Typical pessimistic attitudes in English literature 1880-1895

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TYPICAL PESSIMISTIC ATTITUDES IN ENGLISH LITERATURE 1880-1895

BY

LENA JOSEPHINE MYERS A.B. , University A.M., University

of Illinois , of Illinois ,

1913 1918

LIBRARY OF THE

JNIVERSITY OF

CALIFORNIA

EXCHANGE 1928 NOV

AN ABSTRACT OF A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIRE MENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN ENGLISH IN THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLNOIS , 1926

URBANA , ILLINOIS 1928

22

3

}

TYPICAL PESSIMISTIC ATTITUDES IN ENGLISH LITERATURE 1880-1895

MY

BY

LENA JOSEPHINE MYERS A.B. , University of Illinois , A.M. , University of Illinois ,

1913 1918

AN ABSTRACT OF A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIRE MENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN ENGLISH IN THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLNOIS , 1926

URBANA , ILLINOIS 1928

EXCHANGE

of

the

this

TYPICAL PESSIMISTIC ATTITUDES IN ENGLISH LITERATURE 1880-1895 is

of

,

,

of

)

V.

B.

.

-

to

of

of

,

a

(

,

in

by

thesis English

in

thought

to

present niair cutlines literature between 1880 and studying 1895 detail the pessimistic attitude three rep George Gissing resentative authors James Thomson Hardy projected against background and Thomas the sur vey the general pessimistic field and the special aspects the pessimism Time Spirit that were congenial

The purpose of

the pessimistic

,

,

,

in

of

,

in

,

,

pessimism The terms optimism meliorism and pejorism were developed very late long after the attitudes which they describe were well known the term optimism first appearing the nineteenth first half the eighteenth century pessimism

;

by

of ,

.

are absolute and relative pessimism are absolute and relative

;

accidental and habitual ,

subdivided into egotistic and cosmic temperamen moral

intellectual

,

authentic and genteel

,

environmental

,

and

and

,

which may

according

optimism

according rational Likewise important types

,

idealistic

,

determined

types

to

as

The principal

degree

be

of

to

,

.

to

human ideals origin are naïve

tal

be

;

of

as

improved the exercise intelligence pejorism human will and the belief that con ditions are steadily and inevitably becoming more antagonistic ism

the belief that conditions may

;

is

,

is

,

is

as

as

,

is

.

be

,

,

century meliorism the last half and pejorism during the last two may Optimism defined the belief that the world essentially good and therefore highly desirable pessimism essentially bad that existence the belief that the world system infinitely miserable and that annihilation preferable melior

decades

as

,

or

is

or

,

.

as

is

.

,

social

on

,

and religious The standard for the summum optimism pessimism usually based bonum which pleasure although goodness beauty may truth serve well happiness for the criterion aesthetic

knowledge

a

is

to

]

3

[

,

of

as

of

of

.

or

of

of

of

A

pessimism necessary the history study pessimism any particular for the the period individual Buddhism postulated suffering the core presented humanity bound the universe the wheel ex

background

by the chains of causation and the persistence of Karma , and recommended renunciation and quietism . Omar Khayyam in the Rubaiyat, overcome by a sense of futility of knowledge , in his pessimism materialism , atheism , fatalism , and combined epäcureanism . Jewish literature , for the most part saturated istence

with , tržbal optimism , shows two important exceptions in Job which attacked the conventional apologetics on the problem of evil but attained to no new insight , and Ecclesiastes which grew out of a degenerate

age and hence expressed the boredom of the

satiated and a sense of the vanity of every thing , knowledge , pleasure , love, and works. The Greeks , on the whole , repre sented a healthy optimism based on animal spirits , perfection of body and mind , intellectual sanity , and objectivity , but their litera Theognis , Pindar , Herodotus , and the dramatists embalms much of the saddest of pessimistic utterance . There are pessimistic elements also in Greek philos ophy : Heraclitus, the weeping philosopher , postulates whirling all

ture from Homer through Hesiod

,

of

a

by

of

.

of

;

an

,

of

as

a

;

by

;

is

things Plato's idealism constructed over postulating ab terrestrial pessimism the Socratic dialogues solute knowledge the sole justifiable aim life prepared for the intellectual pessimism the Sophists and later Epicureanism epidemic and Stoicism Hagesias precipitated suicide The Greek Anthology presented like Ecclesiastes the pessimism flux as the law of

The Romans were nature like the Jews and fresh vigorous practical race but when evil times de they took refuge scended upon them two contrasting faiths Epicureanism Stoicism and that are bottom both pessimistic Stoicism was evasion life and ended logically Seneca's justification Epicureanism suicide the ancient type meant

,

.

