The Earth Philosophy of George Meredith

Abstract

The scientific question of how and the accompanying philosophic why an individual reacts to his environment has always been an object of interest. Yet there are but few techniques available to investigate why an individual responds as he does to his age and locality and, concerning most men, there is little information available regarding their response to the specific or general problems that life has presented. The man of letters, however, in his writings often records, sometimes directly and sometimes furnishing materials from which inferences can be drawn, his response to the static and dynamic influences that surround him. Among the most important literary figures of the nineteenth century is George Meredith and it is the object of this paper to investigate one of his responses as reflected in his poetry, to the rapid change in philosophical background which was induced by the scientific attainments of his century. The response to be considered here is Meredith's formulation of an Earth philosophy, which was obviously an effort on his part to adjust a religious outlook to the new matter being furnished by advancing science. In order to make clear his special development, his nineteenth century background will be indicated, the revelant items in Meredith's biography will be noted, the earth philosophies of the past will be briefly reviewed and, thereafter, the Earth philosophy of George Meredith will be presented. The details of Meredith's philosophic position will be gathered from a study of his poetry. In this study his novels and his various pros e writings will not be considered because they have little to offer in explaining this angle of Meredith's thought. Finally the paper will conclude with a critical evaluation of his Earth creed.