That George Meredith (1828-1909) exerted influence on Natsume Sôseki (1867-1916) is an acknowledged fact, but to what extent the former held sway literarily over the latter can never be demonstrated satisfactorily or comprehensively. In Sôseki's own words, "I confess that I was influenced by Meredith. I've read all of his books and there are very few which had no effect on me." Whatever the degree of influence, echoes of Meredith's most enduring work, The Egoist (1879), are most evident in Sôseki's early novel Gubijinsô (The Poppy, 1907), in its use of ornate diction and allusions, among other elements. A comparable affinity exists with Meian (Light and Darkness, 1916), Sôseki's final, uncompleted novel, in its examination of the complexities and subtleties of a dissolution of a marriage. Critics have found resonances of The Egoist in Sanshirô (Sanshirô,1908) and have linked The Ordeal of Richard Feverel (1859) to Sorekara (And Then, 1909). More than the rhetorical, thematic, and characterological simlarities between the two authors (which this paper will explore) however, it is their shared choice of subject matter that unites them: the institution of marriage as a site of betrayal, psychological tension, gender inequality, of dashed hopes and unfulfilled promise, the cash nexus, of one individual will impinging on another. The19th century English novel of manners as typified by Meredith, lived on in Sôseki's fuzoku shôsetsu, a genre whose development in Japan was eclipsed by the dominant fashion for shishôsetsu. In explicating these differences/similarities, I aim to show that Sôseki was able to synthesize English and Japanese literary traditions into a hybridity which is at once unique, transcends national genres (while yet being anchored in the historical moment), and still defies easy categorization.