Sybil traces the plight of the working classes of England. The ‚two nations‘ of its subtitle refers to the huge economic and social gap between the privileged few and the deprived working classes. Disraeli was interested in dealing with the horrific conditions in which the majority of England’s working classes lived — or, what is generally called the Condition of England question. The book is a novel with a thesis — which was meant to create a furor over the squalor that was plaguing England’s working class cities.
Über den Autor
Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881) was a British politician of the Conservative Party who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He played a central role in the creation of the modern Conservative Party, defining its policies and its broad outreach. He was also a novelist, publishing works of fiction even as prime minister. Disraeli’s literary and political career interacted over his lifetime and fascinated Victorian Britain. In the 1840s Disraeli wrote a trilogy of novels with political themes.