Improbability, Chance, and the Nineteenth-Century Realist Novel by Adam Grener (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: Improbability, Chance, and the Nineteenth-Century Realist Novel by Adam Grener Krista Rascoe Adam Grener. Improbability, Chance, and the Nineteenth-Century Realist Novel. Ohio State UP, 2020. 198p. From the fractals gracing the cover to the methodical statistical analysis of chance and coincidence within the works of key nineteenth century artists, Adam Grener’s Improbability, Chance, and the Nineteenth-Century Realist Novel reveals a new method for understanding realism in fiction by demonstrating the shift to social and historical aspects of probability that underpin the period’s use of chance, coincidence, and statistical anomalies within the novel. Grener approaches his argument regarding narrative probability through close reading of notable works by Jane Austen, Sir Walter Scott, Charles Dickens, Anthony Trollope, and Thomas Hardy. He interprets those evidentiary texts through application of philosophical contexts of the emerging statistical theories of that century, which create subjective states of knowing, or objective analysis of frequencies of causal events in the lives of the characters and plots discussed. Furthermore, he traces the denotative transformation of “chance” and “probability” from their originally synonymous meanings at the beginning of the nineteenth century to incongruous terms that stand in opposition to one another by the century’s close. To demonstrate this epistemic metamorphosis and its influence on nineteenth century realism, Grener draws connections between the artistic works of his study and the scientific discourse of the period to conclude that the realist novel’s fascination with coincidence, chance, and the improbable stems from the shifts in the [End Page 116] foundations of probability that resulted from scientific progress. In turn, Grener provides the field a much-needed corrective lens for criticism and examination of causality in the nineteenth century novel. Improbability, Chance, and the Nineteenth-Century Realist Novel finds its strength in the grounding of its historical contexts that support the author’s aim. As it traces the development of statistical philosophies beginning with the influences of Aristotle’s Poetics to Laplace’s Probabilities and Venn’s Logic of Chance, each chapter carefully substantiates how scientific probability develops alongside the realist novel as a means for representing the causal effects of human affairs. Grener rightly demonstrates that chance in terms of meetings or events within realist fiction reinforces the interconnectedness of social existence as he explicates Charles Dicken’s Martin Chuzzlewit in the third chapter. Yet, his strongest arguments are made in chapters 4 and 5, where he proves how emerging laws of statistical probability infiltrate the works of Anthony Trollope and Thomas Hardy respectively. Grener points to the ideas of representation and sampling, as well as Darwinian theories of variation and determination prevalent during the nineteenth century. By drawing attention to the manner in which characters are defined by their social status and spatial location, Grener establishes that the characters’ actions and the events executed through plot are due to conditioned behavior more so than ratios of probable outcomes that control the characters’ choices. Cloaked by these artists as incidents of “chance,” “coincidence,” and “risk,” the author proves that realist fictional narratives use probability to engage in political reform, social identity, and cultural representation. With regard to the shortcomings of the work, Grener reveals one in the second chapter’s discussion on the link between cultural representation and Otherness. The reader may encounter some difficulty eschewing the logical connections Grener attempts within the chapter as he explores Sir Walter Scott’s “The Two Drovers” as a reading of chance that illustrates historical/cultural otherness, pointing directly to causal ambiguity as the primary driver of his premise. In the story, Robin Oig receives a detailed prophecy from Janet warning him that if he goes south into England, he will kill an Englishman and face execution. Grener accurately draws the conclusion that Robin’s Scottish identity stands in opposition with the English legal code, creating the sense of otherness that is tied to that identity as a Scottish [End Page 117] Highlander during his fateful conflict with the Englishman Harry. Grener’s argument regarding causal ambiguity deteriorates due to his assumption that the causal relationship is ambiguous. Understanding the cultural/historical, but more importantly, the political contexts surrounding Scott’s fictional work actually creates a direct...