Pictorial art in the development of the concept of ‘realism’ in George Eliot’s fiction

Abstract

The aim of this thesis is to highlight the importance of pictorial art in the development of the concept of ‘realism’ which is crucial in all Eliot’s fiction, with particular reference to her first and last novel. The argument of the dissertation will be divided into four chapters. The first chapter is devoted to the discussion of George Eliot’s actual knowledge of painting: both her acquaintance with pictures and artists she encountered in her life and her readings about visual arts. The second chapter is devoted to the many references to the art of Realism, as featured in some of George Eliot’s essays, with particular attention to John Ruskin’s influence on Eliot. The third chapter focuses on Dutch painting and pictorial ‘realism’ and on their importance in Eliot’s first novel Adam Bede, with particular reference to the famous declarations of poetics in chapter 17th of Adam Bede. The last chapter deals with the function of English and Italian portrait painting in George Eliot’s last novel Daniel Deronda.