The Egoist by George Meredith
"The Egoist" is a novel by George Meredith, published in 1879, that explores themes of self-centeredness, societal expectations, and the complexities of love and marriage. The story follows Sir Willoughby Patterne, who, upon coming of age, becomes engaged to Miss Constantia Durham. However, just before the wedding, Constantia elopes with another man, prompting Willoughby to pursue Laetitia Dale, a woman who secretly loves him. As Willoughby grapples with his own ego and the repercussions of his actions, he ultimately becomes engaged to Clara Middleton, the daughter of a learned doctor.
Throughout the narrative, Clara struggles against Willoughby's controlling nature and her own sense of entrapment in their engagement. The story unfolds with various social complications and gossip, highlighting the character's selfishness and the societal pressures surrounding marriage. As the plot progresses, Willoughby’s manipulative tendencies lead to a series of relational conflicts, culminating in a rejection from both Clara and Laetitia. Ultimately, the novel examines the consequences of egoism in relationships and challenges the notion of romantic fulfillment in a society steeped in tradition and expectation.
On this Page
The Egoist by George Meredith
First published: 1879
Type of work: Novel
Type of plot: Psychological realism
Time of plot: Nineteenth century
Locale: England
Principal characters
Sir Willoughby Patterne , the egoistVernon Whitford , his cousinColonel De Craye , his relativeLaetitia Dale , a neighborClara Middleton , Sir Willoughby’s betrothedDr. Middleton , her fatherCrossjay Patterne , Sir Willoughby’s distant kinsman
The Story:
On the day of his majority, Sir Willoughby Patterne announces his engagement to Miss Constantia Durham. Laetitia Dale, who lives with her old father in a cottage on Willoughby’s estate, loves him, she thinks secretly, but everyone, including Willoughby, is aware of it. Ten days before the wedding day, Constantia astonishes everyone by eloping with Harry Oxford, a military man. For a few weeks after the elopement, Willoughby courts Laetitia, and the neighborhood gossips about her chances to become his wife. There is great disappointment when he suddenly decides to go abroad for three years. On his return, he brings with him his cousin, Vernon Whitford, to advise him in the management of his properties, and a young distant kinsman named Crossjay Patterne.
Laetitia is at first overjoyed at Willoughby’s return, but she soon sees that she is to lose him again, for he becomes engaged to Clara Middleton, the daughter of a learned doctor. Middleton and his daughter come to Willoughby’s estate to visit for a few weeks. Over Willoughby’s objections, Vernon encourages Crossjay to enter the marines, and the young man is sent to Laetitia to be tutored for his examination. Vernon, a literary man, wants to go to London, but Willoughby overrules him. Noting Willoughby’s self-centered attitude toward Crossjay, his complete and selfish concern with matters affecting himself, and his attempt to dominate her own mind, Clara begins to feel trapped by her betrothal. She reflects that Constantia escaped by finding a gallant Harry Oxford to take her away, but she sadly realizes that she has no one to rescue her.
When Clara attempts to break her engagement, she finds Willoughby intractable and her father too engrossed in his studies to be concerned. Willoughby decides that Laetitia should become Vernon’s wife, so that he will have near him both his cousin and the woman who feeds his ego with her devotion. According to Willoughby’s plan, Vernon can retire to one of the cottages on the estate and write and study. When Willoughby asks Clara to help him in his plan, Clara takes the opportunity to ask Vernon’s advice on her own problem. He tells her that she must move subtly and slowly.
In desperation, she persuades Dr. Middleton to agree to take a trip to France with her for a few weeks. She hopes never to return to Willoughby, but the wary lover introduces Dr. Middleton to his favorite brand of claret, and after two bottles of the wine, the doctor is putty in Willoughby’s hands. When Clara asks him if he is ready to go to London with her, he tells her that the thought is preposterous.
Colonel De Craye, who arrives to serve as best man at the wedding, gradually senses that Clara is not happy at the prospect of her approaching marriage. In desperation, Clara writes to her friend, Lucy Darleton, and receives an invitation to visit her in London.
Clara gives Crossjay the privilege of accompanying her to the train station. A hue and cry rise at her absence from the estate, and Vernon, accidentally discovering her destination, follows her to the station and urges her to come back. She does so only because she believes that her behavior might injure Crossjay’s future. Vernon is soon to go to London to follow his writing career, and if she left, too, Willoughby would have full control of the young boy.
Complications result from Clara’s attempted escape. At the station, Vernon persuades her to drink some brandy to overcome the effects of the rainy weather. The neighborhood begins to gossip. Willoughby confronts Crossjay, who tells him the truth about Clara’s escape. Clara hopes that Willoughby will release her from her engagement, but he again refuses. Dr. Middleton, determined that his daughter should fulfill her pledge, ignores what is happening. In any case, he likes Willoughby’s vintage wines and the estate.
