ABSTRACT
The Times finally affirmed the purity of Richard Feverel; Mudie's Library banned it on account of its immorality. Bewilderment and misunderstanding were yet more rampant than prudery. The novel is a medley of romantic interludes, prosaic detail, burlesque, melodrama, pathos, fantasy, realism - everything except the naturalism which Meredith deplored. With hindsight, it has now been heralded as the first modern novel and earned for Meredith a reputation as the first highbrow novelist. Despite ingenious critical rationalization, the novel in its original, unedited form1 remains intrinsically perplexing.
