Middlemarch

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Middlemarch is a novel by George Eliot, the pen name of Mary Anne Evans, later Marian Evans. It is her seventh and penultimate novel, begun in 1869 and then put aside during the mortal illness of Thornton Lewes, the son of her partner George Henry Lewes. During the following year Eliot resumed work, fusing together several stories into a coherent whole, and during 1871–72 the novel appeared in serial form. The first one-volume edition was published in 1874, and attracted large sales.

Subtitled "A Study of Provincial Life", the novel is set in the fictitious Midlands town of Middlemarch during the period 1830–32. It has a multiple plot with a large cast of characters, and in addition to its distinct though interlocking narratives it pursues a number of underlying themes, including the status of women, the nature of marriage, idealism and self-interest, religion and hypocrisy, political reform, and education. The pace is leisurely, the tone is mildly didactic (with an authorial voice that occasionally bursts through the narrative),^[1] and the canvas is very broad.

Despite the fact that it has some comical characters (Mr Brooke, the "tiny aunt" Miss Noble) and comically-named characters (Mrs Dollop), Middlemarch is a work of realism. Through the voices and opinions of different characters we become aware of various broad issues of the day – the Great Reform Bill, the beginnings of the railways, the death of King George IV and the succession of his brother, the Duke of Clarence. We learn something of the state of contemporary medical science. We also encounter the deeply reactionary mindset within a settled community facing the prospect of what to many is unwelcome change. The eight "books" which comprise the novel are not autonomous entities, but merely reflect the form of the original serialisation. A short prelude introduces the idea of the latter-day St. Theresa, presaging Dorothea; a postscript or "finale" after the eighth book gives the post-history of the main characters.

In general Middlemarch has retained its popularity and its status as one of the masterpieces of English fiction,^[2] although some reviewers have expressed dissatisfaction at the destiny recorded for Dorothea. From separate centuries Florence Nightingale and Kate Millet both remark on the eventual subordination of her own dreams to those of Ladislaw.^[3] However, Virginia Woolf gave the book unstinting praise, describing Middlemarch as “the magnificent book that, with all its imperfections, is one of the few English novels written for grown-up people”.^[4]

Contents 1 Background 2 Plot outline 3 Themes in "Middlemarch" 3.1 Education 3.2 Class 4 Characters in "Middlemarch" 5 Literary significance and reception 6 Film, TV, or theatrical adaptations 7 Notes and references 8 Bibliography 9 Further reading 9.1 Scholarship 10 External links

[edit] Background

On 1 January 1869 George Eliot listed her tasks for the coming year in her journal. The list included "A Novel called Middlemarch", along with a number of poetry and other projects.^[5] Her last novel, Felix Holt, had been published more than two years earlier and had not sold well.^[6] Despite this, the projected new novel was to be set in the same pre-Reform Bill England as Felix Holt, and would again deal with the reform issue, although less centrally.

In its first conception, Middlemarch was a story involving an ambitious doctor, Lydgate, the Vincy family, and Mr Featherstone. Progress on the novel was slow; by September only three chapters of the story had been completed. The main reason for this lack of development was the distraction caused by the illness of Lewes’s son Thornie, who was dying slowly of tuberculosis.^[7] Following his death on 19 October 1869, all work on the novel stopped. At this point it is uncertain whether Eliot intended to revive the original project; in November 1870, more than a year later, she began work on an entirely new story, "Miss Brooke", introducing Dorothea. Exactly when she started to combine this narrative with the earlier Lydgate-Vincy-Featherstone plot is unrecorded, but the process was certainly under way by March 1871.^[8]

As the scope of the novel grew, a decision was taken as to the form of its publication. In May 1871 Lewes asked publisher John Blackwood to bring the novel out in eight parts, at two-monthly intervals from December 1871. Blackwood agreed, and the eight books duly appeared throughout 1872, the last instalments appearing in successive months, November and December 1872.^[9]

