“Through Very Love of Self Himself He Slew”: What the Man in Love Desires in The Egoist
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While Clara Middleton, the female protagonist of George Meredith’s The Egoist, is one of the critics’ favorite female characters and has been studied quite much especially by feminist critics, Sir Willoughby Patterne, the male protagonist of the novel, is different: he is regarded as one of the detestable male egoists and has not received much attention from critics. Although Willoughby is indeed an abominable character, he is worth studying, for by delving into his psychology we can figure out what the Victorian patriarchal subject he embodies desires and fears. This essay focuses on precisely Willoughby’s love words and suggests that the traditional language of love is in fact a social discourse that is founded on and contributes to phallogocentrism. Willoughby, a master of romantic love words, demonstrates his love-language skills to various female characters in the novel. Ironically, though, what is revealed by repetitions is his desire to be the omnipotent patriarchal subject, which turns out to be an illusion. In the society where Willoughby’s language of love still predominates, the analysis of his desire and its deconstruction will help to shatter the fantasy of love words as ideology-free and spontaneous expressions.
Abstract
While Clara Middleton, the female protagonist of George Meredith’s The Egoist, is one of the critics’ favorite female characters and has been studied quite much especially by feminist critics, Sir Willoughby Patterne, the male protagonist of the novel, is different: he is regarded as one of the detestable male egoists and has not received much attention from critics. Although Willoughby is indeed an abominable character, he is worth studying, for by delving into his psychology we can figure out what the Victorian patriarchal subject he embodies desires and fears. This essay focuses on precisely Willoughby’s love words and suggests that the traditional language of love is in fact a social discourse that is founded on and contributes to phallogocentrism. Willoughby, a master of romantic love words, demonstrates his love-language skills to various female characters in the novel. Ironically, though, what is revealed by repetitions is his desire to be the omnipotent patriarchal subject, which turns out to be an illusion. In the society where Willoughby’s language of love still predominates, the analysis of his desire and its deconstruction will help to shatter the fantasy of love words as ideology-free and spontaneous expressions.
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