, .

as a

.

life's activities Lucretius release from supersti materialism

,

scientific faith

in

the gods

a

tious fear

of

in

also retirement and careful pruning De Rerum Natura recommended

of

.

of

in

of ,

an

of

at

,

in

,

,

Greeks

age

a

degenerate

but the

an

.

is

materialism

of

.

a

; it

a

of

with pessimism obvious Mediaeval combined relative pessimism with absolute opti mism erected upon terrestrial pessimism celestial optimism The Imitation Christ and the Divine Comedy both reveal this affinity

Christianity

]

[

4

of

.

to

by

in

.

,

the need

,

of

The account human depravity the vanity the for renunciation found mediaeval Christianity Schopenhauer were utilized reenforce his own position dualism

world

The Renaissance was a period of optimism because of widened horizons , varied activity , new discoveries and hopes , and saner living ; but in developing self - consciousness it prepared for much the suffering of the modern world . In the early part of the eighteenth century optimism and pessimism waged a strenuous battle , the chief optimists being Leibnitz with his Theodicée and

on

his

of

,

.

,

.

be

its -

of

of

of

tury which was also stimulated The pseudo pessimism

choly

the last part the cen the English school melan this cosmopolitan epidemic can

Weltschmerz by

the mal du siècle

of

or

to

an

of

,

Pope with Essay Man the pessimists Voltaire with his Candide and Mandeville with his Fable theBees Rousseau although optimist himself gave impetus through Rousseauism

of

,

,

,

a

,

,

.

In

A

of

,

,

of

of

,

of

,

,

in

understood various aspects through the study the Sturm und Drang movement Goethe's Werther Foscolo's Letters Jacopo Ortis Senancour's Obermann Chateaubriand's René Constant's Adolphe Byronism Musset's Confession Child Vigny's Century Eugene Oneguine the Chatterton Pushkin's and Lermontov's Hero Our Time the nineteenth century pessimism became more clearly

of

,

,

;

,

of

,

of

,

in

,

of

,

of

.

,

,

in

Leopardi

by

of

Leopardi Schopenhauer and Hartmann physical weakness failure love and poverty com nature the disillusion the harshness the cruelty Italy and materialism insignificance man the decadence the modern progressive world neither philosophical indifference defined

defeated plained

by

is

nature sophical formulation ,

a

,

irony satisfied him Schopenhauer misanthrope important for attempting the first complete philo .

nor Socratic

he

in -

.

of

;

to

of

of

be

to

The Thing itself con surged through ceived blind Will which the universe and caused the widespread suffering creation only through indi vidual renunciation the Will Live that would lead forward pessimism

in

to

.

to

World Suicide would the Will ever find release for itself Hartmann transformed Schopenhauer's Will Live into the Unconscious which finds its manifestation the external world of

a

of

to

it

In

all

If

.

.

in

and human history man had somehow attained con sciousness men would become aware the misery existence they would prepare for simultaneous Race Suicide

[ 5 ]

its

to

.

of

it

by

its

it of

which would destroy the world and would put the Unconscious misery sending original condition be out back creating the world fore made the mistake

Turning from

of the history of , pessimism to the English we remember that the French have considered the English as melancholy as a result of the preva | lence of rain and fog in England . But the English , a practical people , as a rule keep their melancholy rather well in hand . Through the whole course of English literature one hears a minor undertone in the naturalistic fatalism of Anglo - Saxon poetry , in the romantic melancholy of the Faery Queene, or Jacques , the pessimism of Hamlet , the melancholy of Burton and the seven century in Swift's mis teenth century Puritans, the eighteenth anthropical pessimism , Dr. Johnson's religious sadness, Romanti The

(

be a

,

,

of by

,

of

of

as

,

,

of

.

of

.

