Mapping the Movement of Desire in George Eliot: a Spatial Study of Character Itinerancy in The Mill on the Floss and Adam Bede
Open AccessThis thesis uses George Eliot’s Adam Bede and The Mill on the Floss as its two primary texts in its examination of the community destabilizing and community imperiling desire, as it develops in the “knowable communities” of Hayslope and St Ogg’s, respectively (Williams 165). “Mapping the Movement of Desire in George Eliot” borrows Raymond Williams’ concept of the “knowable community,” and applies Williams’ observations about the “knowable community’s” structure of community to Hayslope and St Ogg’s, to first identify each locality as a “knowable community,” and to then underscore the specific characteristics of each space that render “knowable community” an apt classification of Hayslope and St Ogg’s alike (165). “Mapping the Movement of Desire in George Eliot” maintains that the “knowable communities” of Hayslope and St Ogg’s are fragile social spaces on account of their intimate scale (165). The thesis posits that the Hayslope and St Ogg’s communities are particularly susceptible to social disruption, given their small size.I use the phrases “community destabilizing desire” and “community imperiling desire” to refer to the desire that has the power to prove socially debilitating to the “knowable community” (165). “Mapping the Movement of Desire in George Eliot” understands community destabilizing desire and community imperiling desire to be desire of an illicit nature that stands in contention with the social values of the community. To invoke Courtney Berger, the desire that is community destabilizing and/or imperiling in character directly and incontrovertibly defies the “standards of care” that the community itself sets, enforces, and expects its members to uphold (Berger 308). This specific kind of community antagonizing desire threatens the social equilibrium of the community. “Mapping the Movement of Desire in George Eliot” asserts that this social equanimity is requisite to the function and longevity of the community.The thesis’ discussion of space can be attributed to the project’s theory that the characters who catalyze and enact community destabilizing and community imperiling desire must consequently leave the social space of the community. Their absences are a rehabilitative opportunity for the socially upset community to re-establish social coherency. The paper identifies Hetty, Arthur, Maggie, and Stephen as such characters, and pinpoints their individual geographic movements out of and away from Hayslope and St Ogg’s to compose a record of character mobility. The thesis does so under the premise that the separate exits of each character are necessary in the analytic context of community maintenance. In viewing the characters’ egresses from the communities of Hayslope and St Ogg’s as necessary and unavoidable, the thesis argues that these characters’ exits—which on the surface appear to represent community deconstruction—are in fact a crucial component of Eliot’s idiosyncratic style of community construction. This project examines Eliot’s conceptualization of community as a systemic process of creation achieved through the spatial subtraction of specific characters from Eliot’s “knowable community” (Williams 165).
- All rights reserved
Notice to Authors
If you are the author of this work and you have any questions about the information on this page, please use the Contact form to get in touch with us.
| Thumbnail | Title | Date Uploaded | Visibility | Actions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
Narozniak_gwu_0075M_14683.pdf | 2019-05-22 | Open Access |
|