Includes bibliographical references (pages 197-208) and index.
Contents
Modes and sensibilities : varieties of ethical thought -- Narrative perspectives -- On being un/reasonable : Mansfield Park and the limits of persuasion -- Discovering autonomy and authenticity in North and south : Elizabeth Gaskell, John Stuart Mill, and the liberal ethic -- On goods, virtues and Hard times -- Anatomizing excellence : Middlemarch, moral saints and the languages of belief -- The magic in Mentalité : Hardy's native returns -- Howards End and the confession of imperfection.