Explorations in George Eliot’s Perception of Islam: Arabs, Jews & the Question of Palestine
Abstract
This article proposes to explore George Eliot’s perception of Islam in close comparison with her interest in Judaism. I will demonstrate that Eliot’s much keener and more sympathetic attitude towards Jews and Judaism is clearly paralleled by an essentially prejudiced view of Arabs and an obvious indifference to Islam. I shall also examine how this privileged status of Judaism shaped Eliot’s political thought in regard to both her ideal of British nationalism and her vision of an ideal human world. This discussion will be contextualized with reference to the ongoing scholarly conversation about Eliot’s attitude to colonialism, nationalism, and religion as in the works of Edward Said, Saleel Nurbhai & K. M. Newton, Nancy Henry, and Avrom Fleishman.
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