Greenslade, William (1982) The concept of degeneration, 1880-1910, with particular reference to the work of Thomas Hardy, George Gissing and H. G. Wells. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

This thesis deals with the relationship between post Darwinian
scientific thought and selected literary texts by
Hardy, Gissing and H.G. Wells to illuminate the concept of
degeneration and its implications for these writers in the
period 1880-1910. It involves the examination of primary
material in the field of biology, anthropology and medicine,
as well as philosophical and social writing of the period and
other related literary texts.
Chapter One examines the major areas in
emerges into biological, medical and cultural
reflecting movements within scientific debate
social, economic and philosophical concerns.
this discussion is extended after 1900 and is
light of Wells's own development.
which degeneration
discussion,
itself and broader
In chapter Four
interpreted in the
In the discussion of its biological and pathological
emergence, the growth of hereditary determinism is particularly
emphasised as crucial to the variety of applications of the concept.
Degeneration reflects the prestige of Darwinian evolution, with
its unresolved account of inheritance, a growing sense of
economic decline, and a tension between the authority of evolutionary
science and changing philosophical and ethical concerns.
The three literary chapters deal with the impact of
degeneration on the writers and illuminate aspects of their major
work. While all the texts reflect the impact of degeneration,
Gissing is revealed to be more dependent on scientific determinism,
as in Demos or The Whirlpool, than is Hardy, who in Tess of the
D'Urbervilles and Jude the Obscure, exposes the myth of that
determinism while appearing to collude with it. Wells's
journalism reflects the extent of his scientific endorsement of
degeneration-producing in The Time Machine the one fiction about,
and constructed around, it.
The powerful conjunction of scientific ideas and imaginative
writing, 1880-1910, can be traced to a perception of social,
cultural and ethical crisis of the civilisation for which both
novelist and scientist aspire to speak.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Subjects:	P Language and Literature > PR English literature
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Degeneration in literature, Literature and science -- Great Britain -- History -- 19th century, Hardy, Thomas, 1840-1928 -- History and criticism, Gissing, George, 1857-1903 -- History and criticism, Wells, H. G. (Herbert George), 1866-1946 -- History and criticism, Darwin, Charles, 1809-1882 -- Influence
Official Date:	September 1982
Dates:	Date Event September 1982 Submitted
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	Department of English and Comparative Literary Studies
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor:	Goode, John, 1939-
Extent:	447 leaves
Language:	eng

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