A Study Of The Intellectuals' Dilemma In John Galsworthy's Fraternity

John Galsworthy (1867-1933) is one of the most excellent British Edwardian writers. He gained remarkable achievements and received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1932 by The Forsyte Saga which is a series of family novel. Galsworthy revealed various moral problems by creating literature. He was regarded as humanitarian moralist by Conrad, a contemporary famous writer.Fraternity was published in 1909, which starts with Hilary's and his wife's marriage life and their prejudice of class. Saturday Review pointed out that Fraternity was a very dangerous and revolutionary book. It is nothing more or less than an insidious and embittered attack on our social system. However, John Batchelor, the British critic, emphasized that the people involved are London intellectuals who dabble in the arts and politics and have social conscience. Then, how do protagonists, the intellectuals, attack Edwardian social system in an insidious and embittered way? What emotional message does Galsworthy want to convey by naming the novel"fraternity"? Why do Hilary and Bianca have unhappy marriage in the field of family? Will the people in upper class eventually go into the poor people's inner heart in the field of class? How do Mr. Stone and Mr. Purcey express their feelings and convey spiritual and ethical demands in the field of art? These questions will be analyzed one by one in the thesis."Field"proposed by Pierre Bourdieu refers to"network"or"configuration"which is made up of social relationship. In this special network, Bourdieu is very concerned about the behavior of intellectuals. In Xu Ben's view, the study on behavior of the intellectuals occupies a very important position in the intellectual field."Threshold"proposed by Turner means"the door one can not cross". Turner thinks that people in the threshold stays in a narrow space which is neither here, nor there.In the light of field theory, with intellectuals as the penetrating point, and dilemma as the key word, this thesis is going to explore the intellectuals'various dilemma in fields of family, class and art by combining historical backgrounds in late Victorian age and in the Edwardian era. In the beginning, a literature review, a brief introduction to Field Theory and Threshold Theory are given. Then, this thesis at first analyzes the intellectuals'dilemma in the field of family. Hilary and Bianca live a rich material life, but in the specific historical context, their marriage is at risk. Afterwards, this thesis explores the intellectuals'dilemma in the field of class. The intellectuals are willing to help the people who are from lower class. However, they feel painful when practicing it because their social identity does not permit them to go into the poor people's inner world. At last, this thesis examines the intellectuals'dilemma in the field of art. In their view, art is not only the moral force against private owners, but also a positive force to transform society. According to the above analysis, the conclusion tries to make readers understand that Fraternity is a social book listening to the conscience of the age.