Summary
Melvyn Bragg and guests Rosemary Ashton, Dinah Birch and Valentine Cunningham discuss George Eliot's novel Silas Marner.Published in 1861, Silas Marner is by far Eliot's shortest and seemingly simplest work. Yet beneath the fairytale-like structure, of all her novels it offers the most focused expression of Eliot's moral view. Influenced by the deconstruction of Christianity pioneered by leading European thinkers including Auguste Comte and Ludwig Feuerbach, Silas Marner is a highly sophisticated attempt to translate the symbolism of religion into purely human terms.The novel tells the story of Silas, a weaver who is thrown out of his religious community after being falsely charged with theft. Silas is embittered and exists only for his work and his precious hoard of money - until that money is stolen, and an abandoned child wanders into his house.By the end of her lifetime, George Eliot was the most powerful female intellectual in the country. Her extraordinary range of publications encompassed novels, poetry, literary criticism, scientific and religious texts. But beneath her fierce intellecualism was the deep convinction that for society to continue, humans must connect with their fellow humans. And it is this idea that forms the core of her writing.Rosemary Ashton is Quain Professor of English Language and Literature at University College, London; Dinah Birch is Professor of English at Liverpool University; And Valentine Cunningham is Professor of English Language and Literature at Corpus Christi, University of Oxford.
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| 0:00.0 | Just before this BBC podcast gets underway, here's something you may not know. |
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| 0:45.6 | I hope you enjoy the program. Hello by the end of her lifetime George |
| 0:50.5 | Elliot was the most powerful female intellectual in the country. |
| 0:54.0 | Her extraordinary range of publications and compass novels, poetry, literary, |
| 0:57.8 | literary criticism and scientific and religious essays. |
| 1:01.2 | A third novel published in 1861, Silas Manor, tells the story of a weaver |
| 1:06.6 | who's thrown out of his religious community after being falsely charged with theft. |
| 1:11.2 | Silas has embittered and exists only for his work and his horde of money |
| 1:15.1 | until that money is stolen and an abandoned child wanders into his house. |
| 1:19.4 | Beneath this simple fable-like story, Salas Manor offers the most focused |
| 1:24.3 | expression of Elliot's moral view, people by characters remarkable for their |
| 1:28.3 | ordinariness, and influenced by Ludwig Fuebach and August |
| 1:31.8 | Connery deconstruction of Christianity, |
| 1:34.3 | Salas Mannas is a highly sophisticated attempt to translate the symbolism of religion |
| 1:39.2 | into purely human terms. With me to discuss the extent of Silas Manas literary ambitions |
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