In George Meredith’s One of Our Conquerors, the author employs his favored theme of marriages forced by society to the detriment of all involved, particularly females. His protagonist, 21-year-old Victor Radnor, is trapped in a pressured marriage to a rich widow, Mrs. Burman Radnor. Victor alludes to an aristocratic Welsh ancestry that cannot be proven, something Meredith also did. Victor falls in love with his wife’s companion, Nataly Dreighton. As the novel opens, he has lived with her for 20 years. Their relationship produced a daughter named Nesta Victoria, and the truth about Victor’s real marriage is known only to good friends, including Simeon Fenellan and Colney Durance.

For all the affection he feels for Nataly and Nesta, Victor represents the conventional Victorian male, who cannot help drawing on nature metaphors for the women they see as static ornaments, decorating the male life. He refers to women as “stationary [. . .] flowers” destined to be visited by men, the “bees” who may seem volatile in their activity, but remain “faithful to the hive.”

As an investment broker, Victor has become a millionaire and acquired two country houses, enhancing his credentials in the eyes of society, while ever fearful that his wife may appear and expose his secret. Rumors have already caused him to move from two previous estates, and he hopes the present sumptuous residence under construction in Surrey will at last afford the peace and acceptance for which he longs, primarily for the sake of Nesta. Nataly feels the investment to be unwise and likely to call more attention to Victor, and its construction has indeed been revealed to Mrs. Burman by her butler/spy, Jarniman. Nesta does not know of her illegitimacy, as she happily enjoys romance with two suitors: the Honorable Dudley Sowerby, who stands to inherit an earldom, and the Reverend Septimus Barmby, a lowly clergyman. Their relationships allow Meredith to emphasize the Victorian ideal of the suitable mate.

Victor’s hopes grow as the loyal Fenellan learns that Mrs. Burman might be willing to grant him a divorce, but that rumor is never substantiated, leading to growing internal conflict for Victor. His hope again mounts when he learns of her illness and perhaps imminent death. Time grows short for Nesta to marry, and Victor gives his approval for proposals from either of her young men. Victor decides to host a party at his new estate, Lakelands, and Fenellan’s half-brother, Dartrey, now in England after having left the army in Africa, appears. Nesta finds Dartrey, recently widowed and happily divested of a miserable marriage, charming. The party goes well until Jarniman surfaces, signaling Mrs. Burman’s knowledge and disapproval of Lakelands.

Because the secret seems sure to be out soon, Nataly visits Sowerby to explain Nesta’s origins while the girl spends a month with the Duvidneys, elderly relatives of Victor, and the few comic touches to the novel. Sowerby is dismayed by the news; while he loves Nesta, his social standing might suffer from their union. Nataly, already secretly ill, leaves his estate dispirited and abject. Nesta runs into Dartrey when the sisters escort her to Brighton, where she makes friends with a Mrs. Marsett, strongly disliked by Sowerby and others because she cohabitates out of wedlock with Captain Marsett. Nesta learns that story from Mrs. Marsett and also suffers the unwanted attentions of Worrell, one of the Marsett’s acquaintances. Dartrey must reject the brazen advances of the married Mrs. Blathenoy. Tension rises as Mrs. Marsett asks Dartrey to warn Nesta away from her, lest the girl injure her own reputation. Dartrey also learns of Worrell’s attempt to force himself on Nesta, while she comes to understand that Sowerby has no further interest in her.

When Barmby proposes to marry Nesta despite her past, he does not supply details. However, Nesta begins to suspect Barmby knows some secret about her past. The odious nature of his clearly purposed “slip” of the tongue to reveal Nesta’s origin symbolizes Meredith’s total disdain for the clergy, an attitude that runs throughout his novels.

When Nesta returns to London, she confronts her parents, having guessed their secret, sharing that she still loves them. Though more individuals in their social set have heard rumors of the illegitimacy, and some refuse to attend Victor’s gatherings, he hosts another musical group, having decided to run for a seat in Parliament. Sowerby resurfaces to meet with Nataly, confessing his love for Nesta, but explaining her interactions with undesirables such as Worrell and Mrs. Marsett make marriage impossible. Nataly assumes that Nesta’s unhappiness, coupled with her own terminal illness, is God’s punishment for her life with Victor. She takes solace in Dartrey’s version of what actually happened at Brighton, in which Nesta remains completely innocent. He adds that Nesta has actually had an influence on Mrs. Marsett, who has benefited from their acquaintance. Dartrey loves Nesta and makes that clear the next time they meet, although Nataly remains reserved about that relationship. Her concern that the two will always be ostracized by society for their rebellious ways dampens her joy over Nesta’s happiness, especially when Nesta takes Sowerby to task for his attitude, telling him she would never marry him.

Nataly’s reaction is crucial to the development of her character as a woman who has lived outside of marriage only because convinced by Victor to do so. Not rebellious herself by nature, she has suffered a torment of conscience that may even have hastened her death. Her relationship to Victor is as a “slave,” rather than a “helper,” their relationship dependent upon traditional gender roles while not being a traditional marriage. The contradiction proves unbearable for Nataly, and her debilitating terminal illness may symbolize her all-consuming guilt.

Once again shattering the tenuous happiness at Lakelands, Mrs. Burman summons Victor, and Nataly accompanies him. They receive her forgiveness as she is on her deathbed, although Meredith does not develop her as a sympathetic character. Any reader viewing her in light of her age must feel some compassion for her, however, as she is just as imprisoned by societal expectations as Victor and Nataly, fearful of granting a divorce in such an unforgiving age. As critic Mervyn Jones suggests, Meredith’s attitude may be based on his view of her inflexibility as contradicting the natural law of love supporting Victor and Nataly’s relationship.

Victor feels at last triumphant as he leaves to continue his campaign. He represents the pursuit of a Victorian ideal that could not be achieved. Nataly cannot accompany him, and he leaves her at home where she dies, shattering Victor. Mrs. Burman’s death immediately follows Nataly’s, an ironic sequence that leaves Victor, grieving for his beloved Nataly, in a tenuous mental state. The only bright spot is Nesta’s marriage to the devoted Dartrey. The couple visits the Continent for a year and returns to find that Victor has died from his sorrow.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Jones, Mervyn. The Amazing Victorian: A Life of George Meredith. London: Constable, 1999.