The Modernist Turn Of English Novel

By comparing themes and techniques of Middlemarch and The Portrait of a Lady in the context of literary tradition and transformation, this thesis attempts to throw light on "the great tradition of British fiction" with its serious moral concern, and on the two authors' different contributions to the novel's epochal turn from realism to modernism as well. Chapter One explores the shared theme of both fictions:the dream, trial and spiritual growth of an idealistic young woman, examining the two authors' convincing rendering of fundamental human experiences. Chapter Two, Three and Four look into the different narrative techniques employed by the two authors. George Eliot foreshadowed modernism with her distinctive psycho-analysis. An omniscient point of view in Middlemarch is essential for her presentation of human psychology from various angles. Henry James marked the modernist turn of novel with his innovative fictional techniques such as "point of view" and "dramatic presentation". The Portrait shows his early attempt to introduce a limited point of view for the purpose of creating a vivid "illusion of reality". The combination of realism and modernism and of moral interest and formal innovation this paper calls attention to in the two classics it examines continues to inspire today's readers and literary practitioners in their pursuit of possibilities of life and art.