New Grub Street Father Son Relationship Quotes

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INTRODUCTION New Grub Street (1891) is a novel which most of its characters are young persons fighting to find their place in society whether through work or through marriage. However, to complete this task with satisfaction, especially when they are trying to combine the search for an occupation and the search for a spouse, can be complicated if they don’t have the power of choice. According to Stone (1979), in the sixteenth century, the selection of a spouse was made entirely for the family of the bride and the groom, without their opinion. However, the children’s power gradually increased over time. Thus, in the eighteenth century, they already could choose their partner with less intervention of their families. The characters of New Grub …show more content…

All of these persons were at some moment of the book in a loving relationship, but the durability of these involvements depended on their capacity to choose a lover who fit better for them. Therefore, this novel shows how the balance between love and compatibility is the best way for a young person to ensure a long-term relationship. This paper will deal with this thesis through the analysis of how the mismatch between the practicality of Jasper and Amy and the idealism of Marian and Edwin is the reason for the end of their relationships. On the other hand, Jasper will be the prove that pure convenience and lack of love don’t guarantee the durability of a …show more content…

Amy Reardon married Edwin Reardon believing that in the future he would become a "great man", achieving distinction and eliminating any possibility of poverty for them. She realized that it was important for her husband to be practical in his work in order to achieve the lifestyle she wanted. However, Edwin Reardon had his convictions regarding writing: he knew before he even got married that he couldn’t write under pressure and in a short time. Then, he neither could act as a journalist nor have a stable position in society only writing novels. However, even being conscious of it, he asked Amy to marry him, a girl whose expectatives was distinction and greatness. Therefore, it is very clear that both couples had incompatible ways of seeing life. Thus, the only reasonable cause for their involvements was that they were recklessly in love. Since Nietzsche (1982) said that love "is the state in which man sees things most decidedly as they are not", in addition to putting the power of illusion at its peak, it is understandable that all of them minimized these mismatches of opinions on their minds. Edwin and Marian were representants of what Stone (1979) calls “romantic love”, which is defined by her

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