Brother Jacob by George Eliot (1864)
"Brother Jacob" by George Eliot is a novella that explores the themes of selfishness and generosity through the character of Jacob, who is obsessed with his own pleasure and comfort. The story follows him as he travels to various places in search of new experiences and encounters people from different walks of life. Along the way, he learns valuable lessons about kindness and compassion towards others.
By George Eliot · First published 1864 · Genre: Novella, Satire, Victorian Literature · 3 chapters · 23,068 words
First lines
Among the many fatalities attending the bloom of young desire, that of blindly taking to the confectionery line has not, perhaps, been sufficiently considered. How is the son of a British yeoman, who has been fed principally on salt pork and yeast dumplings, to know that there is satiety for the human stomach even in a paradise of glass jars full of sugared almonds and pink lozenges, and that the tedium of life can reach a pitch where plum-buns at discretion cease to offer the slightest excitement? Or how, at the tender age when a confectioner seems to him a very prince whom all the world must envy-who breakfasts on macaroons, dines on meringues, sups on twelfth-cake, and fills up the intermediate hours with sugar-candy or peppermint-how is he to foresee the day of sad wisdom, when he will discern that the confectioner's calling is not socially influential, or favourable to a soaring ambition? I have known a man who turned out to have a metaphysical genius, incautiously, in the period of youthful buoyancy, commence his career as a dancing-master; and you may imagine the use that was made of this initial mistake by opponents who felt themselves bound to warn the public against his doctrine of the Inconceivable. He could not give up his dancing-lessons, because he made his bread by them, and metaphysics would not have found him in so much as salt to his bread.
What this Textopian page supports
Brother Jacob is listed on Textopian as a novella by George Eliot, dated 1864 CE.
This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.
- Work type: Novella
- Author: George Eliot
- Date: 1864 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Novella, Satire, Victorian Literature, Fiction
- Length: 23,068 words
- Structure: 3 chapters, 154 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)
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Similar titles
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- La Mere Bauche by Anthony Trollope
- Pomps And Vanities by Sabine Baring Gould
- Moral Swindlers by George Eliot
- The Striding Place by Gertrude Atherton
- The Permanent Husband by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Genres
- Novella — The work is a short narrative that focuses on a specific incident or series of events.
- Satire — The story uses humor and irony to critique societal norms and human behavior.
- Victorian Literature — The narrative reflects the themes and style typical of the Victorian era, including social commentary and moral questions.
- Fiction — The work is a fictional narrative created from the author's imagination.
Tags
deception · identity · greed · family · betrayal · morality · social class · hypocrisy · ambition · self-discovery · relationships · wealth
Contents
- CHAPTER I
- CHAPTER II
- CHAPTER III