Gradually, though, the egoist realizes that his marriage to Clara will not take place. To soothe his wounded vanity, he asks Laetitia to become his wife. She refuses, declaring she no longer loves him. Colonel De Craye shrewdly surmises what happened. He tells Clara the hopeful news. Clara feels that her only remaining obstacle is her father’s insistence that she not break her promise to Willoughby. Now, however, she can show that Willoughby broke his promise first by proposing to Laetitia while still pledged to her.
Dr. Middleton announces firmly that Clara need not marry Willoughby. He decides that he admires Vernon’s scholarship more than he likes Willoughby’s wines. The twice-jilted lover tries to even the score by manipulating Clara to consent to marry Vernon, which he feels will have the ironic touch that will be some measure of recompense to him. He is denied even this satisfaction when Clara tells him it is already her intention to wed Vernon as soon as her engagement to Willoughby is officially broken. The egoist’s selfishness and arrogance bring them together.
Defeated, the egoist goes to Laetitia, offering her his hand even if she is willing to marry him only for his money. Laetitia accepts on the condition that Crossjay be permitted to enter the marines. Clara and the doctor plan to leave for Europe. Vernon arranges to meet them in the Swiss Alps, where he and Clara will marry.
Bibliography
Fraser, Robert. “Nineteenth-Century Adventure and Fantasy: James Morier, George Meredith, Lewis Carroll, and Robert Louis Stevenson.” In A Companion to Romance: From Classical to Contemporary, edited by Corinne Saunders. Malden, Mass.: Blackwell, 2004. Fraser’s essay about Meredith and three other British writers is included in this study of romance literature, which charts the genre from its beginnings through the twenty-first century.
Handwerk, Gary J. “Linguistic Blindness and Ironic Vision in The Egoist.” Nineteenth Century Literature 39, no. 2 (September, 1984): 163-185. Handwerk discusses the irony of the relationship between self-knowledge and language.
Harris, Margaret. “George Meredith at the Crossways.” In A Companion to the Victorian Novel, edited by William Baker and Kenneth Womack. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2002. An introductory overview of the Victorian novel. Contains essays about Meredith and other authors and discussions of the historical and social context of the Victorian novel, the growth of serialization, and the different genres of Victorian fiction.
Hill, Charles J. “Theme and Image in The Egoist.” University of Kansas City Review 20, no. 4 (Summer, 1954): 281-285. Reprinted in The Egoist, edited by Robert M. Adams. New York: W. W. Norton, 1979. Hill reads the novel as a document in Meredith’s campaign to encourage men to support women’s emancipation.
Jones, Mervyn. The Amazing Victorian: A Life of George Meredith. London: Constable, 1999. Jones’s biography aims to recover Meredith from obscurity and introduce the author to a new generation of readers. He links Meredith life to his writing and includes a forty-page appendix recounting the plot summaries of all of Meredith’s novels.
Mayo, Robert D. “The Egoist and the Willow Pattern.” English Literary History 9 (1942): 71-78. Reprinted in The Egoist, edited by Robert M. Adams. New York: W. W. Norton, 1979. This significant article explains how Sir Willoughby Patterne is identified with the unrealistic conventionalism of the willow design as it is so charmingly described by Charles Lamb in his essay “Old China.”
Roberts, Neil. Meredith and the Novel. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1997. Roberts employs twentieth century literary criticism, especially the ideas of literary critic Mikhail Bakhtin, to analyze all of Meredith’s novels. Includes bibliographical references and an index.
Stevenson, Richard C. The Experimental Impulse in George Meredith’s Fiction. Lewisburg, Pa.: Bucknell University Press, 2004. Stevenson focuses on the novels he considers most representative of Meredith’s experimental fiction, including The Egoist, in order to demonstrate how these books feature controversial contemporary themes, innovative narrative structures, depictions of human consciousness, and other unconventional elements.
Sundell, Michael C. “The Functions of Flitch in The Egoist.” Nineteenth-Century Fiction 24, no. 2 (September, 1969): 227-235. Reprinted in The Egoist, edited by Robert M. Adams. New York: W. W. Norton, 1979. Sundell discusses how Adam Flitch, the coachman at Patterne Hall who was dismissed as a result of Willoughby’s brutal egoism, symbolizes the perennial servitor.
Tague, Gregory. Ethos and Behavior: The English Novel from Jane Austen to Henry James (Including George Meredith, W. M. Thackeray, George Eliot, and Thomas Hardy). Bethesda, Md.: Academica Press, 2008. The Ordeal of Richard Feverel and The Egoist are among the novels Tague analyzes in his examination of English didactic literature. His study includes a discussion of the ethical aspects of these novels and the conduct of their fictional characters.