GEORGE ELIOT

MIDDLEMARCH
George Eliot (1819-1889) is the pseudonym of Mary Ann Cross, nee Evans !he
"as #orn in 1918 in $uneaton, %ar"i&'shire and "ent to several s&hools there and in
Coventry "here she moved "ith her father in 18(1 )he result of his edu&ation is a solid
'no"ledge of Gree', *atin, +e#re", ,ren&h, German and -talian
-n spite of her provin&ial #a&'ground she #e&ame one of the most remar'a#ly learned
persons of her age
!!!George Eliot is a remarkable novelist who pshe! "i#torian literatre one
step $rther into mo!ernism throgh her metho! o$ ps%#hologi#al anal%sis in an
attempt to reveal an! !is#ss the ps%#hologi#al motivation o$ her #hara#ters& a#ts'
(he a!opte! a stri#t mental !is#ipline) pre#ision) ob*e#tivit% an! realism o$
presentation in novels o$ intelle#tal !ebate) o$ elaborate bt not less #re!ible
str#tre' Georges&s Eliot #hara#ters #ome $rom !i$$erent so#ial walks) are o$
!iverse pro$essions) man% are or!inar% hmble people bt nonetheless interesting to
the writer as the sor#e o$ her interest in li$e an! love' !!!
Mi!!lemar#h is considered to be one of the greatest of English novels, a novel of
exploration of moral situations and discovery, of social networking and interaction.
.George Eliot/s so&ial net"or' is a &omple0 and dynami& one materiali1ed in a
lo&al rural &ommunity that does not in the least offer an idylli& image or anything
nostalgi&2 ($eale 33)
! %hat the novel offers its readers is in fa&t not only a .study of provin&ial life2 4
as it/s su#title says - restri&ted to a &ertain territory, #ut also an epitome of early 19
th

&entury England in "hi&h pra&ti&ally every &lass and 5uite a lot of professions of
Middlemar&h so&iety are depi&ted - in&luding representatives of middle &lass, #ourgeoisie
and aristo&ra&y, landed gentry and &lergy, manufa&turers, shop'eepers, pu#li&ans,
farmers and la#ourers !u&h people are distri#uted into several threads of plot &leverly
inter"oven to &ontrast or run in parallel as the novel/s multitude of &hara&ters, a#out 36
in num#er, interrelate "ith ea&h other and &ross these plots in and out )hese
interrelations are fa&ilitated #y the fa&t that the net"or' is a &losed one, formed "ithin a
small &ommunity "here people 'no" ea&h other 7
8aramount for su&h a &omple0 &onstru&tion is the novel/s unity and &ohesiveness,
s'illfully a&hieved #y George Eliots authorial governance not only of the novel but
also of its readers (Neale 55). Her omniscience dominates, supervises and eeps
everything under control.
M-!! 9:;;<E
=orothea 9roo'e lies at the &ore of all relations in the "hole novel !he is one of
the no#lest &hara&ters in literature "ith her inno&en&e, purity and in#orn goodness that
ma'e the other &hara&ters #etter and more honoura#le that they are %hat ma'es her
no#le is, first at all, her trust in her old hus#and, then her pity and sense of duty and, later
on, her sin&ere love for %ill *adisla", for "hose sa'e she gives up her prospe&ts of
inheritan&e
Citatul> her physi&al, moral, intelle&tual portrait as a version of !aint )heresa 4 a
portrait "hi&h Eliot represents "ith o#vious sympathy 4 ?Chapter 1
A +@!9A$= %-)+ A@=GEME$) A$= <$;%*E=GE
Every#ody e0pe&ts =orothea to marry the good-loo'ing, ri&h and young !ir Aames
Chettam #ut the man she "ants for a hus#and is the pedant and elderly Mr Casau#on, in
"hom she sees the person a#le to offer her the possi#ility to have a&&es to &ulture and
"iden thus her intelle&tual hori1on 4 t"o ne&essary steps "hi&h, in her opinion, she has
to &lim# on her "ay to eman&ipation
&itatul> a dialogue #et"een =orotheea and Mr 9roo'e her un&le, states her reasons for
a&&epting su&h a surprising marriage)
)+E *AM8 ;, <$;%*E=EGE
=orothea/s reason for getting married to Casau#on, in spite of the differen&e in
age #et"een them, is her hope that he "ould offer her intelle&tual nourishment and
&ultivation and the prospe&t for eman&ipation and assertion as a "oman in a period "hen
all 'no"ledge that young ladies "here offered &ould #e en&losed in .toy #o02
Mr Casau#on himself "ould li'e a &ompanion to a&t personal se&retary and
enliven the loneliness and "eariness of his study hours Marriage for him is a mere duty
he has to fulfil Bust as he has to find a se&retary, as $eale underlines (161) -t is not
surprising that, in&apa#le as he is to a#andon his egoism, he &annot a&&ept the
individuality of =orothea and, a&&ordingly, "ill &onsider her suita#le #ut for va&ant pla&e
of personal se&retary
Citat> the t"o future spouses/ matrimonial reasons in a &onvin&ing display of George
Eliot/s omnis&ien&e
MA::-AGE A$= M;$EC
An institution intensely represented in the novel is that of marriage
77 %ith t"o e0&eptions (that of Celia 9roo', =orothea/s sister, to sir Aames
Chettam and Mary Garth/s marriage to ,red Din&y, a young man "ho loved her from his
youth), all marriages in the novel are unhappy 7
;ne of su&h unhappy marital &ouples is that of =r *ydgate "ith :osamond Din&y
=r )ertius *ydgate is another important &hara&ter in the novel +e is one of the lo&al
do&tors, an am#itious #ut often unpra&ti&al man in love "ith his profession and "ith
passion for s&ientifi& dis&overy :osamond Din&y is the am#itious #ut narro"-minded
and egoist daughter of the lo&al Mayor 9ut, as Aedr1eBe"s'i remar's (E(), her egoism
has nothing mali&ious in it, it is mere "him, the dire&t result of her moral ignoran&e and
a#di&ation from matters of responsi#ility
Citat> a &onfli&ting dis&ussion that the t"o have )he &ause of the &onfli&t is a very
&ommon one - the re&urrent pro#lem of money 9e&ause things did not go on too "ell for
him, =r *ydgate has run into finan&ial pro#lems "hi&h he is trying to e0plain to his "ife,
:osamond 9ut the only thing he gets from her is reproa&hes and self-pitying tears
- %-** *EA:$ )+A) EDE:C)+-$G C;!)!
)hough returned, the love of =orothea for %ill *adisla" and his for her has #een
stifled #y so&ial &onventions, moral o#ligations and misunderstandings 4 su&h as
=orothea/s duty as a "ife and then as a "ido" and %ill misinterpretation of her attitude
Citat> the dialogue "hi&h ta'es pla&e at the end of the novel -? is full of strength of
feeling and represents re-esta#lishment of &ommuni&ation #et"een them, &learing up of
mista'es and misunderstandings, opening of hearts, sin&ere assertion of love for ea&h
other and li#erated optimism