Beauchamp's Career — Volume 3

"Beauchamp's Career — Volume 3" by George Meredith is a novel written in the late 19th century that explores political and social themes through the experiences of its main characters. The story follows Captain Nevil Beauchamp, a young politician facing the challenges of electioneering in the fictional borough of Bevisham. With idealistic views, Beauchamp finds himself navigating the complexities of liberalism, political partnerships, and the intricacies of personal relationships as he seeks to represent the interests of the people. At the start of the volume, we are introduced to the election milieu, where Beauchamp interacts with various characters including Lord Palmet, who offers a lighthearted, yet superficial take on politics. The chapter illustrates Beauchamp's struggles with his political ally, Mr. Cougham, and presents a vivid canvas of canvassing for votes, showcasing the awkwardness and absurdity of the electoral process. As Beauchamp canvasses, he wrestles with philosophical ideas about governance and societal issues, while also dealing with social dynamics that include his romantic interests, particularly in Miss Denham. The opening sets the stage for a complex interplay of ideals, personal ambition, and societal expectations, illustrating the larger themes that will unfold throughout the narrative. (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.