George Moore (novelist)
George Moore | |
---|---|
Edouard Manet, 1879 | |
Born | George Augustus Moore 24 February 1852 Moore Hall, County Mayo, Ireland |
Died | 21 January 1933 London, England | (aged 80)
Resting place | Castle Island, County Mayo, Ireland |
Occupation | short-story writer, poet, art critic, memoirist and dramatist |
Language | English |
Alma mater | National Art Training School |
Period | 1878–1933 |
Literary movement | Celtic Revival |
Notable works | Confessions of a Young Man, Esther Waters |
Relatives | John Moore (granduncle) Maurice George Moore |
George Augustus Moore (24 February 1852 – 21 January 1933) was an
As a naturalistic writer, he was amongst the first English-language authors to absorb the lessons of the French realists, and was particularly influenced by the works of Émile Zola.[1] His writings influenced James Joyce, according to the literary critic and biographer Richard Ellmann,[2] and, although Moore's work is sometimes seen as outside the mainstream of both Irish and British literature, he is as often regarded as the first great modern Irish novelist.
Life
Family origins
George Moore's family had lived in Moore Hall, near Lough Carra, County Mayo, for almost a century.[3] The house was built by his paternal great-grandfather—also called George Moore—who had made his fortune as a wine merchant in Alicante.[4] The novelist's grandfather—another George—was a friend of Maria Edgeworth, and author of An Historical Memoir of the French Revolution.[5] His great-uncle, John Moore, was president of the Province of Connacht in the short-lived Irish Republic of 1798[6] during the Irish Rebellion of 1798.
George Moore's father,
Early life
Moore was born in Moore Hall in 1852. As a child, he enjoyed the novels of
His father had again turned his attention to horse breeding and in 1861 brought his champion horse,
London and Paris
In 1868, Moore's father was again elected MP for Mayo and the family moved to London the following year. Here, Moore senior tried, unsuccessfully, to have his son follow a career in the military though, prior to this, he attended the
While still in Paris his first book, a collection of lyric poems called The Flowers of Passion, was self-published in 1877. The poems were derivative, and were maliciously reviewed by the critics who were offended by some of the depravities in store for moralistic readers. The book was withdrawn by Moore.
Controversy in England
During the 1880s, Moore began work on a series of novels in a
Moore's publisher
Because of his willingness to tackle such issues as prostitution, extramarital sex, and lesbianism, Moore's novels were initially met with scandal, but this subsided as the public's taste for realist fiction grew. Moore began to find success as an art critic with the publication of books such as Impressions and Opinions (1891) and Modern Painting (1893), the first significant attempt to introduce the
Other realist novels by Moore from this period include A Drama in Muslin (1886), a satiric story of the marriage trade in Anglo-Irish society that hints at same-sex relationships among the unmarried daughters of the gentry, and Esther Waters (1894), the story of an unmarried housemaid who becomes pregnant and is abandoned by her footman lover. Both of these books have remained almost constantly in print since their first publication. His 1887 novel A Mere Accident is an attempt to merge his symbolist and realist influences. He also published a collection of short stories: Celibates (1895).
Dublin and the Celtic Revival
In 1901, Moore returned to
The Irish Literary Theatre staged his satirical comedy The Bending of the Bough (1900), adapted from Martyn's The Tale of a Town, originally rejected by the theatre but unselfishly given to Moore for revision, and Martyn's Maeve. Staged by the company which would later become the
Moore published two books of prose fiction set in Ireland around this time; a second book of short stories, The Untilled Field (1903) and a novel, The Lake (1905). The Untilled Field deals with clerical interference in the daily lives of the Irish peasantry, and of the issue of emigration. The stories were originally written for translation into Irish, to serve as models for other writers working in the language. Three of the translations were published in the New Ireland Review, but publication was then paused because of their perceived
In 1903, following a disagreement with his brother Maurice over the religious upbringing of his nephews, Moore declared himself to be Protestant. His conversion was announced in a letter to the
In his later years he was increasingly friendless, having quarrelled bitterly with Yeats and Osborn Bergin, among others: Oliver St. John Gogarty said: "It was impossible to be a friend of his, because he was incapable of gratitude".[32]
Later life
Moore returned to London in 1911, where, with the exception of frequent trips to France, he was to spend much of the rest of his life. In 1913, he travelled to
Partly because of his brother Maurice's pro-treaty activity, Moore Hall was burnt by anti-treaty partisans in 1923, during the final months of the Irish Civil War.[33] Moore eventually received compensation of £7,000 from the government of the Irish Free State. By this time the brothers had become estranged, mainly because of George's unflattering portrait of Maurice in Hail and Farewell. Tension also arose from their religious differences: Maurice frequently made donations to the Roman Catholic Church from estate funds.[34] George later sold a large part of the estate to the Irish Land Commission for £25,000.
