Narratives of irony: Alienation, representation, and ethics in Carlyle, Eliot, and Pater

摘要: In this study I argue that Victorian writers Thomas Carlyle, George Eliot, and Walter Pater participated more fully than has previously been acknowledged in the aesthetic ethical concerns surrounding romantic irony as it was articulated by philosophers such Friedrich Schlegel Soren Kierkegaard. opposition to a twentieth-century critical trend tended applaud German romanticism for its progressive insights, dismiss nineteenth-century British texts "regressive," show how three key recognized, articulated, sought negotiate phenomenon of irony. More specifically, ironic features Carlyle's The French Revolution: A History, Eliot's Romola, Pater's "Denys L'Auxerrois" are closely connected authors' with, attempts formulate, model ethics face metaphysical indeterminacy is central feature irony.In narrator maps gulf between language referent onto social classes represented Sansculottes Girondin. This association semiotic political fragmentation suggests remained an external phenomenon, which may help explain why he solution chaos revolution invoking military force hero. suggest sudden appearance allegory toward end otherwise realist novel serves indirect presentation heroine's transcendence. temporal nature reflects novel's formulation process forming character through repeated habits action thought—a recalls Kierkegaard's repetition with choice. ability art objects conjure up living presence presented ironically series framing devices. matter character-building exposure, but like Eliot Kierkegaard, presents mode. helps deepen understanding irony, ethics, representation texts.