s. _Rhoda Fleming_
(1865) is in its style the simplest of his novels. The humble tragedy
is related in the plain speech of the people, without the Gaelic wit
usually characteristic of Meredith.

The first half of _The Adventures of Harry Richmond_ has been called
by some critics Meredith's best piece of writing, but the last half
shows less power.

Meredith grew more introspective in his later years, as is shown in
such long, analytical novels as, _One of Our Conquerors_ (1891), _Lord
Ormont and His Aminta_ (1894), and _The Amazing Marriage_ (1895).

General Characteristics.-Meredith's novels afford him various
opportunities for an exposition of his views on education, divorce,
personal liberty, conventional narrow-mindedness, egotism,
sentimentalism, and obedience to law. His own personality creeps into
the stories when he has some favorite sermon to preach; and he
sometimes taxes the reader's patience by unduly delaying the narrative
or even directing its course in order to accentuate the moral issue.

The chief excellences of his novels lie in the strong and subtle
character portrayal, in the brilliant conversations, in the power with
which intense scenes are presented, and in the well-nigh omnipresent
humor.

Meredith's humor frequently arises from his keen intellectual
perception of the paradoxes in life. One of his egotistical lovers,
talking to the object of his undying affections, "could pledge himself
to eternity, but shrank from being bound to eleven o'clock on the
morrow morning." Meredith does not fly into a passion, like Carlyle,
because society is sentimental and shallow and loves to pose. He
proceeds in the coolest manner to draw with unusual distinctness the
shallow dilettante, the sentimentalist, the egotist, and the
hypocrite. By placing these characters in the midst of men and women
actuated by simple and genuine motives, he develops situations that
seem especially humorous to readers who are alert to detect
incongruity. This veiled humor, which has been aptly styled "the
laughter of the mind," gives to Meredith's works their most
distinctive flavor.

His prose style is epigrammatic, rich in figures, subtle, sometimes
tortuous and even obscure. He abhors the trite and obvious, and, in
escaping them to indulge in witty riddles, fanciful expressions, and
difficult allusions, he imperils his clearness. In the presence of
genuine emotion, he is always as simple in style as he is serious in
attitu