on the other, George Eliot's idea of negotiation consistent with the Victorian social ideology is incorporated in the novel. Although scholars, to a certain extent, have explored Eliot's moral teachings from the perspective of New Historicism, systematic analysis of the whole work from this perspective has not been made. Thus the present thesis will make an exploration into Adam Bede in the light of New Historicism's literary function, analyzing Eliot's negotiation consciousness embodied in the novel.To begin with, the thesis gives an overview of the theory of New Historicism and the concept of "negotiation" advocated by Stephen Greenblatt. It makes an exploration of the relationship between Eliot's literary principle and New Historicism, and analyzes Eliot's humanistic ideas directing her idea of negotiation.The novel Adam Bede is based on Eliot's personal memories of her rural life. Eliot's aunt, Elizabeth Evans, offers her the source of inspiration for the creation of the character Dinah Morris, and the protagonist Adam Bede owes a lot to her memories of her father, Robert Evans. Instead of presenting heroes'glorious achievements as are often recorded in traditional history, the novel is about the ordinary life of the common people, such as carpenters, tenants and rectors. From this point of view, the novel Adam Bede manifests Eliot's marginal principle of depicting the life of the common people. The "small history" that New Historical representative Stephen Greenblatt advocates in "Cultural Poetics" is rightly "a history of social marginal level"(Chen Leilei 55). New Historicism lays emphasis on the subject's initiative. A writer is actually a negotiator whose negotiation is embodied in literary works. Greenblatt points out that negotiation is realized between two dynamic functions:subversion and containment. Subversion refers to the rebellion against the dominant social ideology, while containment is the rebellion of the subversive forces (Zhu Gang 388). Subversion and containment interact with each other, and accordingly, negotiation is achieved.Then, the present author makes an analysis of Eliot's negotiation consciousness on social contradictions, and that on social and moral standards.In Adam Bede, Eliot reveals such social problems of the Victorian England as class exploitation and contradiction; in the meantime, Eliot treasures the value of hard work and reform, and makes it possible for Adam, to develop from an employed carpenter to an independent employer through consistent diligence. Adam's improvement characterizes the 19th century capitalist economic development, and reflects Eliot's negotiation consciousness on social contradictions among people of different groups.Early in the 19th century, life in the mid-England countryside is relatively peaceful, but it is not entirely isolated from the influences of the industrialization. The Industrial Revolution has cut off the spiritual continuity to history and heritage, and disintegrated the traditional social and moral standards. In the novel, Eliot portrays Arthur and Hetty who only care about their own pleasure and show no reverence to traditional virtues; yet Adam and Dinah still keep the traditional virtues of diligence, honesty and kindness, and Adam achieves moral growth:He grows from a harsh and proud man to a morally mature man full of sympathy and tolerance. Dinah, the dedicated preacher, is an incarnation of universal love. Adam's moral growth and Dinah's universal love show Eliot's confidence in the good nature of human and the progress of society, and demonstrate Eliot's negotiation consciousness on social and moral standards.Finally the author of the present thesis argues that Eliot hopes to reconstruct social ideology using her humanistic ideas, and that is why Eliot reveals the disharmonious factors of the Victorian society. Eliot wishes that social reform and progress can be rooted in the traditional social and moral standards, so that a more harmonious society can be created. The present thesis aims to further explore George Eliot's view of history and society, hoping that it could contribute to the extension of George Eliot study in China. The research on George Eliot's works is a significant contribution for further exploration of English literature of the Victorian time, and it can promote the communication between the study of Chinese literature and that of the world literature. Moreover, the exploration of Eliot's idea of negotiation and her humanistic ideas may bring some elicitation to the construction of the modern harmonious society.