Evan Harrington — Complete

"Evan Harrington — Complete" by George Meredith is a novel written during the late 19th century. The story revolves around the titular character, Evan Harrington, son of a well-respected yet flawed tailor, Mr. Melchisedec Harrington, who has recently passed away. The narrative explores themes of social class, identity, and the complexities of familial relationships as Evan grapples with the legacy left by his father and the expectations placed upon him by his family and society. The opening of the novel introduces the aftermath of Mr. Harrington's death, with townsfolk reflecting on his life and peculiarities as a tailor who aspired to a higher status. The arrival of Evan's mother, Mrs. Harrington, sets the stage for the challenges that Evan will face in trying to honor his father's memory while navigating the difficult realities of his social standing and the debts left behind. As various characters discuss the implications of Mr. Harrington's life and death, the groundwork is laid for Evan's journey toward defining himself amidst familial pressures and societal expectations. (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.