Manifestations of labor in Victorian literature.

In the Victorian era, labor became, among other things, an emotional outlet, a religious activity, and a means of self-definition. This thesis explores each of these manifestations of labor in three Victorian literary pieces: Thomas Carlyle's Sartor Resartus, George Eliot's Adam Bede, and John Henry Newman's Apologia Pro Vita Sua. The initial chapter examines the influence of work in the Victorian era and its subsequent effects on the Victorian individual's view of and relation to his or her world. Chapter two focuses on Thomas Carlyle's writings, predominantly his fictional autobiography Sartor Resartus, the literary expression of Carlyle's Goethean philosophy of work. In Sartor Resartus, the reader will find not only the exaltation of work but also the prescription of work as a therapeutic curative for the malady of Byronic idleness. Carlyle's Victorian work ethic also appears in George Eliot's Adam Bede, the subject of chapter three. In this novel, labor becomes the prevailing religion of the provincial village of Hayslope, and the title character, Adam Bede, becomes both the object of worship, as a model workman, and a Christ-figure or second Adam, as the "Man of Sorrows." The final chapter discusses John Henry Newman's Apologia Pro Vita Sua. This autobiography incorporates both the notion of work as a religious duty and a Carlylean reclothing. Thus, chapter four demonstrates, on the one hand, the work of a divine commissioning and, on the other hand, the work of refashioning the self through the genre of autobiography.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.A.

Level thesis:degree_level

Masters

Grantor

Baylor University.

Year dc:date.issued

1992

Author dc:creator

• Millard, Candice S.

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Nixon, Jude V., 1953-

• Carlyle, Thomas, 1795-1881. Sartor resartus.
• Newman, John Henry, 1801-1890. Apologia pro vita sua.
• Eliot, George, 1819-1880. Adam Bede.
• Labor in literature.

Statement dc:rights

• Baylor University works are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. Contact libraryquestions@baylor.edu for inquiries about permission.

Language dc:language.iso

en

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/2104/14996

OAI record oai:identifier

https://baylor-ir.tdl.org/server/oai/request?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=dim&identifier=oai%3Abaylor-ir.tdl.org%3A2104%2F14996