,

of

actuality disillusionment Ruskin the withdrawal from Newman and the Preraphaelites Thomson takes his point departure from the attitude Arnold's Grand Chartreuse ,

,

Victorian optimism be

questioned the reality scientific invention the efficacy manitarian schemes the future education the position necessity finding woman the for war and the possibility ligious consolation pessimistic When the technical literature of

,

of

,

of

of ;

.

,

,

,

this criticism

,

more pronounced progress the benefits came

.

,

,

is

,

,

is

attempt

and Omar read with great avidity the period extending

Buddhism

of

To

Hartmann introduced into England

it

Schopenhauer

,

Leopardi Khayyam

of re of hu of

slight minority

of

a

the part

of

on In

the late Sixties and through the Seventies the criticism

first

at

to

shown

be

and Byronism . whole nineteenth century could Pessimist's Progress from the temporary pessi through Byron's transitional pessimism mism Wordsworth Tennyson Arnold the religious agony the Victorians such Carlyle and the and Clough the misanthropical pessimism

cism

a

of

is

-

Nineties isolated eddy

studies have been made

but these latter are

false

for

the Eighties

emphasizing

.

,

the

an as

the fact that

in

no

;

of

for for

of it

go

to

be

to

a

all ,

1895 would

,

at

to

describe the threads too far afield since not age great welter but transitional period cross purposes survivals from Mid Victorianism brushing elbows with anticipations the Twentieth Century therein lies the reason from 1880 an

]

6

[

.

of

of

is

of

pessimistic literature around 1880 The accumulation many appalling the works having waited for discovery since beginning the the century The current movement exhibited

,

|

general background

the

of

in

he in

in

in a

in

:

a

in

of

in

A its

bringing forth work like James Sully's Pessimism Leopardi whose work had 1877. Criticism Italy been published the second decade the century was England until the article 1848 and Fraser's not noticed Gladstone's famous Quarterly article 1850 but was still vitality

History and

.

a

of

until the late Sixties when James Thomson published Memoir Charles Ed the Operette Morali and

neglected

translations

in

Will

as

in his .

;

,

in

on

'

of

wardes translation the essays and dialogues appeared 1882 and after 1880 magazine articles him are numerous Schopen Germany hauer suffered the same fate even World

he

it

appeared and Idea had been neglected when 1819 and edition did not come out until 1844. After 1850 Germany because became more popular the widespread dis the

by

the influence

West

as

in

of

.

John Oxenford Helen notice his history interested reception for Haldane

1853 written

1876 and Sully's

1877 prepared

and Kemp's

to

the turn

an

pessimism

in

minster Review article Zimmern's biography

of

He attributed in

.

illusionment

of

in

of

the second

(

.

of

of

Hartmann's Philosophy translated into English Schopenhauer tention

in

an

of

)

.

as

of

translation the World Will and Idea 1883 1886 He became popularly recognized and was acclaimed one Schopenhauer's the great intellectual forces the century popularity prepared Germany for enthusiastic reception

as

)

(

as

, in

Unconscious 1869 which was Hartmann received much at drawing his disciples more largely from the

1884.

by

had been made

in

of

.

at

.

-

as

Schopenhauer was pre Darwinian Buddhism and Occidental pessimism played into each other's hands Eastern quietism had been introduced into Germany the beginning the century and the pioneer work Oriental study the scientists

Sir William Jones

on

,

of

of

-

in

1884 illustrated Elihu last the Time Spirit was

of

.

,

1872 and 1879 and the edition Vedder became very popular since accord with Omar Khayyam the pessimistic The centering

by

1859 and 1869 but the third and fourth

of

of

its

earlier editions

at

of

in

of

.

of

in

the 1880's

a

In

and Colebrooke between 1770 important manuals number Budd England besides the translation hism and Buddha appeared The Sacred Books the East FitzGerald's translation the Rubaiyat had been neglected

and 1810.

