The ‘Invisible Hand’ and British Fiction, 1818–1860: Adam Smith, Political Economy, and the Genre of Realism

Research output: Book/Report/Conference proceedingBook

Abstract

The 'invisible hand', Adam Smith's metaphor for the morality of capitalism, is explored in this text as being far more subtle and intricate than is usually understood, with many British realist fiction writers (Austen, Dickens, Gaskell, Eliot) having absorbed his model of ironic causality in complex societies and turned it to their own purposes.
Original languageEnglish (US)
Place of PublicationNew York
PublisherPalgrave Macmillan
Number of pages251
ISBN (Print)9780230290785
DOIs
StatePublished - 2011

Publication series

NamePalgrave Studies in Nineteenth-Century Writing and Culture
PublisherSpringer

Keywords

  • Adam Smith
  • Charles Dickens
  • fiction
  • George Eliot
  • Jane Austen
  • Narrative
  • novel
  • political economy
  • realism
  • technology

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