Adam Bede 論 = A Study of Adam Bede

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

There is a consistency of moral ideas in all of George Eliot's novels. The first of her moral principles is that every human being is motivated by self-interest, and this self-inter-est comes in conflict with and is shattered by the forces of this world. When this happens, he comes to understand other human beings and to sympathize with them. Her second moral principle is that we are related with each other so that what one person does inevitably affects everyone else. Adam Bede is a work which embodies these two ideas.
By the realistic description of village scenes, such as the carpenter's workshop and the tenant farmer's farmhouse, and the accumulation of details concerning occupation and class, George Eliot gives us the impression that Hayslop is a world where real people live and their lives are closely interwoven. Sometimes she uses the setting symbolically or suggestively to reveal the true nature of her characters or to prefigure the moral possibilities that are held in suspension.
As George Eliot is conscious of the complexities of human desires, fears, and decptions, she describes the major characters as embodying a complex mixture of such traits. In addition, she gives a further dimension by showing us a developing moral psychology in the major figures. To portray the inner life of her characters, she uses a characteristic analytic technique, which shows us her characters' minds in action, especially when they are busy in self-excusing or rationalizing.