Citation
Khelejani, Mostafa Farshbaf
(2009)
Schopenhauer’s Pholosophy Of Pessimism On George Eliot’s Characterization In Silas Marner And The Mill On The Floss.
Masters thesis, Universiti Putra Malaysia.
Abstract
Arthur Schopenhauer’s pessimistic philosophy presents the world as a dark and
evil place where the human being struggles to fulfill the evil and malevolent
will’s desires. All human selfish desires, urges, and wants which always cause
the individual to struggle painfully, have their roots in this over‐mastering force.
Since the evil will is the base of all human worldly attitudes and actions, the
individual is destined to face the bitterest miseries in his/her life’s journey.
Since Schopenhauer’s pessimism influenced Victorian writers greatly, this textual
based research examines and explores how selected characters in both George
Eliot’s novels, Silas Marner and The Mill on the Floss, are controlled by the Schopenhauerian omnipresent will. Further, it highlights the portrayal of the
weak victims who struggle to fulfill their selfish desires which bring the great
misery to every character in return. Silas Marner, George Eliot’s protagonist in
Silas Marner, who blindly worshipped God at the Lantern Yard, and then his
bright guineas, found no peace and contentment, but rather more suffering and
pain with them. Maggie Tulliver, a central character in The Mill on the Floss, made
her every effort to satisfy her inner strong need to be praised and loved.
Following to fulfill these intense needs, she went through many crises which
brought nothing but misery and pain not only to herself but to those around her
as well.
Although the findings show George Eliot’s created world as a world of evil
where the characters are born to suffer, the study also presents the possibility of
transition from this dark and unpleasant world to a world where the will is
silenced. Realizing how all their efforts were in vain and how their selfish desires
brought misery to everyone, the protagonists of both novels reject all their inner
will’s worldly needs and desires. Silas Marner finds true peace and contentment
by sympathizing with a little, suffering girl who has been ignored by her
biological father, while Maggie Tulliver finds it through renouncing all worldly
desires and sacrificing herself in order to save others.
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