The Unsettling Truth About Certainty in Victorian Stories and the Illusion of Trust | Rae Greiner, Editor of Victorian Studies

Host Richard Roman welcomes Rae Greiner, associate professor and editor of Victorian Studies, to explore how 18th- and 19th-century novels trained readers to think beyond simple rules and certainty, and why trust, sympathy, and moral judgment are far more complicated than they first appear. The conversation traces the rise of the sentimental and Gothic novel, the shifting relationship between reason and feeling, and how writers like Jane Austen, Dickens, Emily Brontë, and Henry James use narrative to test our assumptions about truth, morality, and human behavior. Dr. Greiner also breaks down Adam Smith’s Theory of Moral Sentiments and explains why sympathy is not just a feeling, but a process of imagination, interpretation, and case-by-case judgment. Along the way, we discuss unreliable narrators, the ethics of withholding judgment, and how literature reflects the messiness of real life. If you’ve ever wondered why stories can make us cry, laugh, distrust, or rethink what we believe, this episode offers a fascinating look at how fiction shapes the way we understand ourselves and others.