Meredith, George (1828-1909), was an English novelist and poet. He wrote his novels in a subtle poetic prose, rich in metaphor. His best-known novel, The Ordeal of Richard Feverel (1859), is the story of the harm done a young man who is sheltered by his father and educated at home. It is one of several novels written by Meredith in which a duel is fought over a woman. The Egoist (1879) and Diana of the Crossways (1885) show Meredith’s support of the emancipation of women. The heroines in these novels claim the right to choose in love and marriage.
Meredith thought his poetry had more merit than his novels, and many scholars agree. His Modern Love (1862) is one of the finest poetic works of the Victorian Age. It is a long, beautifully written sequence of 16-line sonnets inspired by his unhappy marriage to his first wife, who deserted him. Meredith was born on Feb. 12, 1828, in Portsmouth. He worked for many years as a journalist and literary critic. He died on May 18, 1909.
