The Ordeal of Richard Feverel — Complete

"The Ordeal of Richard Feverel — Complete" by George Meredith is a novel written during the late 19th century. The story follows young Richard Feverel and his experiences growing up under the strict and often unrealistic expectations of his father, Sir Austin Feverel, amid themes of love, betrayal, and personal development. At the start of the novel, we are introduced to the Feverel family dynamics and the troubled history of Sir Austin, whose past marriage and friendship have left him isolated. As the narrative unfolds, Richard is approaching his fourteenth birthday and grappling with his father's stringent educational methods, which challenge his freedom. The opening also sets up Richard's relationships with his friends, particularly Ripton Thompson, and hints at their impetuous nature, setting the stage for a series of misadventures that question notions of honor and morality. The tone mixes elements of satire with poignant observations about youth and parental influence, suggesting that Richard's journey will be one of both self-discovery and moral confrontation. (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.