Article: Truth so difficult: George Eliot and Georg Buchner, a shared time.

In Chapter 17 of Adam Bede (1), George Eliot makes a strong appeal for what, in speaking of art, she generally refers to as 'truth': it is what we now usually think of as realism. She opposes this truth to 'idealism'. Her arguments form a three-page discourse, freely expressed in the first person, and, as will be seen, almost entirely devoted to the subject of painting. A strikingly similar plea occurs, in reported dialogue, in Georg Buchner's brief story Lenz. My aim in this essay is to suggest that George Eliot may have come across Buchner's story, and recognized her own views in his train of argument. What follows is intended to explain how this might have happened, and ...

Related newspaper, magazine, and journal articles:

 
 
Newsweek Harper's Magazine The Washington Post Chicago Tribune Crain's Chicago Business PRNewswire Pediatric News The Nation Advertising Age The Economist (US) A FREE trial gives you access to over 80 million articles! Access over 6,500 publications with a FREE trial!