Adam Bede
Encyclopedia
Adam Bede, the first novel written by George Eliot
(the pen name of Mary Ann Evans), was published in 1859. It was published pseudonymously, even though Evans was a well-published and highly respected scholar of her time. The novel has remained in print ever since, and is used in university studies of 19th century English literature.
(1967),
The story's plot follows four characters' rural lives in the fictional community of Hayslope—a rural, pastoral and close-knit community in 1799. The novel revolves around a love "rectangle" between beautiful but self-absorbed Hetty Sorrel
, Captain Arthur Donnithorne, the young squire who seduces her, Adam Bede
, her unacknowledged suitor, and Dinah Morris
, Hetty's cousin, a fervent, virtuous and beautiful Methodist
lay preacher.
Adam is a local carpenter much admired for his integrity and intelligence, in love with Hetty. She is attracted to Arthur, the charming local squire's grandson and heir, and falls in love with him. When Adam
interrupts a tryst between them, Adam
and Arthur fight. Arthur agrees to give up Hetty and leaves Hayslope to return to his militia. After he leaves, Hetty Sorrel agrees to marry Adam but shortly before their marriage, discovers she is pregnant. In desperation, she leaves in search of Arthur. She cannot find him; unwilling to return to the village on account of the shame and ostracism she would have to endure, she delivers her baby with the assistance of a friendly woman she encounters. Later, the child is killed when she abandons it in a field. Not being able to bear the child's cries she tries to come back but she is too late when she finds out that it dies of exposure.
Hetty is caught and tried for child murder. She is found guilty and sentenced to hang. Dinah enters the prison and pledges to stay with Hetty until the end. Her compassion brings about Hetty's contrite confession. When Arthur Donnithorne, on leave from the militia for his grandfather's funeral, hears of her impending execution, he races to the court and has the sentence commuted to transportation
.
Ultimately, Adam
and Dinah, who gradually become aware of their mutual love, marry and live peacefully with his family.
to the way Adam Bede is written has often been noted. Like its model, Adam Bede features minutely detailed empirical and psychological observations about illiterate "common folk" who, because of their greater proximity to nature than to culture, are taken as emblematic of human nature in its more pure form. So behind its humble appearance this is a novel of great ambition.
Genre painting
and the novel
arose together as middle-class art forms and retained close connections until the end of the nineteenth century. According to Richard Stang, it was a French treatise of 1846 on Dutch and Flemish painting that first popularized the application of the term realism to fiction. And certainly it is with Dutch
, Flemish
, and English
genre painting that George Eliot's realism is most often compared. She herself invites the comparison in chapter 17 of Adam Bede, and Mario Praz
applies it to all her works in his study of The Hero in Eclipse in Victorian Fiction.
in 1859 praised it as a "novel of the highest class," and The Times
called it "a first-rate novel." Contemporary reviewers, often influenced by nostalgia for the earlier period represented in Bede, enthusiastically praised Eliot's characterizations and realistic representations of rural life. Charles Dickens
wrote:
In fact, in early criticism, the tragedy of infanticide has often been overlooked in favor of the peaceful idyllic world and familiar personalities Eliot recreated.
Other critics have been less generous. Henry James
, among others, resented the narrator's interventions. In particular, Chapter 15 has fared poorly among scholars because of the author's/narrator's moralizing and meddling in an attempt to sway readers' opinions of Hetty
and Dinah. Other critics have objected to the resolution of the story. In the final moments, Hetty, about to be executed for infanticide, is saved by her seducer, Arthur Donnithorne. Critics have argued that this deus ex machina ending negates the moral lessons learned by the main characters. Without the eleventh hour reprieve, the suffering of Adam, Arthur, and Hetty
would have been more realistically concluded. In addition, some scholars feel that Adam's marriage to Dinah
is another instance of the author's/narrator's intrusiveness. These instances have been found to directly conflict with the otherwise realistic images and events of the novel.
was made directed by Maurice Elvey
and starring Bransby Williams
and Ivy Close
.
