The Science of Character: Human Objecthood and the Ends of Victorian Realism

The Science of Character explores how Victorian novelists used fiction to theorize how character forms, arguing that literature became a science in its commitment to uncovering the laws governing physical and affective life.

Format: Hardback
Length: 296 pages
Publication date: 18 January 2022
Publisher: The University of Chicago Press

In 1843, the Victorian philosopher John Stuart Mill proposed the establishment of a new science, known as "the science of the formation of character." While this proposal did not become a scientific practice, S. Pearl Brilmyer argues that it found its true home in the realism fiction of the period. These authors used narrative to explore how traits and behaviors in organisms emerge and develop, as well as how aesthetic features, such as shapes, colors, and gestures, come to take on cultural meaning through specific categories, such as race and sex. By engaging with materialist science and philosophy, these authors transformed the concept of character from a liberal notion of an individual's inner truth to a materially determined figuration produced through shifts in the boundaries between the body's inside and outside.

Brilmyer contends that literature became a science in the sense that it committed to uncovering the laws governing physical and affective life through a fictional staging of realistic events. This period between 1870 and 1920 was a crucial one for women and feminist novelists, as they pushed realism to its aesthetic and philosophical limits. They sought to represent the complex and multifaceted experiences of women in a male-dominated society, challenging traditional gender roles and stereotypes. Through their writing, they explored themes of autonomy, independence, and the pursuit of personal fulfillment, which resonated with readers and had a lasting impact on the literary landscape.

The Science of Character offers a fresh perspective on late Victorian literature and its relationship to the broader social and cultural movements of the time. By highlighting the contributions of women and feminist novelists, it sheds light on the ways in which literature can be a powerful tool for social change and the exploration of complex human experiences. It also demonstrates the enduring relevance of realism as a literary genre, capable of capturing the complexities of the human condition and challenging our understanding of the world.

Weight: 574g
Dimension: 159 x 235 x 26 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780226815770