Old Jolyon Of The Forsyte Saga And His Philosophy

John Galsworthy's Forsyte Saga develops on the idea of Forsyteism, a coinage that had great impacts in the wake of the launch of its first book The Man of Property, and which means one's life spins around property and possession unceasingly. Being the leading character of the supporting plot of The Man of Property, old Jolyon was the moderated incarnation of Forsyteism as contrasted to Soames Forsyte, the extreme development of Forsyteism. This paper is intended to give an analysis of old Jolyon in terms of his"philosophies": his worship of beauty, principle of ethics, and understanding of property.The first part of the paper gives an overall picture of old Jolyon as the patriarch of the Forsyte family and the epitomization of the British Empire. The second part analyzes old Jolyon's relationship with and attitude towards the famous Aesthetic Movement of"his"age, thus leading to an analysis of his worship of beauty. The conflict between old Jolyon's sense of beauty and the deep-rooted Victorian common sense is focused upon. Chapter Three is concerned about old Jolyon's ethic principle, and probes into the effect of the rigid Victorian morality upon him. The last chapter elaborates on old Jolyon's sense of property, giving a comparison between him and Soames, and explains the difference between them. The key word of the whole Forsyte Saga is"sense of property", and old Jolyon was no exception, but with the help of his worship of beauty, he finally struggled free of its control, while Soames fell completely to its grasp.The analysis of the character of old Jolyon provides a new perspective on Galsworthy's Forsyteism. Other minor but no less important characters are rarely touched, who, however, complement the concept of Forsyteism and are worth further research.