The Ordeal of Richard Feverel — Volume 6

"The Ordeal of Richard Feverel — Volume 6" by George Meredith is a novel written in the early 20th century that explores themes of love, fidelity, and the complexities of human relationships. As a continuation of the story of Richard Feverel and the subsequent characters that intertwine with his fate, this volume delves into the emotional struggles faced by Lord Mountfalcon and Lucy Feverel amidst their evolving relationships. The opening of this volume introduces us to a particularly turbulent period in Richard's life, with Lord Mountfalcon seemingly enamored with Richard's young wife, Lucy. While lurking beneath the surface is a traditional romantic struggle involving loyalty, temptation, and the innocence of youth, the narrative hints at various characters’ perceptions and misjudgments about one another. The context shows the complexities of marital relationships, as Lucy navigates her companionship with Lord Mountfalcon under Richard’s absence. This segment hints at a host of misunderstandings and the lurking crises that characterizes the challenges faced by the characters, setting the tone for richer developments to come throughout the work. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

George Meredith was an English novelist and poet of the Victorian era. At first, his focus was poetry, influenced by John Keats among others, but Meredith gradually established a reputation as a novelist. The Ordeal of Richard Feverel (1859) briefly scandalised Victorian literary circles. Of his later novels, the most enduring is The Egoist (1879), though in his lifetime his greatest success was Diana of the Crossways (1885). His novels were innovative in their attention to characters' psychology, and also portrayed social change. His style, in both poetry and prose, was noted for its syntactic complexity; Oscar Wilde likened it to "chaos illumined by brilliant flashes of lightning". Meredith was an encourager of other novelists, as well as an influence on them; among those to benefit were Robert Louis Stevenson and George Gissing. Meredith was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature seven times.