Moore was friendly with many members of the expatriate artistic communities in London and Paris, and had a long-lasting relationship with Maud, Lady Cunard. Moore took a special interest in the education of Maud's daughter, the well-known publisher and art patron, Nancy Cunard.[35] It has been suggested that Moore, rather than Maud's husband, Sir Bache Cunard, was Nancy's father,[36] but this is not generally credited by historians, and it is not certain that Moore's relationship with Nancy's mother was ever more than platonic.[37] Moore's last novel, Aphrodite in Aulis, was published in 1930.[2]
He died at his address of 121 Ebury Street in the London district of Belgravia in early 1933, leaving a fortune of £70,000. He was cremated in London at a service attended by Ramsay MacDonald among others. An urn containing his ashes was interred on Castle Island in Lough Carra in view of the ruins of Moore Hall.[2] A blue plaque commemorates his residency at his London home.[38]
Selected works
- A Modern Lover, 1883
- A Mummer's Wife, 1885
- A Drama in Muslin, 1886[39]
- A Mere Accident, 1887
- Parnell and His Island, 1887
- Confessions of a Young Man, 1888[16]
- Modern Painting, 1893
- Esther Waters, 1894
- Evelyn Innes, 1898
- Sister Teresa, 1901
- The Brook Kerith, 1916
Notes
- ISBN 0-8264-8883-8
- ^ , retrieved 7 January 2008 (Subscription required)
- ^ Frazier (2000), p. 11
- ^ Coyne, Kevin. "The Moores of Moorehal". Mayo Ireland Ltd. Retrieved 16 June 2015.
- ISBN 0-404-20033-8
- ^ Frazier (2000), pp. 1–5.
- ^ Jeffares (1965), p. 7.
- ^ Frazier (2000), pp. 1–2.
- Nineteenth-Century Fiction, Vol. 23, No. 1, June 1968. pp. 99–103.
- ^ Schwab, Arnold T. Review of "George Moore: A Reconsideration", by Brown, Malcolm. Nineteenth-Century Fiction, Vol. 10, No. 4, March 1956. pp. 310–314.
- ^ Frazier (2002), pp. 14–16.
- ^ a b c Farrow (1978), pp. 11–14.
- ^ Frazier (2000), pp. 28–29.
- ^ Farrow (1978), p. 22.
- ^ a b Jeffares (1965), pp. 8–9.
- ^ a b Grubgeld (1994)
- ^ a b Bennett, Arnold. Fame and fiction. G. Richards, 1901. Page 236+
- ^ The Modern Library, 1917.
- ^ Farrow (1978), p. 31.
- ^ Frazier (2000), pp. 48–49.
- ^ Peck (1898), pp. 90–95.
- ISBN 9781443804776. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
- ^ Sloan (2003), pp. 92–93.
- ^ Frazier (2000), pp. 173–174.
- ^ Morris, Lloyd R. (1917), p. 113.
- ^ a b c Morris (1917), pp. 114–115.
- ^ Morris (1917), p. 92.
- ISBN 0-19-315447-1
- ^ Frazier (2000), pp. 306, 326.
- ^ Frazier (2000), p. 331.
- ^ Galbraith (27 June 1908). "LITERARY LONDON'S CURRENT GOSSIP; George Moore's Book of Criticisms of Irish Affairs – Literary Women and the Suffrage". New York Times. Retrieved 1 January 2008.
- ^ Gogarty, Oliver St John. As I was going down Sackville Street, Penguin, 1954, p. 262.