In 1991, the BBC produced a television version of Adam Bede starring Iain Glen
, Patsy Kensit
, Susannah Harker
, James Wilby
and Julia McKenzie
. It was aired as part of the Masterpiece Theater anthology in 1992.
George Eliot
Mary Anne Evans , better known by her pen name George Eliot, was an English novelist, journalist and translator, and one of the leading writers of the Victorian era...
(the pen name of Mary Ann Evans), was published in 1859. It was published pseudonymously, even though Evans was a well-published and highly respected scholar of her time. The novel has remained in print ever since, and is used in university studies of 19th century English literature.
Plot summary
According to The Oxford Companion to English LiteratureThe Oxford Companion to English Literature
The Oxford Companion to English Literature first published in 1932, edited by the retired diplomat Sir Paul Harvey , was the earliest of the Oxford Companions to appear...
(1967),
- "the plot is founded on a story told to George Eliot by her aunt Elizabeth Evans, a MethodistMethodismMethodism is a movement of Protestant Christianity represented by a number of denominations and organizations, claiming a total of approximately seventy million adherents worldwide. The movement traces its roots to John Wesley's evangelistic revival movement within Anglicanism. His younger brother...
preacher, and the original of Dinah MorrisDinah MorrisDinah Morris is a major character in George Eliot's novel Adam Bede ; a Methodist lay preacher, she was modelled on Eliot's aunt Elizabeth Evans.Dinah visits the fictional community of Hayslope — a rural, pastoral and close-knit community in 1799...
of the novel, of a confession of child-murder, made to her by a girl in prison."
The story's plot follows four characters' rural lives in the fictional community of Hayslope—a rural, pastoral and close-knit community in 1799. The novel revolves around a love "rectangle" between beautiful but self-absorbed Hetty Sorrel
Hetty Sorrel
Hetty Sorrel is a major character in George Eliot's novel Adam Bede .Beautiful but thoughtless Hetty lives in the fictional community of Hayslope — a rural, pastoral and close-knit community in 1799. Her home is on Mr. Martin Poyser's dairy farm as she is his niece. Because she is an extremely...
, Captain Arthur Donnithorne, the young squire who seduces her, Adam Bede
Adam Bede (character)
Adam Bede is the eponymous main character of George Eliot's novel Adam Bede .Adam is an upright and moral carpenter who lives in the fictional community of Hayslope — a rural, pastoral and close-knit community in 1799. He is Seth Bede's older brother and is the son of Thias and Lisbeth Bede. He has...
, her unacknowledged suitor, and Dinah Morris
Dinah Morris
Dinah Morris is a major character in George Eliot's novel Adam Bede ; a Methodist lay preacher, she was modelled on Eliot's aunt Elizabeth Evans.Dinah visits the fictional community of Hayslope — a rural, pastoral and close-knit community in 1799...
, Hetty's cousin, a fervent, virtuous and beautiful Methodist
Methodism
Methodism is a movement of Protestant Christianity represented by a number of denominations and organizations, claiming a total of approximately seventy million adherents worldwide. The movement traces its roots to John Wesley's evangelistic revival movement within Anglicanism. His younger brother...
lay preacher.
Adam is a local carpenter much admired for his integrity and intelligence, in love with Hetty. She is attracted to Arthur, the charming local squire's grandson and heir, and falls in love with him. When Adam
Adam Bede (character)
Adam Bede is the eponymous main character of George Eliot's novel Adam Bede .Adam is an upright and moral carpenter who lives in the fictional community of Hayslope — a rural, pastoral and close-knit community in 1799. He is Seth Bede's older brother and is the son of Thias and Lisbeth Bede. He has...
interrupts a tryst between them, Adam
Adam Bede (character)
Adam Bede is the eponymous main character of George Eliot's novel Adam Bede .Adam is an upright and moral carpenter who lives in the fictional community of Hayslope — a rural, pastoral and close-knit community in 1799. He is Seth Bede's older brother and is the son of Thias and Lisbeth Bede. He has...
and Arthur fight. Arthur agrees to give up Hetty and leaves Hayslope to return to his militia. After he leaves, Hetty Sorrel agrees to marry Adam but shortly before their marriage, discovers she is pregnant. In desperation, she leaves in search of Arthur. She cannot find him; unwilling to return to the village on account of the shame and ostracism she would have to endure, she delivers her baby with the assistance of a friendly woman she encounters. Later, the child is killed when she abandons it in a field. Not being able to bear the child's cries she tries to come back but she is too late when she finds out that it dies of exposure.