]

7

[

.

literature about the late Sev enties indicates the trend for the next decade

In

James Thomson temperamental possibilities for optimism were so evenly balanced that environment was the

or pessimism

force , on one side inherited melancholia and dipso mania , on the other a rich lyric delight in life . The environmental pessimism were the death factors of his fiancée literary obscurity and chronic poverty Leopardi whose His interest ,

in

A

.

in

of

,

he of

.

of

,

of

:

of

Sorrow the purifying beneficence sorrow nobly born scepticism and mockery doubt and resignation and longing for oblivion One after another the resources life failed Thom of

Lady

Thomson his pessimism pessimistic development

cause

a

translated was not outlined the three periods

his

essays

of

he

.

,

of

his

determining

of

After

to

of

to

he to

Gissing

.

Hardy

or

.

of

he

in

;

,

of

,

in

of

a

.

in

to

of

he

.

of

genius disguised the ac son Under the tragedy which presented the failure count his own fate art artistic ex pression being sign him frustration thwarted activity supernatural religion active life Also failed him the re ligious development the century stood midway between He was too near the Matthew Arnold and Samuel Butler religious agony religious indifference attain the Victorian had liberated himself

from

the strict

;

at of

:

.

a

of

he

Presbyterianism his childhood became defiant and arrogant like youthful sceptics His emancipation left him void heaven emptiness but his atheism that oppressed him with the sense provided one doubtful consolation least human misery was not

to

as

to

.

, of

by

his

,

of

to

superseded orthodox

.

.

to a

be

to

malignant God With him fatalism and deter supernaturalism minism This necessita pessimism denying rianism contributed most man the expression his will Thomson's his personality the exercise quietism necessitarianism led inevitably which was based imputed

In

.

no

,

he

,

A

.

of

he

all

of

of

human action the futility well upon his recognition turn attacked the contemporary movements that stood for progress the Christian philanthropists and the the apotheosis pure relativist meliorists saw method for determining what was advisable and hence believed that inaction was much ,

,

,

.

all

]

8

in

[

of

.

be

by

the Positivists

is

of

.

of

existence But his chief argument against and Utilitarians was that the curse existence primal and can not expedients simply reached human The natural result the belief necessitarianism and quietism for

of

the monotony

he

less harmful than action Moreover philosophically consid change illusion and cursed with anhedonia complained ered

he his

one of his temper was stoical pessimism . He denied that hope as to the outcome is necessary for putting up a good fight and in

he

a

in

,

no

.

own life showed much moral valiancy against odds Although considered that there were valid arguments against suicide this stoical pessimism kept him for many years stern battle with his inherited enemies until they finally triumphed and

if

he

.

.

in

by

a

in

a

in

be

to

,

in

to

in

be

of

deliberately took the method indirect suicide But Thomson regard regard could stoical himself others was compassionate and combined man's Promethean defiance Schopenhauerian pity and practice violated his the half with ory engaging many liberating and revolutionary movements as

;

,

to

,

is

.

so ,

But with intellectual pessimism Thomson passed beyond the last Philosophy like art failed him first fortification artistic ex pression confusion intellectual activity leads unnatural

of

to

no

.

of

to

.

,

of

and futility Life does not bear thinking about and much contemporary misery Thomson believed due the modern mal ady thought the worth credence He could give

of

.

be

to

no

by

of

by

in

of

Durer's Melan and the interpretation cholia reached even Nihilism through the belief that Melancholia's despair was caused not the limitation human faculty but the recognition that there was secret behind the veil the universe discovered This scepticism left Thomson subject philosophical systems

of

in

he

of

,

"

of

the

"

to

;

he

by

it

to

of

the shifting moods which found ample play his dual dog personality but did preserve him from the weakness matism therefore although was compelled reason his experience contemplate midnight the truth himself

he

of

.

”

of

or

to

doubt

his friends

;

.

no

be

there can

of

have

attitude because

it

necessarily the more profound As the sincerity

has pierced illusion

his

pessimism

is

.

he

of

or

He

“

the of

noonday for others could not deny the validity truth Tenny satirized unmercifully timid false optimism son the average Englishman but for reasoned optimism admitted his respect Nor did hold with the sophomore that his own pessimism left many poignant .

of

it

by

a

he

,

a

.

a

9 ]

.

ment and circumstance

poignant clash between tempera possessing But such discordant per [

to

the Hellenic world

Gissing again there

is a

In

solation

.

a

at

it

drawings that reveal how appearance affected His pessi mism was first mood and then fostered misfortune be philosophy gleam came Like Gissing turned for con

all

to

of

,

a

he

his

sonality Gissing could hardly have found happiness , under any circumstances , certainly not in the nineteenth century . In him protagonists represented self and in modern type the idealist out touch with reality and sensitive the aspects

his

an

to

-

of

,

,

a

of

a

of

,

a

of

improbable dreams and unbalanced situation victim exaggerated self consciousness and morbid con inability scientiousness irresolution and act sanely and ambition

practically

to

.