- ^ Frazier (2000), p. 434.
- ^ Frazier (2000), pp. 331, 360–363, 382–389.
- ^ "Nancy Cunard, 1896–1965: Biographical Sketch". Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, University of Texas at Austin. 30 June 1990. Archived from the original on 4 July 2007. Retrieved 7 January 2007.
- ^ "George Moore: Life". Princess Grace Irish Library (Monaco). Archived from the original on 14 May 2011. Retrieved 7 January 2007.
- ^ Marcus, Jane. "Cunard, Nancy Clara (1896–1965)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edition, September 2010; accessed 16 March 2011. (subscription required)
- ^ "Moore, George (1852-1933)". Blue Plaques. English Heritage. 1937. Retrieved 8 December 2023.
- ^ Bennett, Linda. "Reviewed Work: A Drama in Muslin. A Realistic Novel by George Moore". Studies: An Irish Quarterly Review, volume 71, No. 284, Winter, 1982, pp. 414–416
Sources
- Brown, Malcolm (1955). George Moore: A Reconsideration. Washington D.C.: University of Washington.
- Farrow, Anthony (1978). George Moore. Boston: Twayne Publishers. ISBN 0-8057-6685-5.
- Frazier, Adrian (2000). George Moore, 1852–1933. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-08245-2.
- Freeman, John (1922). A Portrait of George Moore in a Study of his Work. London: T. Werner Laurie.
- Goodwin, Geraint (1929). Conversations with George Moore. London: Ernest Benn.
- Gray, Tony (1996). A Peculiar Man: A Life of George Moore. London: Sinclair-Stevenson. ISBN 978-1-85619-578-2.
- Grubgeld, Elizabeth (1994). George Moore and the Autogenous Self. Oklahoma: Syracuse University Press. ISBN 978-0-81562-615-2.
- Hone, Joseph (1936). The Life of George Moore; with an account of his last years by his cook and housekeeper Clara Warville. London: Victor Gollancz.
- Igoe, Vivien (1994). A Literary Guide to Dublin. London: Methuen. ISBN 0-413-69120-9.
- Jeffares, A. Norman (1965). George Moore: Writers and their Work. London: The British Council & National Book League.
- Lacey, Brian (2008). Queer Creatures: A History of Homosexuality in Ireland. ISBN 978-1-905569-23-6.
- ISBN 0-7195-3478-X.
- Lyttelton, George; Rupert Hart-Davis (1981). The Lyttelton Hart-Davis Letters, Vol 3 (1958 letters). London: John Murray. ISBN 0-7195-3770-3.
- Mitchell, Susan L. (1916). George Moore. London: Talbot Press.
- Montague, Conor; Adrian Frazier (2012). George Moore: Dublin, Paris, Hollywood. Dublin: Irish Academic Press. ISBN 978-0-71653-147-0.
- Morgan, Charles (1935). Epitaph on George Moore. London: Macmillan.
- Morris, Lloyd R. (1917). The Celtic Dawn: A Survey of the Renascence in Ireland 1889–1916. New York: The Macmillan Company.
- Owens, Graham (1968). George Moore's Mind and Art. London: Oliver and Boyd.
- Peck, Harry Thurston (1898). The Personal Equation. New York & London: Harper & Brothers Publishers.
- Pierse, Mary (2006). George Moore: Artistic Visions and Literary Worlds. Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84718-029-2.
- Sloan, John (2003). Oscar Wilde. ISBN 0-19-284064-9.
- Wolfe, Humbert (1931). George Moore. London: Harold Shaylor.
External links
- Works by George Moore at Project Gutenberg
- Works by George Augustus Moore at Faded Page (Canada)
- George Moore Collection at the Harry Ransom Center
- Works by or about George Moore at Internet Archive
- Works by George Moore at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
- The Brook Kerith by George Moore, 1916
- George Moore at the Princess Grace Irish Library (archived link)
- Finding aid to George Moore papers at Columbia University. Rare Book & Manuscript Library.
- The official website of the George Moore Association, with pages about his life and works.
- George Moore Collection. General Collection, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.
- Article on George Moore in June 1895 Edition of The Bookman (New York)