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- Herausgeber: Booksell-Verlag
- Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
- Sprache: Englisch
In "Ivan Greet's Masterpiece," Grant Allen crafts a richly layered narrative that explores the intersections of artistic ambition and social morality in late Victorian England. The story follows Ivan Greet, a struggling artist who becomes embroiled in a scandal that questions the very nature of art and authenticity. Through Allen's deft characterization and vibrant prose, the novel delves into themes of societal expectation, individual desire, and the often-painful pursuit of creative fulfillment. Set against a backdrop of burgeoning modernism, Allen juxtaposes traditional artistic values with the emerging perspectives of his time, making the work a significant scholarly piece within the canon of Victorian literature. Grant Allen, an accomplished writer and environmentalist, was renowned for his diverse literary contributions that often reflected his scientific background and progressive views. His experiences as a public lecturer and engagement with contemporary debates on art and ethics undoubtedly influenced the construction of "Ivan Greet's Masterpiece," imbuing it with both intellectual depth and social critique. Allen's ability to blend narrative with philosophical inquiry marks him as a pioneer of the genre. This novel is a must-read for those interested in the complexities of artistic identity and societal critique. With its intricate plot and thought-provoking themes, "Ivan Greet's Masterpiece" challenges readers to reconsider the nature of art and its role in society, making it a compelling addition to the study of Victorian literature. In this enriched edition, we have carefully created added value for your reading experience: - A succinct Introduction situates the work's timeless appeal and themes. - The Synopsis outlines the central plot, highlighting key developments without spoiling critical twists. - A detailed Historical Context immerses you in the era's events and influences that shaped the writing. - A thorough Analysis dissects symbols, motifs, and character arcs to unearth underlying meanings. - Reflection questions prompt you to engage personally with the work's messages, connecting them to modern life. - Hand‐picked Memorable Quotes shine a spotlight on moments of literary brilliance. - Interactive footnotes clarify unusual references, historical allusions, and archaic phrases for an effortless, more informed read.
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Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2021
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Ivan Greet's Masterpiece
Table of Contents
Introduction
Here, the unrelenting desire to create something worthy of the word masterpiece confronts the equally insistent claims of ordinary life—its duties, affections, expectations, and compromises—asking how far one may go in pursuit of lasting art when every step toward perfection carries the risk of moral cost, social friction, and self-forgetting, and whether the promise of immortality through work can ever outweigh the fragile, human bonds that give purpose to the very act of creation in the first place.
Ivan Greet’s Masterpiece is a short story by Grant Allen (1848–1899), a Canadian-born British writer who helped shape the late nineteenth-century literary conversation about science, society, and art. Appearing in the fin-de-siècle climate of British periodical culture, the tale belongs to the era’s intelligent, idea-driven fiction, where narrative entertains while engaging public debate. Its frame is recognizably late Victorian: a world attentive to reputation, to the responsibilities of talent, and to the measured cadences of a polished prose style. Within this context, Allen explores a personal drama that resonates beyond its moment, balancing readability with intellectual provocation.
The premise is elegantly direct: Ivan Greet is an artist determined to produce a defining work, the piece that will crystallize his gifts and fix his name. Allen introduces him within a social and intellectual milieu that watches, encourages, and judges, giving the story a subtle pressure from every side. Rather than rely on melodrama, the narration channels psychological realism and restrained irony, delivering a compact experience that feels intimate and lucid. Readers encounter a voice confident in its control of pace and emphasis, a mood of steady tension rather than spectacle, and a style that rewards careful attention to motive.
Allen’s fiction often brings a scientific cast of mind to questions of conduct, tracing how environment, education, and habit contour individual choice; that sensibility underlies this story’s inquiry into creative vocation. Ivan’s resolve becomes a lens for examining how the ideal of genius intersects with ethical responsibility. The narrative tests competing claims—ambition, duty, compassion—without collapsing them into a simple moral. Instead, it weighs their pressures in situ, attentive to the way decisions gain momentum. The result is a portrait of aspiration that neither sanctifies talent nor dismisses it, inviting readers to observe how ideals harden into actions and consequences.
