''Yeast: A Problem'' (1848) was the first novel by the Victorian social and religious controversialist Charles Kingsley.

Themes and sources

Motivated by his strong convictions as a

Christian Socialist Christian socialism is a religious and political philosophy that blends Christianity and socialism, endorsing left-wing politics and socialist economics on the basis of the Bible and the teachings of Jesus. Many Christian socialists believe cap ...

Kingsley wrote ''Yeast'' as an attack on Roman Catholicism and the Oxford Movement, on celibacy, the game laws, bad landlords and bad sanitation, and on the whole social system insofar as it kept England’s agricultural labourer class in poverty. The title was intended to suggest the "ferment of new ideas".''Yeast'' was influenced by the works of the philosopher

Thomas Carlyle Thomas Carlyle (4 December 17955 February 1881) was a Scottish essayist, historian and philosopher. A leading writer of the Victorian era, he exerted a profound influence on 19th-century art, literature and philosophy. Born in Ecclefechan, Dum ...

, and by Henry Brooke's novel ''

The Fool of Quality ''The Fool of Quality; or, The History of Henry, Earl of Moreland'' (1765 in literature, 1765–1770 in literature, 70), a Picaresque novel, picaresque and sentimental novel by the Irish writer Henry Brooke (writer), Henry Brooke, is the only one ...

''.

Publication

''Yeast'' was first published in instalments in ''

Fraser's Magazine ''Fraser's Magazine for Town and Country'' was a general and literary journal published in London from 1830 to 1882, which initially took a strong Tory line in politics. It was founded by Hugh Fraser and William Maginn in 1830 and loosely directe ...

'', starting in July 1848, but as the radicalism of Kingsley's ideas became apparent the magazine's publisher took fright and induced the author to bring his novel to a premature close. In 1851 it appeared in volume form.

Criticism

It is sometimes said that ''Yeast'' suffers from its over-reliance on long conversations between its hero, Lancelot Smith, and the subsidiary characters of the novel, and from Kingsley's failure to integrate these discussions into anything resembling a coherent plot. On the other hand many have admired the vividness of Kingsley's depiction of the degradation and grinding poverty of the lower classes in the English shires.

Footnotes

References

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External links

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{{Authority control 1848 British novels 1851 British novels Novels by Charles Kingsley English novels Novels first published in serial form Works originally published in Fraser's Magazine 1851 debut novels Anti-Catholic publications