The Ordeal of Richard Feverel - Tapa blanda

“We never know what’s in us till we stand by ourselves.”

The Ordeal of Richard Feverel, third novel by George Meredith, published in 1859, is representative of his best work, brimming with insinuation and allegory, rhythmic composition and witty interlocution, with a deep inquiry of the ethos of both intention and apologetics. The novel's subject is the relationship between a heinously guileful father and a son who loves a girl of a lower social class. Both men are delusional with extreme pride, and the story's ending is tragic. When it was first published, some readers considered the novel salacious, and, as a result, it was banned by the leading lending libraries.

Extolled as the first contemporary novel in English literature for its psychological insights and sexual bluntness, Meredith’s tale follows a father’s efforts to control his son’s passions through an authoritarian educational system and the intermittent paramour. At once a copiously observed account of love and control, and an incriminating account of homeschooling.