# IX: Invita Minerva explained — New Grub Street

> Chapter companion for New Grub Street by George Gissing.

## What happens

Edwin Reardon forces himself to write a potboiler novel at a fixed daily rate, struggling with exhaustion, insomnia, and suicidal thoughts. He and Amy have a tense conversation about his work and reviews, and he catches a winter cold.

## Themes in this chapter

### Artistic Integrity vs. Commercialism

Reardon is forced to write a 'wretched potboiler' against his artistic instincts, leading to self-loathing and despair.

### Poverty and Class

Reardon's financial desperation drives his writing schedule and suicidal thoughts; the workhouse bell symbolizes the threat of destitution.

### Marriage and Money

Amy's sensitivity to public opinion and her dissatisfaction with Reardon's earnings strain their marriage.

## Character check-ins

### Edwin Reardon

Struggles to write a potboiler, suffers insomnia and suicidal ideation, argues with Amy about reviews.

### Amy Reardon

Tries to support Edwin but is sensitive to public opinion and criticizes his work.

### Jasper Milvain

His advice to write a sensational novel proves useless to Reardon.

### Willie

Reardon considers the burden of supporting him and Amy.

## Key lines

> He wrote a very small hand; sixty written slips of the kind of paper he habitually used would represent—thanks to the astonishing system which prevails in such matters: large type, wide spacing, frequency of blank pages—a passable three-hundred-page volume.

Reardon's tiny handwriting and the publishing convention of padding with large type and blank pages mean sixty slips make a three-hundred-page book.

_Highlights the artificial inflation of book length in Victorian publishing._

> The various sounds which marked the stages from midnight to dawn had grown miserably familiar to him; worst torture to his mind was the chiming and striking of clocks.

Reardon is tormented by the clocks that mark the hours of his sleepless nights.

_Illustrates his insomnia and psychological distress._

> If he were to die a natural death it would be well for all. His wife and the child would be looked after; they could live with Mrs. Edmund Yule, and certainly it would not be long before Amy married again, this time a man of whose competency to maintain her there would be no doubt.

Reardon thinks his death would be a relief because Amy and Willie would be supported by her mother, and Amy would remarry a wealthier man.

_Shows his suicidal ideation and belief that he is a burden._

> Milvain’s advice to him had of course proved useless. The sensational title suggested nothing, or only ragged shapes of incomplete humanity that fluttered mockingly when he strove to fix them.

Jasper's suggestion to write a sensational novel fails; Reardon cannot develop any ideas from it.

_Demonstrates the incompatibility of commercial advice with Reardon's creative block._

> Amy’s anticipation of criticism had made it harder than ever for him to labour at what he knew to be bad.

Amy's worry about negative reviews makes Reardon even more miserable about writing poor work.

_Shows how Amy's sensitivity exacerbates Reardon's artistic crisis._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/new_grub_street_se/chapters/ix-invita-minerva
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/new_grub_street_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/new_grub_street_se/chapters