Rhoda Fleming — Volume 5

"Rhoda Fleming — Volume 5" by George Meredith is a novel written in the late 19th century. The narrative centers around the complex relationships and struggles of Rhoda Fleming, her family, and acquaintances as they navigate deep emotional turmoil and societal expectations, particularly in the context of love, sacrifice, and family ties. The characters grapple with the consequences of decisions that impact not just their immediate fortunes but their very identities. The opening of the story introduces readers to a somber moment in Farmer Fleming's home, revealing his emotional state as he awaits his daughter Dahlia's return. Their reunion is both poignant and revealing, with the farmer's harsh questioning of Dahlia's integrity highlighting the weight of familial honor amid personal crises. Rhoda emerges as a strong, determined figure, seeking to protect her sister from further harm and navigate the ramifications of Dahlia's recent marriage to a man unworthy of her. Amid these personal struggles, the narrative hints at broader themes of societal judgment, the entrapment of women in their roles, and the complex dynamics of family loyalty, setting the stage for the intricate tales and conflicts to come in this volume. (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.