Set against the late Victorian conversation about art’s purpose, the story engages the era’s live questions: is art justified by beauty alone, or must it answer to social conscience? What is owed to patrons, critics, and the public imagination that confers fame? Allen situates Ivan within these currents without turning the narrative into a tract, allowing social forces to register through scenes, attitudes, and choices. Class sensibilities, professional reputation, and the norms of civility quietly shape the stakes. In this way, the piece reflects its historical moment while maintaining a timeless focus on the intimate calculus of making and meaning.
Contemporary readers may feel the pull of its dilemmas in today’s creative economy, where visibility, deadlines, and market logic can strain integrity and well-being. The story raises enduring questions: how to measure a life’s work, what we trade for recognition, who shares in the costs of individual triumphs, and whether mastery is a destination or a discipline of attention. It appeals both emotionally—through the vulnerability of striving—and intellectually—through its clear-eyed scrutiny of motive. Without prescribing answers, Allen offers a framework for thinking about balance, asking readers to consider the human context that surrounds every claim of greatness.
Approached as a brief but resonant character study, Ivan Greet’s Masterpiece promises a concentrated reading experience: lucid prose, finely shaded interiority, and the quiet suspense of decisions that matter. Allen’s control of tone favors suggestion over declaration, leaving interpretive space while guiding the eye to pivotal pressures and possibilities. The narrative’s strength lies in how it holds competing values in tension, letting the implications accumulate rather than forcing them. For readers curious about fin-de-siècle fiction or the perennial drama of creation, this introduction prepares the way for a story that is as thought-provoking as it is accessible.
Synopsis
Ivan Greet’s Masterpiece follows a young writer of talent and promise in late-Victorian London, known among friends for fine taste and exacting standards. Ivan aspires to produce one great work that will justify his vocation and secure his name, yet he struggles to find a subject sufficient to his ideals. Moving between modest lodgings and cultured drawing rooms, he listens to theories of art, observes manners, and stores impressions. The title’s promise of a culminating creation shapes the narrative from the outset: each scene frames Ivan’s search for a theme worthy of being called a masterpiece, and hints at the cost such ambition might entail.
Ivan’s circle includes artists, critics, and social acquaintances who debate the aims of modern art. Some defend art for art’s sake, praising technical refinement; others argue that art must answer to life and conduct. Ivan is attracted to both positions, valuing beauty while sensing an obligation beyond ornament. A sympathetic woman in the group, perceptive and practical, urges him to look outward rather than inward for inspiration. Their conversations are cordial, not polemical, charting how Ivan’s ideals evolve through contact with everyday realities. The narrative carefully presents this exchange of views as formative rather than conclusive, setting tensions that drive later action.
Determined to work, Ivan retreats from conversation to composition, filling notebooks with phrases and designs. Yet the pages remain more promise than performance. He composes with skill but feels an absence of necessity, as if the impulse that animates great art is missing. Seeking material, he observes the city’s streets and the countryside’s quieter routines, noting small generosities and ordinary courage. His attention to character expands; he becomes less concerned with form alone and more with the forces that give form meaning. These chapters show him poised between conceiving a notable poem or essay and acknowledging that lived experience may itself present the decisive subject.
A visit beyond the city places Ivan among friends in a more open setting—coastal or riverside, with practical risks implicit in the landscape and amusements of the time. Talk turns to bravery, chance, and the thin line between spectacle and responsibility. This change of scene has a narrative function: it draws out the latent questions he has been weighing in salons, confronting them with situations that do not wait for arguments to conclude. The atmosphere is social and relaxed, but the story quietly introduces elements—distance, height, water, speed—that may convert reflection into action, preparing the reader for an unanticipated test.
The turning point arrives abruptly when a public emergency demands immediate help. The incident is described in measured terms, emphasizing urgency rather than sensational detail. In a moment that allows little deliberation, Ivan chooses intervention over observation. The sequence is concise and kinetic: a call, a movement, a second decision, and consequences. The narrative avoids dramatizing heroism; it simply records that he acts where others hesitate. This pivotal scene answers the earlier debates without speech, translating abstract ideals into a practical choice. It reframes the meaning of a 'masterpiece' as something that may be enacted rather than written, and that carries an irreversible cost.
