Adam Bede
by George Eliot
It would seem that the peaceful rural village of Heislop is the setting for this ambitious first novel by one of the greatest novelists of the nineteenth century. With sympathy, wit, and unshakable realism, Adam Bede tells a story familiar to Eliot's early readers: the seduction of a beautiful farm girl by a young conduit of the region. Eliot uses this story to explore the dangers of relying on religious and social norms to manage destructive desires, with its tragic consequences. As this publication shows, Adam Bede addresses profound issues related to morality, religion, and the role of women in society, while at the same time trying to create a new aesthetic for fiction.
