Catharine Furze

William Hale White (pen name Mark Rutherford)Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.0

Word count: 370K words
Chapters: 38

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today. Catharine Furze by William Hale White. Author: White, William Hale, 1831-1913. Language: English. Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature. Release Date: Jul 1, 2004

Editor's review

Catharine Furze is a novel by the English writer William Hale White, a work of Victorian English literature concerned with personal faith, conscience, and small-town life. White, who published The Autobiography of Mark Rutherford under the pen name Mark Rutherford, often wrote with autobiographical color and moral reflection, and this novel likewise portrays with fine detail its heroine's struggles among family, religious environment, and self-awareness. Readers can see the customs and texture of nineteenth-century English provincial society and one individual's search for spiritual independence under traditional pressures. As a Project Gutenberg public-domain eBook, it is suitable as supplementary reading for English literature courses, as material for specialised study of the Victorian novel, or for readers with competent English who wish to read extensively or practise close reading.

Who it's for

A good fit for

English or literature majors seeking to broaden their reading of Victorian fiction
Readers interested in nineteenth-century English provincial life and religious-ethical themes
Teachers needing public-domain English electronic texts for textual analysis or classroom discussion
Self-learners with a good command of English who prefer character psychology and moral reflection in narrative

Not a good fit for

Learners still at an introductory level of English reading who need simplified texts
Readers who prefer strong plot, fast-paced adventure, or suspense
Beginners who hope to understand the text with the help of introductions and detailed annotations

Reading tips

Read one chapter first to sense the narrative pace, then use background material on the Victorian era to understand the characters' situations
Keep a notebook to record the heroine's key choices on family and faith
Read alongside White's The Autobiography of Mark Rutherford to observe the continuity of the author's autobiographical writing
Readers with limited English may first read a Chinese translation or synopsis, then return to the English original for close reading of key chapters

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book suitable for English beginners to read directly?

Not really. It is a nineteenth-century English novel whose sentence patterns and vocabulary bear the marks of its period, and it involves background knowledge of religious and moral issues. Beginners should first use a Chinese translation or an introduction to grasp the plot, then choose key chapters to read in the original.

What are the features of the Project Gutenberg edition?

This edition is a free public-domain eBook with text from Project Gutenberg, convenient for searching, excerpting, and classroom use on a computer or e-reader. It usually contains no modern scholarly introduction or detailed annotations, so readers need to supply background material themselves.

What background knowledge is helpful before reading?

It is advisable to learn about nineteenth-century English provincial social structure, the religious atmosphere of Nonconformist denominations, and the situation of women in the Victorian era. This background helps in understanding the tension between family duty and personal conviction in the characters.

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About the author

William Hale White (pen name Mark Rutherford) Author · British · 1831–1913

William Hale White (1831–1913) was an English novelist of the Victorian era who wrote under the pen name Mark Rutherford. He worked as a civil servant at the Admiralty and wrote in his spare time. His works often deal with the religious doubts and inner life of Nonconformists, in a quiet, restrained and partly autobiographical style. His best-known work, The Autobiography of Mark Rutherford, is presented as a manuscript edited by a friend, and his other books include The Revolution in Tanner's Lane, Clara Hopgood, Miriam's Schooling and several volumes of journal essays. Nine of his works are held in this collection. Little known in his own day, he gained growing esteem after his death and was highly regarded by writers such as D. H. Lawrence. Beyond this, public information is limited.