-

of

;

,

,

,

,

,

.

The chief environmental factors that deepened were poverty uncongenial surroundings enforced and excessive literary activity matrimonial misfortunes and literary obscurity besides these personal circumstances the incongruity his scholastic ideals with the Time Spirit did much embit ter his lot

pessimism

approach was empirical and sociological logical while Thomson's was and philosophical the light quiet study his ideals leisure and association with beauty contemporary criticized tendencies which viewed the present menacing Gissing revolted degenerate and for the future

he of ,

In

in

.

as

as

he

,

,

of

.

of

Gissing's method

.

on

In

.

of

or

of

so

is

of

against the present economy society which money based No idealist has uncovered the degrading effect upon human money character the lack the possession character

it

of

.

of

its

all

of

or

of

in

he

after character revealed the tragedy arising this particular through the chance birth and the power circumstance He pictured the degrading effect money upon the lack ,

,

,

.

to

,

.

of

,

of

,

is

-

, in

grades society character effect upon the affections His favorite type self respect intellect and creative ability hero the disinherited the exile the alien who has ability and desires that are condemned continual frustration The indus

,

,

lot ,

of

,

by

.

of

,

of

its

of

,

of

,

of

trial scheme the day the growing mechanization life the struggle for existence that even penetrated the sanctuary art with taint commercialism filled him with dread horror and hate The slavery men the injustice their the re

.

a

,

in

to

of

morseless wresting each individual his daily bread from He could discover no society rage hostile aroused him becoming progress more drab and was modern life which

to

'

,

of

]

10

-

[

.

.

of

of

He had only

to

compare the color and pic turesqueness Dickens London with the dullness and medioc rity the London his own day realize the disheartening prison truth Great like tenement houses monotonous domestic ugly every day

architecture , smoking factories country districts were violated

what could redeem them ? The progress ; even the

,

by intruding

summer resorts and the sea places were becoming ruined by the influx of democracy and commercialism . Aristocratic by nature and education , Gissing was supercilious to the mob as a whole , for he thought them intended by nature " to propagate their own insignificance , " and " to keep the world a- rolling .” With the rise of the average man he feared the rule of the average man's ideal , gross utilitarian power , and the loss of culture , grace , and learn a saving remnant accomplish against the ig brutality norance and of mob rule ? Nor was universal education The extension of education had created immense a panacea . suffering by arousing desires whose satisfaction lack of position

ing .

off

What could

,

in

.

of of

of

.

.

,

,

a

superficiality for genuine thwart , and by passing culture The newspapers cheap magazines libraries and insti domestic tutes were responsible for untold tragedies Likewise life the preservation domestic affection under modern condi Gissing's idea tions was becoming more precarious the curse would

an

to

he

he

his

.

by

.

to

of

be

.

,

of

of

passion was much like that Schopen sex and the hold hauer aspired But unlike Schopenhauer ideal love which should the crown life but which tragically was pos deplored sible only the few From own experience early marriage precipitated Modern restless blind passion materialism were undermining the home politics feared saw looming large dangers imperialism the horizon two socialism and From the growth the athletic spirit the militaristic spirit the im perialistic spirit prophesied early European the Nineties

on

he

In

) a

in

,

of (

he

,

.

-

of

of

he

,

,

and

.

education whose passing

ness

journalism

all

he

.

in

In of

power

of

;

the growing

of

and the improvement preparing for the crisis methods warfare would aid contemporary morality and religion divined chaos and con war

;

of

;

all

of

as a

.

to

spiritual values characterized fusion Indifference classes Christianity vitality faith had lost and the people's un consciousness their empty lives was the culmination the

of a

.

in

the keynote

of

is

"

Misery

.

antidote

11 ]

feeble

[

and Light

is a

.

