George Meredith  and the Woman Question

Barnali Mukhopadhyay

doi:10.36948/ijfmr.2026.v08i02.71560

George Meredith and the Woman Question

Author(s)	Dr. Barnali Mukhopadhyay
Country	India
Abstract	Meredith —born thirteen years after Trollope, sixteen after Dickens, seventeen after Thackeray and eighteen after Mrs Gaskell — was, in every way, signaling a new direction for the novel. The difficulty of maintaining religious faith became inevitable as the ‘New Sciences’ influenced Victorian People. At the same time, the failure of economic prosperity in the 1870 and the collapse of the One Nation ideal stood as walls in front of the belief to see the world as a benign place. Like George Eliot before him and Henry James after, Meredith’s notion was to involve himself with the problems of other people in the society and this gave his characters a kind of organic growth which would be counter-poised against bland conformism to the norm-bound societal field. The gradual evolution of a new species of woman, intellectually alert and active, became a golden key of his novels as Meredith equipped them with wit, talent and readiness to face the problems of this male-dominated society. He was the high priest of comic spirit, had been an accomplished delineator of female psyche. Like a psychoanalyst, he could delve deep into “Woman Question.” His novels were ample testimony to it. Certain feminist ideas can be detected in meditation and philosophy. His feminism is essentially rooted in the contemporary evolutionary theory of Darwin, Spencer and Comte. Meredith had great faith in the gradual evolution of a new species of women, intellectually alert and active. This new woman or Superwoman would be ready to face the myriad problems of the human society, dominated by male egoism and autocracy. The Victorian England was the happiness of the egoists and snobs. Women were treated as “dolls” in their hands. They found no way or route to emancipation. Meredith equipped them with wit, intellect and readiness to face the problems of these male-dominated society That comic spirit is great boon to feminism. Indeed, comedy for Meredith is a golden key to the gradual social economic and political emancipation of women. It is a close friend of women. It is also the yardstick of civilization to indicate the status and position of women.
Keywords	Meredith -- a thinker, Socio-political and literary background of feminism, Meredith’s women,
Published In	Volume 8, Issue 2, March-April 2026
Published On	2026-03-15
DOI	https://doi.org/10.36948/ijfmr.2026.v08i02.71560

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George Meredith and the Woman Question

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