George MacDonald's St. George and St. Michael is a historical novel set amid the conflict between Puritan duty and aristocratic or romantic feeling. MacDonald uses the named figures as emblems of different temperaments and loyalties, then places them in a world shaped by old houses, political strain, and moral testing. The plot turns on faithfulness, misunderstanding, and the cost of living by conviction.
Rather than rushing through action, the novel lingers on conscience, inheritance, and the limits of worldly success. It is a serious, imaginative study of character under pressure, and its emotional interest lies in the way duty and affection keep changing places. MacDonald makes moral choice feel intimate rather than abstract, especially when love complicates principle.
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