Hetty is caught and tried for child murder. She is found guilty and sentenced to hang. Dinah enters the prison and pledges to stay with Hetty until the end. Her compassion brings about Hetty's contrite confession. When Arthur Donnithorne, on leave from the militia for his grandfather's funeral, hears of her impending execution, he races to the court and has the sentence commuted to transportation
Penal transportation
Transportation or penal transportation is the deporting of convicted criminals to a penal colony. Examples include transportation by France to Devil's Island and by the UK to its colonies in the Americas, from the 1610s through the American Revolution in the 1770s, and then to Australia between...
.
Ultimately, Adam
Adam Bede (character)
Adam Bede is the eponymous main character of George Eliot's novel Adam Bede .Adam is an upright and moral carpenter who lives in the fictional community of Hayslope — a rural, pastoral and close-knit community in 1799. He is Seth Bede's older brother and is the son of Thias and Lisbeth Bede. He has...
and Dinah, who gradually become aware of their mutual love, marry and live peacefully with his family.
Allusions/references to other works
The importance of the Lyrical BalladsLyrical Ballads
Lyrical Ballads, with a Few Other Poems is a collection of poems by William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, first published in 1798 and generally considered to have marked the beginning of the English Romantic movement in literature...
to the way Adam Bede is written has often been noted. Like its model, Adam Bede features minutely detailed empirical and psychological observations about illiterate "common folk" who, because of their greater proximity to nature than to culture, are taken as emblematic of human nature in its more pure form. So behind its humble appearance this is a novel of great ambition.
Genre painting
Genre painting
Genre works, also called genre scenes or genre views, are pictorial representations in any of various media that represent scenes or events from everyday life, such as markets, domestic settings, interiors, parties, inn scenes, and street scenes. Such representations may be realistic, imagined, or...
and the novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
arose together as middle-class art forms and retained close connections until the end of the nineteenth century. According to Richard Stang, it was a French treatise of 1846 on Dutch and Flemish painting that first popularized the application of the term realism to fiction. And certainly it is with Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, Flemish
Flanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
, and English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
genre painting that George Eliot's realism is most often compared. She herself invites the comparison in chapter 17 of Adam Bede, and Mario Praz
Mario Praz
Mario Praz KBE was an Italian-born critic of art and literature, and a scholar of English literature. His best-known book, The Romantic Agony , was a comprehensive survey of the erotic and morbid themes that characterized European authors of the late 18th and 19th centuries...
applies it to all her works in his study of The Hero in Eclipse in Victorian Fiction.
Literary significance & criticism
Immediately recognized as a significant literary work, Adam Bede has enjoyed a largely positive critical reputation since its publication. An anonymous review in The AthenaeumAthenaeum (magazine)
The Athenaeum was a literary magazine published in London from 1828 to 1921. It had a reputation for publishing the very best writers of the age....
in 1859 praised it as a "novel of the highest class," and The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
called it "a first-rate novel." Contemporary reviewers, often influenced by nostalgia for the earlier period represented in Bede, enthusiastically praised Eliot's characterizations and realistic representations of rural life. Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
wrote:
- "The whole country life that the story is set in, is so real, and so droll and genuine, and yet so selected and polished by art, that I cannot praise it enough to you." (Hunter, S. 122)
In fact, in early criticism, the tragedy of infanticide has often been overlooked in favor of the peaceful idyllic world and familiar personalities Eliot recreated.
Other critics have been less generous. Henry James
Henry James
Henry James, OM was an American-born writer, regarded as one of the key figures of 19th-century literary realism. He was the son of Henry James, Sr., a clergyman, and the brother of philosopher and psychologist William James and diarist Alice James....