,

so

or

;

of

.

to

tragedy for him He himself had nothing offer for substi Beauty tute for himself Religion Woman and Religion partially filled the gap happier circum would have done stances But such religions are for the rare the few Sweetness

mod

ern life . ” As for the future , it appeared to Gissing as even more menacing than the present ; he could trust in the efficacy of no humanitarian scheme . Forces were loose and running rampant in the world , whose future path would be a path of bitterness .

Every day

all

he lived he believed something that he loved died out .

.

a

his

.

.

of

to

of

Hellenic culture accentuate his sense the decay present pessimist the He was social and his final position pejorism was

of

glimpses

he

.

,

of

of

contemporary His survey of the important movements society confirmed his opinion that the progress degeneration was inevitable Like Thomson would catch momentary

.

is

to

Hardy's pessimism almost wholly due stitution The environmental influences have only

mental con

deepened

the

derived from natural inclination and the literary pessimism but merely given pre fluences have not caused cision outline and supplied terminology his later poems and The characteristics which are responsible for his the Dynasts

of

.

in

of

,

his

in

philosophy

to

,

,

:

,

pessimism are brooding over ultimate problems fearlessness pain outlook intuition into the sinister and ironic sensitiveness .

.

in

of

,

an

inherited tendency toward fatalism and suffering and Hardy combines the methods Gissing and Thomson Viewing contemporary society externally considering pessimism he

agreed with Gissing's pejorism but viewing existence philo agreed partly with Thomson's Necessitarianism Hardy's presentation Stoicism and Quietism the contem porary scene supplements Gissing's For the most part his novels

of

.

.

,

,

he

sophically

called the movement racket Wherever the Revised Code

of

he

."

in

"

"

restlessness and noise upon every opportunity the progress the world without

of

hatred the artificiality Babylon the Second and satirizes ",

of

.

has the countryman's

of

Hardy

the past

, of

in

-w

,

of to

-

of -

ay picturesque hamlets that appealed deal with the out the Gissing but even there church restoration and the passing the church choir the new forces are destroying the charm

,

In

.

to

of

of

,

education has entered notes the tragedy Gissing pointed out the tragedy aims aroused that were doomed frustration slight education produces the country districts the difference

]

12

[

his

a

.

of

a

Hardy like gap two centuries between parent and child whirling Gissing considers sexual passion blind force but conception resembles Schopenhauer's more closely than Gissing's

did .

Happiness in marriage is rendered doubtful by the ironical

mistiming in the appearance of the perfect lovers upon the scene . His objection to a civil marriage is largely based on romantic

grounds : such an alliance makes the mistake of founding a per manent contract on a transitory instinct ; furthermore legal com pulsion kills passion whose essence is gratuitousness . In Jude the Obscure he considers , seemingly with some favor , matriarchy as a possible arrangement for the future . But the tragedy of sex can never be avoided ; men and women are both victims

of

" the

sly vulpiness of Dame Nature . " Like Gissing , Hardy preaches pacifism and thinks even war capable of degenerating in lack of fairness and in increase of deadliness . Christianity he finds as much of a dead encumbrance in country districts as Gissing had in the city . His peasants discuss the Almighty with great free dom .

Christianity

once

served the world well but that time is

The increase in melancholy Hardy discerns everywhere ; thinks the time will come when the sadness of human life will

past . he

develop a new type of face and when only the barren wastes on the earth's surface are congenial to man's spirit . Hardy's social pejorism does not possess the bitterness of Gissing's nor is it the

The Spirit Ironic Hardy's fatalism Pities the character the Wessex scenery and Wyrd This carries over the Saxon idea

,

of

again

.

”

to

.

“

,

he

;

he

to

particularly

and The Spirit

partially due his inheritance gives now fatalism

is

Agents

of

and

,

Will

The Spirit Sinister

of

Immanent

Its

characteristic portion of his pessimism . The philosophical aspect of Hardy's pessimism centers around fatalism , determinism , and irrationality which he attempts to weave into a coherent whole through the symbolism of the

of

a

.

*

the

the

as

.

