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Middlemarch

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Middlemarch is a novel by George Eliot (pen name of Mary Anne Evans). It was first published in 1871 to 1872. It is set in the 1830s in Middlemarch, a fictional provincial town in England, based on Coventry. Widely seen as Eliot's greatest work, it is considered by many scholars to be one of the most important novels of the Victorian era.

Plot summary

Middlemarch is the story of the fictional town of Middlemarch in early 19th-century England. It can be characterized as a series of reflections upon the sometimes intertwining but often strikingly separate lives of a group of characters from different classes.

Book One: Miss Brooke

The novel begins with descriptions of the differences between Dorothea and her sister Celia: Dorothea is ardent and intellectually curious while Celia is materialistic and simple-hearted. Orphaned by the deaths of their parents, they live with their uncle Mr. Brooke. A well-meaning, honest, but ultimately ineffectual country gentleman with pretensions to Parliament, Brooke is a poor role-model for the girls. During a dinner at his estate, Brooke's neighbour Sir James Chettam attempts to curry favour with Dorothea, but Dorothea thinks his attentions ridiculous. During the same meal, Dorothea is attracted to a scholarly older gentleman, Edward Casaubon. When Dorothea discovers that Sir James wishes to marry her, she is appalled. Shortly thereafter, she finds out that Casaubon has asked Mr. Brooke for her hand, and she readily accepts.

The focus of the book then shifts, through the course of town gossip, to the Vincy family. Rosamond Vincy is the beautiful daughter of the town's mayor; Fred is her irresponsible and debt-ridden brother. Fred is in love with Rosamond's friend, Mary Garth, but his advances towards her are rebuffed. Rosamond herself is captivated with a young doctor newly arrived in Middlemarch, Tertius Lydgate.

Book Two: Old and Young

Through the course of a dinner at the estate of Mr. Featherstone, the focus of the novel shifts to Mr. Lydgate. Tertius Lydgate is introduced as a young, progressive-thinking physician who has come to Middlemarch to practice medicine in a less institutionalized environment. But the young physician is drawn into the "petty politics" of "trivial Middlemarch business", to which he would otherwise be indifferent if not for the insistence of an influential benefactor. Towards Rosamond Vincy he is amiable, but he does not reciprocate her interest in him.

Meanwhile, Dorothea Casaubon is on her wedding journey in Rome. During her stay, she comes to the realization that her own knowledge and experience of the world to date has been woefully inadequate, and desponds that her husband does not return her more affectionate attentions towards him. She also becomes better acquainted with Will Ladislaw, a young cousin to Mr. Casaubon. Ladislaw disdains Mr. Casaubon but yearns to give more affectionate attentions towards Dorothea. As Mr. and Mrs. Casaubon prepare to return to England, Ladislaw decides to pursue a new, independent course in life.

Book Three: Waiting for Death

Book Four: Three Love Problems

Book Five: The Dead Hand

Book Six: The Widow and the Wife

Book Seven: Two Temptations

Book Eight: Sunset or Sunrise

Characters in "Middlemarch"

  • Dorothea Brooke — An intelligent, wealthy young woman who aspires to do great work. Spurning signs of wealth in the form of jewels or fancy clothes, she embarks upon projects such as redesigning cottages for the tenants of her miserly, careless uncle. She can seldom get anyone to take her ideas seriously, and she decides to marry the Reverend Edward Casaubon, many decades her senior, in order to help him with the writing of his great research. The marriage is quickly revealed to be a mistake, as Casaubon does not take her seriously and resents her. She finds in the Reverend's cousin Will Ladislaw a kindred spirit, and the two become friends. After Casaubon's death, the two fall in love but fight their attraction due to the scandalousness of their relationship--Casaubon included in his will the provision that if she were to marry Ladislaw, she would be disinherited. Eventually they marry and move to London.
  • Tertius Lydgate — An idealistic, proud, passionate, and talented but naive young doctor of good birth but small financial means, he hopes to make great advancements in medicine through his research and the charity hospital in Middlemarch. He ends up entangled with Rosamond Vincy, and they marry. His pride and attempts to show that he is not answerable to any man end up backfiring and he eventually leaves town. He quickly falls out of love with his wife and ends up sacrificing all of his high ideals in order to make a living that will please Rosamond.
  • Rev. Edward Casaubon — A middle-aged to elderly clergyman who is obsessed with finishing his scholarly research, to the exclusion of other people and things. He marries Dorothea Brooke, leading to a loveless marriage. His unfinished book The Key to All Mythologies is intended as a monument to the tradition of Christian syncretism.
  • Mary Garth — The practical, plain, and kind daughter of Caleb and Susan Garth, she works as Mr. Featherstone's nurse. She and Fred Vincy were childhood sweethearts, but she refuses even to encourage him to woo her until he shows himself willing and able to live seriously, practically, and sincerely.
  • Mr. Brooke — The often befuddled and none-too-clever uncle of Dorothea and Celia Brooke. He has a reputation for being the worst landlord in the county, but tries to stand for parliament on a Reform platform.
  • Celia Brooke — Dorothea's more conventional younger sister, who does not share Dorothea's idealism and asceticism.
  • Sir James Chettam — A neighbouring landowner, Sir James is in love with Dorothea and tries to ingratiate himself to her by helping her with her plans to improve conditions for the tenants. When she marries Casaubon, he marries Celia Brooke instead.
  • Rosamond Vincy — Vain, beautiful, shallow, and extremely narcissistic, Rosamond has a high opinion of her own charms and a low opinion of Middlemarch society. She marries Tertius Lydgate because she believes that he will raise her social standing and keep her comfortable and carefree. When her husband encounters financial difficulties, she thwarts his efforts to economise, unable to bear the idea of losing status in Middlemarch society.
  • Fred Vincy — Rosamond's brother. He has loved Mary Garth since they were children. His family is hoping that he will find a secure life and advance his class standing by becoming a clergyman, but he knows that Mary will not marry him if he does become one. Brought up with expectations from his uncle Mr. Featherstone, he has a tendency to be spendthrift and irresponsible, but later longs to find a profession at which he can be successful, and which Mary will respect.
  • Will Ladislaw — A young cousin of Mr. Casaubon, he has no property because his grandmother married a poor Polish musician and was disinherited. He is a man of great verve, idealism and talent but of no fixed profession. He comes to love Dorothea, but cannot marry her without her losing Mr. Casaubon's property.
  • Mr. & Mrs. Cadwallader — Neighbours of the Brookes. Mr. Cadwallader is a clergyman. Mrs. Cadwallader is a pragmatic woman who disapproves Dorothea's marriage and Mr. Brookes's parliamentary endeavors.
  • Mr. & Mrs. Vincy — A respectable manufacturing family. They wish their children to advance socially, and are disappointed by both Rosamond's and Fred's marriages.
  • Mr. Caleb Garth — Mary Garth's father. He is a kind, honest, and generous businessman who is involved in farm management. He is fond of Fred and eventually takes him under his wing.
  • Mr. Farebrother — A poor but clever clergyman and amateur naturalist. He is a friend of Lydgate and Fred Vincy, and loves Mary Garth.
  • Nicholas Bulstrode — Wealthy banker married to Mr. Vincy's sister. He is a pious Methodist who tries to impose his beliefs in Middlemarch society. However, he also has a sordid past which he is desperate to hide. His religion, consisting of "broken metaphor and bad logic," consistently favors his personal desires but is devoid of sympathy for others. He is an unhappy man who has longed for years to be better than he is, who has clad his selfish passions in severe robes.
  • Mr. Featherstone — Old landlord of Stone Court who married Caleb Garth's sister and later took Mr. Vincy's sister as his second wife when his first wife died.
  • Mr. Hawley — Foul-mouthed businessman and enemy of Bulstrode.
  • Mr. Mawmsey — Grocer.
  • Dr. Sprague — Middlemarch doctor.
  • Mr. Tyke — Clergyman favoured by Bulstode.
  • John Raffles — Holds the key to Bulstrode's dark past and Lydgate's future. Bulstrode believes his secret will be safe with Raffles' demise.