, among others, resented the narrator's interventions. In particular, Chapter 15 has fared poorly among scholars because of the author's/narrator's moralizing and meddling in an attempt to sway readers' opinions of Hetty
Hetty Sorrel
Hetty Sorrel is a major character in George Eliot's novel Adam Bede .Beautiful but thoughtless Hetty lives in the fictional community of Hayslope — a rural, pastoral and close-knit community in 1799. Her home is on Mr. Martin Poyser's dairy farm as she is his niece. Because she is an extremely...
and Dinah. Other critics have objected to the resolution of the story. In the final moments, Hetty, about to be executed for infanticide, is saved by her seducer, Arthur Donnithorne. Critics have argued that this deus ex machina ending negates the moral lessons learned by the main characters. Without the eleventh hour reprieve, the suffering of Adam, Arthur, and Hetty
Hetty Sorrel
Hetty Sorrel is a major character in George Eliot's novel Adam Bede .Beautiful but thoughtless Hetty lives in the fictional community of Hayslope — a rural, pastoral and close-knit community in 1799. Her home is on Mr. Martin Poyser's dairy farm as she is his niece. Because she is an extremely...
would have been more realistically concluded. In addition, some scholars feel that Adam's marriage to Dinah
Dinah Morris
Dinah Morris is a major character in George Eliot's novel Adam Bede ; a Methodist lay preacher, she was modelled on Eliot's aunt Elizabeth Evans.Dinah visits the fictional community of Hayslope — a rural, pastoral and close-knit community in 1799...
is another instance of the author's/narrator's intrusiveness. These instances have been found to directly conflict with the otherwise realistic images and events of the novel.
Characters
- The Bede family:
- Adam BedeAdam Bede (character)Adam Bede is the eponymous main character of George Eliot's novel Adam Bede .Adam is an upright and moral carpenter who lives in the fictional community of Hayslope — a rural, pastoral and close-knit community in 1799. He is Seth Bede's older brother and is the son of Thias and Lisbeth Bede. He has...
is described as a tall, stalwart, moral, and unusually competent carpenter. He is 26 years old at the beginning of the novel, and bears an "expression of large-hearted intelligence." - Seth Bede is Adam's younger brother, and is also a carpenter, but he is not particularly competent, and "...his glance, instead of being keen, is confiding and benign."
- Lisbeth Bede is Adam's and Seth's mother. She is "an anxious, spare, yet vigorous old woman, clean as a snowdrop."
- Thias Bede is Adam's and Seth's father. He has become an alcoholic, and drowns in Chapter IV while returning from a tavern.
- Gyp is Adam's dog, who follows his every move, and looks "..up in his master's face with patient expectation."
- Adam Bede
- The Poyser family:
- Martin Poyser and his wife rent Hall Farm from Squire Donnithorne and have turned it into a very successful enterprise.
- Marty and Tommy Poyser are their sons.
- Totty Poyser is their somewhat spoiled and frequently petulant toddler.
- Hetty SorrelHetty SorrelHetty Sorrel is a major character in George Eliot's novel Adam Bede .Beautiful but thoughtless Hetty lives in the fictional community of Hayslope — a rural, pastoral and close-knit community in 1799. Her home is on Mr. Martin Poyser's dairy farm as she is his niece. Because she is an extremely...
is Mr. Poyser's orphaned niece, who lives and works at the Poyser farm. Her beauty, as described by George Eliot, is the sort "which seems made to turn the heads not only of men, but of all intelligent mammals, even of women." - Dinah MorrisDinah MorrisDinah Morris is a major character in George Eliot's novel Adam Bede ; a Methodist lay preacher, she was modelled on Eliot's aunt Elizabeth Evans.Dinah visits the fictional community of Hayslope — a rural, pastoral and close-knit community in 1799...
is another orphaned niece of the Poysers. She is also beautiful - "It was one of those faces that make one think of white flowers with light touches of colour on their pure petals" - but has chosen to become an itinerant Methodist preacher, and dresses very plainly.