.

is

of

,

a

,

a

Puritan and finally His determinism the most convincing part Hardy pessimism Heredity his has for much the same deter ministic quality the Karma Buddhism He exhibits how Teutonic

Greek shape

is

It

;

the

depths

of

blind

,

and

in

.

13 ]

whirling

[

covers this irrationality

,

is

a

of

of

,

in

.

is

.

a

of to

in

tragic flaw character otherwise appealing tends inevitable catastrophe But the most distinctive element his pessimism his emphasis upon irrationality the irrational life that makes existence seem petty mean and farcical the needlessness the disaster more disheartening than the cold Everywhere Hardy dis mechanism determined tragedy

human nature , in external nature , in the satires of circumstances and time's laughing stocks . It is The Spirit Ironic that arranges

as

is

of .

It

its

for delayed letters , lapsed leases , faulty marriage licenses , mis meetings of lovers , ironical situations between characters . The Spirit Sinister lacks this impishness but impresses victims responsible for the Lisbon earth malignant and aggressive

of

.

Will

the Immanent

,

of

these spirits are merely agents

its

;

of

is

of

on

of

.

quake and the period Terror during the French Revolution Spirit points The Pities the pessimism the action con eternally futile humanity All the side stant protest merely the

on

,

,

of

to

,

at

is

,

to

he ;

in to

.

of

do at , ? it

its

.

to

be

Should the Will ever arrive con immediately will doom creation annihilation the ghastliness the universe Meanwhile what Hardy's wisest characters resort resignation

sciousness to

to

of

figures the coming may able contribute shocked man

is a

to

of

man's conscious the presence problem but perhaps coming pre which man the Will consciousness its

world

is a

.

The accounting

such

a

ness

in

wittingly

or

,

,

to

.

,

the actions

in

of

indifferent Omnipotence assume human eyes Hartmann's The Uncon The Immanent Will closer scious than Schopenhauer's The Will Live blind somno lent forgetful unconscious Automaton who weaves un aspects

of

,

to

to

;

at

at

.

of

of

of

.

of

good fortune they expect little But the world notices the growing strength the wish not live the denial the pride life There are those who like the Thracians mourn births and rejoice funerals mothers question their right

fearful

to

of

of

,

,

,

.

to

;

of

in

.

a

bring children presumptuously into such world The doctor prematurely old children traces the growing number the fluence the new ideas they are the beginning the generation who will wish not live Thus we find the three authors Thomson Gissing and

.

; of

in

,

in

Hardy agree the main outlines although they view the con temporary scene Gissing the light different backgrounds Hardy for the most part and represents personal pessimism

Gissing and Hardy reasoned pessimism pejorism standpoint social one from the urban life the other from the standpoint rural life Thomson and Hardy agree Hardy Fatalism Determinism and Stoicism emphasis Irrationality differs from the other two his slight bitter tincture his ironic sense which Thomson had

of

.

in ,

a

14 ]

[

,

on

in

of

,

.

,

,

to

as

.

of

,

to

,

altogether

,

agree

as

Thomson

in his much wider acquaintance with pessimistic literature . Pessimism is only one of the cross - currents of this period of transition from Late Victorianism to the Twentieth Century ; it and

in

of

.

)

(

of

de

of fin

persists in the Nineties in the Romantic pseudo - pessimism of the siècle exhaustion the decadents But Gissing's Crown tendency Life 1899 reveals the new the thought the

.

15

]

[

,

of

,

,

,

,

of

in

.

However

,

Nietzsche Shaw Wells the mature Kipling and Chesterton may disagree among themselves they are one pessimism accord their rejection time

VITA Lena Josephine Myers was born in Macomb , McDonough County , Illinois , March 2 , 1890. She was graduated from the

High School in

1907 and from the Western Illinois State Normal School in 1909. From 1909 to 1911 she taught in the public schools . In 1913 she received the degree of A.B. from

Macomb

University of Illinois . From 1913 to 1917 she was an in structor in an Illinois Township High School . In 1918 she re ceived the degree of A.M. from the University of Illinois . Since the

that time she has been an assistant in English

and a graduate student at the University of Illinois with the exception of the year 1920-1921 which she spent as a graduate student at Rad cliffe College .

[ 16 ]

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