Literary significance and reception

Virginia Woolf described Middlemarch as, "one of the few English novels written for grown-up people". In addition, V. S. Pritchett, in The Living Novel, wrote, "No Victorian novel approaches Middlemarch in its width of reference, its intellectual power, or the imperturbable spaciousness of its narrative ... I doubt if any Victorian novelist has as much to teach the modern novelists as George Eliot ... No writer has ever represented the ambiguities of moral choice so fully". Critic Jerome Beaty argues that one could read Middlemarch as George Eliot's Reform novel, although political history is represented only "indirectly".

Always popular even from its first publication, the novel remains a favourite with readers today. In January 2007, a book entitled The Top Ten (edited by J. Peder Zane) listed Middlemarch as number ten in its list of The 10 Greatest Books of All Time, based on the ballots of 125 selected writers.

Allusions and references in other works

References to Middlemarch have appeared in other artistic works. Morrissey refers to Middlemarch in The Smiths' How Soon Is Now?, with the opening lyric 'I am the son and the heir to nothing in particular'; Fred Vincy in Middlemarch bemoans his lot 'to be the son of a Middlemarch merchant and heir to nothing in particular'.

In the collectible card game "Arcadia" (based on the role-playing game "Changeling: the Dreaming", the faerie realm of Ardenmore is bordered on the south by a rival kingdom of clockwork soldiers and enslaved faeries known as Middlemarch. Arcadia's second and final edition, "King Ironheart's Madness", is set entirely in Middlemarch and displays the kingdom's gritty Industrial-Revolution-gone-mad milieu.

Film, TV, or theatrical adaptations

Middlemarch has been adapted for television twice and will be the subject of a forthcoming film.

Footnotes

References

  • Neale, Catherine (1989). George Eliot, Middlemarch. London: Penguin Books. ISBN 0-14-077173-5.
  • Dentith, Simon (1986). George Eliot. Brighton, Sussex: Harvester Press. ISBN 0-7108-0588-8.
  • Graver, Suzanne (1984). George Eliot and Community: A Study in Social Theory and Fictional Form. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-04802-4.
  • Ashton, Rosemary (1983). George Eliot. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-287627-9.
  • Garrett, Peter K. (1980). The Victorian Multiplot Novel: Studies in Dialogical Form. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-02403-7.
  • Swinden, Patrick (ed.) (1972). George Eliot: Middlemarch: A Casebook. London: Macmillan. ISBN 0-333-02119-3.
  • Carroll, David (ed.) (1971). George Eliot: The Critical Heritage. London: Routledge & K. Paul. ISBN 0-7100-6936-7.
  • Daiches, David (1963). George Eliot: Middlemarch. London: Arnold.
  • Harvey, W. J. (1961). The Art of George Eliot. London: Chatto & Windus.
  • Beaty, Jerome (1960). Middlemarch from Notebook to Novel: A Study of George Eliot's Creative Method. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.
  • Kettle, Arnold (1951). An Introduction to the English Novel, Volume I: To George Eliot. London: Hutchinson.
  • Leavis, F. R. (1948). The Great Tradition: George Eliot, Henry James, Joseph Conrad. London: Chatto & Windus.

Further reading

Scholarship

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External links



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