ABSTRACT
I. References to alcohol are ubiquitous in the work of the underrated and underread late-nineteenth-century author George Gissing. Especially in his early novels, which deal almost exclusively with the working class, pubs and other establishments selling alcohol provide settings for character action and interaction. ey are peopled by publicans, barmaids, and potboys and girls carrying jugs of beer to customers’ homes; they contain cameo appearances of incorrigible drinkers in various states of inebriation and depict scenes of domestic violence committed under the in uence; and even in Gissing’s later work, with its focus on middle-class themes and concerns, there are still passing references to ‘pledge cards’ collected on mantelpieces and/or bedside tables, symbolizing characters’ repeated failure to live up to their promise never to drink alcohol again.
