The Emancipated

by George Gissing

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Genres: Fiction, Classics, 19th Century, Novels

132 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1890

About the author

People best know British writer George Robert Gissing for his novels, such as New Grub Street (1891), about poverty and hardship.

This English novelist who published twenty-three novels between 1880 and 1903. From his early naturalistic works, he developed into one of the most accomplished realists of the late-Victorian era.

Born to lower-middle-class parents, Gissing went to win a scholarship to Owens College, the present-day University of Manchester. A brilliant student, he excelled at university, winning many coveted prizes, including the Shakespeare prize in 1875. Between 1891 and 1897 (his so-called middle period) he produced his best works, which include New Grub Street, Born in Exile , The Odd Women , In the Year of Jubilee , and The Whirlpool . The middle years of the decade saw his reputation reach new heights: some critics count him alongside George Meredith and Thomas Hardy, the best novelists of his day. He also enjoyed new friendships with fellow writers such as Henry James, and H.G. Wells, and came into contact with many other up-and-coming writers such as Joseph Conrad and Stephen Crane.

Reviews

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

As Gissing worked on "The Emancipated" he received indications
that, at long last, he was beginning to be recognized as a
writer to be reckoned with. There were respectful reviews on
"A Life's Morning" and "The Nether World" from America, "Demos"
was being translated in both French and German and he was able
to pick up little jobs of articles and short stories. The print
media was branching out and as Gissing's reputation grew he was
able to find it easier to submit magazine work - it would prove
his bread and butter in the coming decade. Also the fact that
Nell's death of the year before was to free him both emotionally
and factually - so he was now writing with only himself to
consider (and a couple of family members). George could have made
an advantageous marriage on the strength of his reputation but
he had just experienced a mini breakdown to do with writers block
and felt the future was "hideous".
I don't agree with the reviewer who felt it wasn't among his best
books - I thought it was a complex novel dealing with middle class
intellectuals, with Gissing giving them a more fuller and rounded
treatment than in his previous novels. Gissing's love of Italy is
shown in his unrestrained descriptions as he introduces the
characters. There is Miriam Baske, only 24 but already a widow and
steeped in the misguided and religious cant that Gissing hated.
He apparently based Miriam on his deeply religious sister Margaret.
The Spences are an enlightened young couple and completely one
dimensional, a couple who spend their lives soaking up the culture
of Europe, giving always sought after advice to their friends and
having financial security to do as they please, and Ross Mallard,
an artist and a character Gissing seems to have modelled on himself.
There is a telling section where Ross remembers his home in the
north, his pious mother and his sisters whom he felt alienated from.
There is also a thumb print of his father - severe and eccentric
who also didn't really fit into the dour landscape (reads a lot like
Gissing's father).
Into this group bursts the vibrant Cecily Doran, product of (to
Gissing) an outlandish education system that filled the heads of
girls with arts and the classics but nothing to equip a person for
life's grim realities. They move to Naples and another pension
where they meet the Denyers and Gissing brings all the sarcasm he
can conjure to describe this deadly family who have nothing natural
about them. There is also another artist, Clifford Marsh, a talentless
hack.
To me this is a story of how "holiday" faces and personalities are
so often at variance with "home" ones. Enter Reuben Elgar, Miriam's
"bad penny" brother as passionate and defiant as Miriam is pious.
Gissing is at pains to point out that both Miriam and Reuben are
products of their dogmatic religious upbringing. He meets Cecily
who although brought up as a free and new woman has lived a "fairy
tale" life, not having to face anything harsh and together they
have a holiday romance. But Reuben is selfish, manic, caught up in
his own wants and desires and persuades Cecily to elope - against everyone's wishes. He is going to write... one day, but back in London, the months of inactivity and hanging about with low life cronies bring out his baser nature, he becomes dominating, wishing to subdue Cecily's independence and really it is a case of a man having more passion and fire than actual talent.
In fact the last third of the book deals with domestic difficulties,
when is a woman justified in leaving her husband ect?? A Mrs. Travis
enters the picture, she has left her husband and is now a social
outcast. She tries to befriend Cecily whom she sees as travelling the
same path as her but Reuben causes a scene. As usual Gissing tries
his best to enter into the psychology of Reuben, to show why Cecily
is partly to blame for his degradation but really Reuben is an
unlikable character (for me) from the start. Gissing also saw
positives in married couples living in separate abodes - Reuben
wistfully feels that would solve all his problems and in a later
book "In the Year of Jubilee" Nancy and Tarrant find bliss in
putting it into practise. With all the huge marital problems abounding
in the last 100 pages and the fact that Cecily seems to be
independently wealthy I can't understand why divorce is not an option.
In fact there are a few speeches on how poor Cecily will have to
face up to living the rest of her life with a stiff upper lip and
tied to a violent, philandering husband. The ending though is truly
powerful as Cecily, the thoroughly emancipated, faces life broken
and alone but is able to live life as a free woman.

