ABSTRACT
At a time when our literary critics (at any rate those who do not deny to literature its natural right of development) are hailing Russian, French, Scandinavian and Danish authors as representatives ofa realism reflective of the spirit of our times, an error is being propagated that English literature is still going over the same old ground. Yet the more perceptive observer would find it incredible that a sense for what is trlost valid in the modern movement should not be felt at all in the land of Shakespeare. Of course, English literature is still largely dominated by a puritan aesthetic which acts as a moral watchdog over the literary family: whatever fails to conform to its rigid prescriptions is rejected with all the arrogant pride of narrow-mindedness. Hence the novels being produced in such quantities in England today do not dare to break with the old tradition. It says all the more for the power and importance of one man's mind when he can open up new paths on his own and, despite the conspiracy of dictatorial mediocrities, is able to break the petrified rules and gain recognition from the
truly discriminating. George Gissing's novels have won him such acclaim.
