New Grub Street
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| New Grub Street by George Gissing, Penguin Classics edition 1985 | |
| Author | George Gissing |
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| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Novel |
| Publisher | London: Elder Smith (3 volumes); Troy, N.Y.: Brewster (1 volume) |
| Released | 1891 |
| Media Type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| ISBN | NA |
New Grub Street is a novel by George Gissing published in 1891.
Contents |
[edit] Plot introduction
The story is about the literary world that Gissing inhabited, turn-of-the-century England, its intrigues, and its petty quarrels. The title, New Grub Street, alludes to the London street, Grub Street, that in the 18th century became a byword for the sort of "hack writing" that pervades Gissing's novel; Grub Street itself was no longer extant when Gissing was writing. The novel contrasts Edwin Reardon, a congenitally uncommercial but talented writer, against Jasper Milvain, a selfish and unscrupulous hack who rejects artistic endeavour for material gain. Milvain's trite, manipulative work ascends while Reardon's work--and his life--spiral downward, suggesting that the world rewards self-promotion more than artistic sensibility. Gissing's deft juggling of emotional concerns and economic/social ones makes this one of the finest and most underrated novels of the Victorian era. Gissing's biography--a respected writer who struggled for a long time to obtain commercial success--strongly suggests the novel is autobiographical, the author's stand-in being (of course) Reardon.
[edit] Plot summary
New Grub Street opens with Jasper Milvain, an “alarmingly modern young man” driven by pure financial ambition in navigating his literary career. He accepts that he will “always despise the people [he] write[s] for,” networks within the appropriate social circle to manufacture opportunity, and authors articles for popular periodicals. Gissing provides a foil to Milvain with protagonist Edwin Reardon, who prefers to author novels of a more literary bent and refuses to pander to contemporary tastes until, as a last-gasp measure against financial ruin, he quickly attempts a popular novel. Even in this venture, Reardon fails, precipitating a separation from his wife, Amy Reardon née Yule, who cannot accept her husband’s fallen status.
The Yule family includes Amy’s two uncles—John, a wealthy invalid, and Edmund, another author—and Edmund’s daughter, Marian. The friendship that develops between Marian and Milvain’s sisters, who move to London following their mother’s death, provides opportunity for the former to meet and fall in love with Milvain. However much Milvain respects Marian’s intellectual capabilities and strength of personality, the crucial element (according to Milvain) for marriage is missing: money. Marrying a rich woman, after all, is the most convenient way to speed his career advancement. Indeed, Milvain slights romantic love as a key to marriage:
‘As a rule, marriage is the result of a mild preference, encouraged by circumstances, and deliberately heightened into strong sexual feeling. You, of all men, know well enough that the same kind of feeling could be produced for almost any woman who wasn’t repulsive.’ Eventually, reason enough for an engagement is provided by a legacy of £5000 left to Marian by John Yule.
Life (and death) eventually end the possibility of this union. Milvain’s initial career advancement is a position on The Current, a paper edited by Clement Fadge. Twenty years earlier, Edmund Yule (Marian’s father) was slighted by Fadge in a newspaper article, and the resulting acerbic resentment extends even to Milvain (an employee of Fadge’s). Edmund Yule refuses to countenance Marian’s marriage; but his objection proves to be an obstacle only after Yule’s eyesight fails and Marian’s legacy is reduced to a mere £1500. As a result, Marian must work to provide for her parents, and her inheritance is no longer available to Milvain.
By this time, Milvain already has detected a more desirable target for marriage: Amy Reardon. Reardon’s poverty and natural disposition toward ill-health culminate in his death following a brief reconciliation with his wife. Amy, besides the receipt of £10,000 upon John Yule’s death, has the natural beauty and grace to benefit her husband (by reflection) in the social events beneficial to his career. Eventually Amy and Milvain marry; however, as the narrator reveals, this marriage motivated by circumstances is not lacking in more profound areas. Milvain has married the woman he loves.
[edit] Characters in "New Grub Street"
- Jasper Milvain, an "alarmingly modern young man" who rejects artistic integrity for financial gain and social prominence. After a broken engagement with Marian Yule, Milvain marries her cousin (and Edwin Reardon's widow), Amy, who received a legacy of £10,000 on her uncle's death. By the novel's end, Milvain's sacrifices and tireless work secure an editorship at a newspaper.
- Edwin Reardon, a talented writer of uncommercial novels. A modicum of early critical praise is disappointed after his marriage to Amy Yule (and fathering of Willie), when Reardon is unable to provide for his family through his chosen profession. After Reardon fails, he takes refuge in the steady income of a clerkship proffered by a friend. Reardon is deserted by his wife, who cannot stomach her husband's new status, and subsequently (though poverty and ill-health) takes sick and dies.
- Alfred Yule, writer. Yule is a vehement foe of Clement Fadge, the editor who provided Milvain's first break. His frustrations over meagre financial prospects and a stalled career are repeatedly visited on his wife whose lower-class background and limited education are a continual source of irritation.
- Marian Yule, cousin of Amy Reardon and daughter of Alfred Yule.
- Harold Biffen, habitually (almost contentedly) down-and-out friend of Reardon. Biffen scrapes an existence from tutoring.
- Dora Milvain, Jasper Milvain's younger sister, who moves to London following her mother's death. With Jasper's encouragement, Dora enters onto a career writing for children and encounters early success. Eventually, she marries Mr. Whelpdale.
- Maud Milvain, Jasper Milvain's sister, who also moves to Londing following her mother's death. Begins writing as well, but is not as ambitious as her sister. She marries the wealthy Mr. Dolomore.
- Mr. Whelpdale, friend of Milvain and future husband of Dora Milvain. Whelpdale is a compulsive lover with four broken engagements behind him (in each, the woman's choice). Having abandoned fiction-writing, Whelpdale concentrates on a business assisting clients in publishing and revising novels. Eventually, his business finds commercial backing.
[edit] Release details
- 1891, UK, Smith, Elder (ISBN NA), Pub date ? ? 1891, hardback (3 volume first edition)
- 1904, USA, Brewster (ISBN NA), Pub date ? ? 1904, hardback (1 volume)
