George Moore occupies a central position in the transition period between Victorian and modern literature. He challenged many of the ruling assumptions of his day about the subjects and methods suitable to the novel. Because of his success in winning new freedoms for the writer and his introduction of innovative narrative methods, he is an important precursor of later writers such as James Joyce, D. H. Lawrence, and Virginia Woolf. After the turn of the century, Moore played an influential role in the Irish Literary Renaissance. In his last years, as the sage of Ebury Street in London, he welcomed and encouraged many younger writers. The focus of this article is on the first stage of Moore's career, during which he worked with great skill and energy to establish himself as a writer who could not be ignored.

The eldest of five children, George Augustus Moore spent the...