The Relevance of Ideas (1844–1850)

Abstract

In many of the works Marian Evans read during this period there was a political dimension. Foster’s presentation of the dissenting consciousness, and the exegeses of the theories of perception in Rousseau, Saint-Simon, Comte and Hegel, extended beyond an analysis of the thought process to explore the implications of that analysis for a view of society. Macaulay offered lessons for the present, as well as pictures of past ages; Disraeli and George Sand meditated upon political philosophies. Yet George Sand’s testing of the validity of ideas as a means of interpreting existence, and her pondering upon the efficacy of political ideologies, stemmed from a radically sceptical stance. The environment of the 1840s presented Marian Evans with conflicting evidence about the extent to which political philosophies could be transformed into effective social solutions. The new revolutionary Europe lasted only from April 1848 to the following summer after which, although elements of liberalism remained, a conservative reaction set in. In 1848, Marian Evans’s interest in radicalism led her to watch with fascination the unfolding of events in France. On 10 December 1848, the presidential election returned to power Napoleon’s nephew, backed by a Conservative ministry.

not all art is alike remote from the world of thought.¹