- The Irwine family:
- Adolphus Irwine is the RectorRectorThe word rector has a number of different meanings; it is widely used to refer to an academic, religious or political administrator...
, or pastorPastorThe word pastor usually refers to an ordained leader of a Christian congregation. When used as an ecclesiastical styling or title, this role may be abbreviated to "Pr." or often "Ps"....
, of Broxton. He is patient and tolerant, and his expression is a "mixture of bonhomie and distinction". He lives with his mother and sister. - Mrs. Irwine, his mother, is "...clearly one of those children of royalty who have never doubted their right divine and never met with any one so absurd as to question it."
- Pastor Irwine's sister, Miss Anne, is an invalid. His gentleness is illustrated by a passage in which he takes the time to remove his boots before going upstairs to visit her, lest she be disturbed by noise. She and the pastor's other sister are unmarried.
- Adolphus Irwine is the Rector
- The Donnithorne family:
- SquireSquireThe English word squire is a shortened version of the word Esquire, from the Old French , itself derived from the Late Latin , in medieval or Old English a scutifer. The Classical Latin equivalent was , "arms bearer"...
Donnithorne owns an estate. - Arthur Donnithorne, his grandson, stands to inherit the estate; he is twenty years old at the opening of the novel. He is a handsome and charming sportsman.
- Squire
- Other characters
- Bartle Massey is the local schoolteacher, a somewhat misogynist bachelor who has taught Adam Bede.
- Mr. Craig is the gardener at the Donnithorne estate.
- Jonathan Burge is Adam's employer at a carpentry workshop.
- Villagers in the area include Ben Cranage, Chad Cranage, his daughter Chad's Bess, and Joshua Rann.
Film, TV or theatrical adaptations
In 1918 a silent film adaptation Adam BedeAdam Bede (film)
Adam Bede is a 1918 British silent drama film directed by Maurice Elvey and starring Bransby Williams, Ivy Close and Malvina Longfellow. It is an adaptation of the novel Adam Bede by George Eliot.-Cast:* Bransby Williams - Adam Bede...
was made directed by Maurice Elvey
Maurice Elvey
Maurice Elvey was the most prolific film director in British history. He directed nearly 200 films between 1913 and 1957. During the silent film era he directed as many as twenty films per year....
and starring Bransby Williams
Bransby Williams
Bransby Williams was a British actor, comedian and monologist. He became known as "The Irving of the Music Halls".-Early years:...
and Ivy Close
Ivy Close
-Selected filmography:* The Lure of London * The Ware Case * The House Opposite * Nelson * Adam Bede *The Irresistible Flapper * The Flag Lieutenant * Darby and Joan...
.
In 1991, the BBC produced a television version of Adam Bede starring Iain Glen
Iain Glen
Iain Glen is a Scottish film and stage actor.Iain Glen was born in Edinburgh, Scotland and trained at RADA where he won the Bancroft Gold Medal. He was married to Susannah Harker from 1993 to 2004; they have one son, Finlay...
, Patsy Kensit
Patsy Kensit
Patricia Jude Francis "Patsy" Kensit is an English actress, singer, model and former child star, known for her television and film appearances. Her films include Lethal Weapon 2 and she has been married to rock stars Jim Kerr and Liam Gallagher, as well as herself fronting the band Eighth Wonder...
, Susannah Harker
Susannah Harker
Susannah Harker is an English film, television, and theatre actor. She is the daughter of English actress Polly Adams and actor Richard Owens, and the great-niece of Gordon Adams. She was nominated for a BAFTA TV Award in 1990 for her role as Mattie Storin in House of Cards...
, James Wilby
James Wilby
James Jonathon Wilby is an English film, television and theatre actor.-Early life and education:He was born in Rangoon, Burma to a corporate executive father...
and Julia McKenzie
Julia McKenzie
Julia McKenzie is an English actress, singer, and theatre director. She is best-known for her performance in Fresh Fields, but to current television audiences, she is best known for her role as Miss Marple in Agatha Christie's Marple...
. It was aired as part of the Masterpiece Theater anthology in 1992.