The Egoist: A Comedy in Narrative
1879
The Egoist: A Comedy in Narrative, published in 1879 by George Meredith, is a psychological novel that critiques the egotism and social conventions of the late 19th-century English aristocracy. The story follows Sir Willoughby Patterne, a wealthy and self-centered gentleman, as he navigates love and familial expectations, particularly his engagement to Constantia Durham. Notable for its sharp humor and exploration of human nature, the novel examines the conflict between egoism and genuine emotion, positioning comedy as a means to challenge societal norms and reveal the folly of human behavior.
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“Cynicism is intellectual dandyism. ””
— George Meredith
“To begin to think is the beginning of disgust of the world.””
— George Meredith
“The capaciously strong in soul among women will ultimately detect an infinite grossness in the demand for purity infinite, spotless bloom. Earlier or later they see they have been victims of the singular Egoist, have worn a mask of ignorance to be named innocent, have turned themselves into market produce for his delight, and have really abandoned the commodity in ministering to the lust for it, suffered themselves to be dragged ages back in playing upon the fleshly innocence of happy accident to gratify his jealous greed of possession, when it should have been their task to set the soul above the fairest fortune and the gift of strength in women beyond ornamental whiteness. Are they not of nature warriors, like men?”
— George Meredith
“Strange eclipse, when the hue of truth comes shadowing over our bright ideal planet. It will not seem the planet’s fault, but truth’s. Reality is the offender; delusion our treasure that we are robbed of. Then begins with us the term of wilful delusion, and its necessary accompaniment of the disgust of reality; exhausting the heart much more than patient endurance of starvation.””
— George Meredith
“A tried stedfast woman is the one jewel of the sex. She points to her husband like the sunflower; her love illuminates him; she lives in him, for him; she testifies to his worth; she drags the world to his feet; she leads the chorus of his praises; she justifies him in his own esteem. Surely there is not on earth such beauty!””
— George Meredith
“Consider him indulgently: the Egoist is the Son of Himself. He is likewise the Father. And the son loves the father, the father the son; they reciprocate affection through the closest of ties; and shall they view behaviour unkindly wounding either of them, not for each other's dear sake abhorring the criminal? They would not injure you, but they cannot consent to see one another suffer or crave in vain. The two rub together in sympathy besides relationship to an intenser one. Are you, without much offending, sacrificed by them, it is on the altar of their mutual love, to filial piety or paternal tenderness: the younger has offered a dainty morsel to the elder, or the elder to the younger. Absorbed in their great example of devotion do they not think of you. They are beautiful.””
— George Meredith
“They were plighted; they were one eternally; they could not be parted. She listened gravely, conceiving the infinity as a narrow dwelling where a voice droned and ceased not. However, she listened. She became an attentive listener.””
— George Meredith
“In... the book of Egoism, it is written, possession without obligation to the object possessed approaches felicity.””
— George Meredith
“Cynicism is intellectual dandyism without the coxcomb's feathers.””
— George Meredith
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Meredith, George. The Egoist: A Comedy in Narrative. Lex, lex-books.com/book/the-egoist-a-comedy-in-narrative-f0df295c-8093-4155-b22a-d20a42b2ca7f.Meredith, G. (1879). The Egoist: A Comedy in Narrative. Lex. https://lex-books.com/book/the-egoist-a-comedy-in-narrative-f0df295c-8093-4155-b22a-d20a42b2ca7fMeredith, George. The Egoist: A Comedy in Narrative. Lex. https://lex-books.com/book/the-egoist-a-comedy-in-narrative-f0df295c-8093-4155-b22a-d20a42b2ca7f.