[Hugo RK · Rating 4 out of 5]

A brilliant, subtle, and undeservingly forgotten novel. Worth reading for the descriptions of Italy alone.

[Poiema · Rating 4 out of 5]

Somehow Gissing's novels draw me in and fully absorb me, even though I rarely develop full sympathy with his characters. His protagonists are all drawn to portray the societal changes that were happening during the Victorian era, with a special emphasis on women's issues.


Take Cecily, for example. She was a young woman of 18 when the story opens, and had received a truly modern education. Adept at languages, including Latin, well-read, well-traveled, she was conversent in the fine arts. Her guardians were proud of her achievements and had high hopes for her to model a new kind of womanhood. They were gobsmacked that her fine education was not sufficient to govern her strong passion, and she unadvisedly eloped with the first man who paid attention to her. She had a developed mind but not a developed moral compass. 


How does a fully emancipated woman operate within a traditional marriage? The husband paid lip service to her freedom, but in practicality was unable to give her free reign to socialize with those in the literary circles, unable to provide her with opportunities to continue to cultivate her mind. 


Another significant character was Mrs. Baske, a young widow who had grown up in a very restrictive sect of Puritanism. She was joyless and judgemental and wholly unlikable at first, her moral compass being TOO overdeveloped. Her lengthy visit to Italy, being immersed in the arts, living amongst "emancipated" people led her to denounce her religious heritage and to be transformed into a much more broadminded and pleasant individual. 


I really enjoyed the art theme that formed the backdrop for this book, the forays into Italian art and the contrasts between the British way of thinking versus the Italian and French. Cecily could, due to her liberal arts education, look at sculpture and art books without blushing--- whilst the English matriarchs looked on in horror. The straight laced, Puritan mindset was portrayed as being stifling and soul sapping. 


The whole artist subculture was also explored in this book. Where did an artist fit into the rigid stratas of English society? While the arts were becoming popular in the upper classes, the artists themselves were viewed as "bohemians." Many were literally starving artists. 


There are some paradoxes in this book. The art of western civilization sprang from the fountain of Christianity, yet here the later Victorians ---urbane and forward thinking--- were seeking to emancipate themselves from it. While they sought to elevate their minds, they were left floundering for a moral compass. This was poignantly evident in the inevitable Victorian deathbed scene, where there was not one modicum of comfort.


My own view is that the Christianity portrayed in this book was an extreme, rigid, almost cult-like form that anyone would want to be emancipated from. The main characters fared better with no faith, rather than under the toxic influence of a distorted religious fervor. However, I felt that "the emancipated" were floundering for some sort of moral standard, and were devoid of comfort at the hour of death.


No credit was given to Christianity as being the source of creativity that birthed all of the great works of art admired in Italy. Rather, it was discarded as an outdated relic of the past, one that hindered forward progress. 


I always find Gissing's books to be mind food. His works tend to be depressing in some ways, but the questions he raises are thought provoking. How can a well educated woman be fruitful in Victorian society? Are artists a special sub-strata in English society, and how should they be remunerated? Can a a modernly educated individual still hold religious views? Does religion quench creativity or enhance it? Where does one find a moral bedrock if religion is discarded?


I find Gissing's books dense, absorbing, finely written, and wonderful mind food--- even though I don't always agree with his conclusions.

[Becky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Set, as many of his books are, among the middle class in the late 19th century, Gissing continues to show his willingness to eviscerate every element of that society that he can get his pen near. He is brilliant at finding just the right words to totally deconstruct the motives and virtues of his characters, almost entirely to their detriment. His treatment of women shows the complexities of life for those who are newly educated in an era that still only sees them as wives and mothers, but it is not nearly as thorough as The Odd Women (my personal favorite Gissing novel). His criticism of religion feels heavy handed compared to the nuanced complexity he shows on many other issues. I was swept up in the characters, but mostly it was more of a sense of "what idiotic thing will you do next?" rather than out of any particular affection.

[Gareth Reeves · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gissing's great phase (New Grub Street through The Whirlpool) begins just after this book. A few powerful scenes aside, this is a fairly enjoyable portrait of bohemian middle-class life in the 1870s, featuring Italy as well as England. Gissing's understanding of feminism is progressive for the time, but this is scarcely a feminist classic, and is surpassed on all fronts by The Odd Women.

[William Rogers-Coltman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was aight 🤓

[Pippa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not one of Gissing's best.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

My review will be added soon