Carlyle’s Influence On The Condition-of-England Novel

Thomas Carlyle was one of the most prominent critics and thinkers of the Victorian era of Britain in the 19th century.It was in 1839 that he first mentioned "the Condition-of England-Question" in Chartism,around which many important novels were created by the contemporary writers.These novels are usually reflections of miserable living and working conditions of the working class in industrial society.They are what we call the "condition of England novel" today.Since George Eliot stated "there is hardly a superior or active mind of this generation that has not been modified by Carlyle’s writings",this thesis attempts to focus on Carlyle’s influence on the condition of England novels in the 19th century,taking George Eliot’s works as examples.The entire thesis consists of four parts as follows.The first part is the preface,including the research motivation,the summary of researches having been conducted on Carlyle and George Eliot at home and abroad so far and the method involved in writing this paper.Next is the body part.Part Ⅰ offers background information as well as the relationship between Carlyle and some contemporary literal celebrities.Part Ⅱ aims to analyze Carlyle’s influence on George Eliot from three aspects:historically,philosophically(or religiously)and politically.Part Ⅲ is about their respective solutions to the social problems.And reasons for the different solutions will be presented in the last part.Comparing their analyses of the rapid development of industrialism in Britain helps us stick to our beliefs and keep a balance between the material and spritual world in today’s China.That’s why we are studying Carlyle’s thoughts and works of his time.