[edit] Plot outline

Dorothea Brooke is an idealistic, well-to-do young woman, engaged in schemes to help the lot of the local poor. She is seemingly set for a comfortable, idle life as the wife of neighbouring landowner Sir James Chettam, but to the dismay of her sister Celia (who later marries Chettam) and of her loquacious uncle Mr Brooke, she marries instead Edward Casaubon, a middle-aged pedantic scholar who, she believes, is engaged on a great work, the Key to all Mythologies. She wishes to find fulfilment through sharing her husband’s intellectual life, but during an unhappy honeymoon in Rome she experiences his coldness towards her ambitions. Slowly she realizes that his great project is doomed to failure, and her feelings for him descend to pity. She forms a warm friendship with a young cousin of Casaubon’s, Will Ladislaw, but her husband’s antipathy towards him is clear, and Ladislaw is forbidden to visit. In poor health, Casaubon attempts to extract from Dorothea a promise that, should he die, she will "avoid doing what I should deprecate, and apply yourself to do what I desire"—meaning that she should shun Ladislaw. Before Dorothea can give her reply Casaubon dies. It then transpires that he has added a provision in his will that if she should marry Ladislaw, Dorothea will lose her fortune.

Meanwhile an idealistic young doctor, Tertius Lydgate, has arrived in Middlemarch, with advanced ideas for medical reform. His voluntary hospital work brings him into contact with the town’s financier Mr Bulstrode, who has philanthropic leanings, but is also a religious zealot with a secret past. Bulstrode’s niece is Rosamond Vincy, the mayor’s daughter and the town’s recognised beauty, who sets her sights on Lydgate, attracted by his aristocratic connections. She ensnares him, but the disjunction between her self-centredness and his idealism ensures that their marriage is unhappy. Through a combination of her material greed and Lydgate’s weakness he is soon deep in debt, and has to seek help from Bulstrode. He is partly sustained in his marital and financial woes by his friendship with Camden Farebrother, the generous-spirited and engaging parson from a local parish.

At the same time we have become acquainted with Rosamond’s university-educated, restless and somewhat irresponsible brother Fred, reluctantly destined for the Church. He is in love with his childhood sweetheart, Mary Garth, a sensible and forthright young woman, who will not accept him until he abandons the Church and settles in a more suitable career. Mary has been the unwitting cause of Fred’s loss of a considerable fortune, bequeathed to him by the aged and irascible Mr Featherstone, then rescinded by a later will which Featherstone, on his death-bed, begs Mary to destroy. Mary, unaware of what is at stake, refuses to do so. Fred, in trouble over some injudicious horse-dealing, is forced to borrow from Mary’s father, Caleb Garth, to meet his commitments. This humiliation shocks Fred into a reassessment of his life, and he resolves to train as a land agent under the forgiving Caleb.

These three interwoven narratives, with side-plots such as the disastrous though comedic attempt by Mr Brooke to enter Parliament as a sponsor of Reform, are the basis of the story until it is well into its final third. Then a new thread emerges, with the appearance of John Raffles, who knows about Bulstrode’s past and is determined to exploit this knowledge. Bulstrode’s terror of public exposure as a hypocrite leads him to hasten the death of the mortally-sick Raffles by giving him access to forbidden alcohol. But he is too late; Raffles had already spread the word. Bulstrode’s disgrace engulfs the luckless Lydgate, as knowledge of the financier’s loan to the doctor becomes public, and he is assumed to be complicit with Bulstrode. Only Dorothea maintains faith in Lydgate, but Lydgate and Rosamond are forced by the general opprobrium to leave Middlemarch. The disgraced and reviled Bulstrode’s only consolation is that his wife stands by him as he, too, faces exile.

The final thread in the complex weave concerns Ladislaw, who since their initial meeting has kept his love for Dorothea to himself. He has remained in Middlemarch, working for Mr Brooke, and has also become a focus for Rosamond’s treacherous attentions. After Brooke’s election campaign collapses there is nothing to keep Ladislaw, and he visits Dorothea to make his farewell. But Dorothea, released from life with Casaubon but still the prisoner of his will, now sees Ladislaw as the means of her escape to a new life. Renouncing her independence, and her fortune, she shocks her family again, by announcing she will marry Ladislaw. At the same time Fred, who has proved an apt pupil in Caleb’s profession, finally wins the approval and hand of Mary.

Beyond the principal stories we are given constant glimpses into other scenes. We observe Featherstone’s avaricious relatives gathering for the spoils, we visit Farebrother’s strange ménage, we become aware of enormous social and economic divides. But these are the backdrops for the main stories which, true to life, are left largely suspended, leaving a short finale to summarise the fortunes of our protagonists over the next thirty years or so. The book ends as it began, with Dorothea: "Her full nature […] spent itself in channels which had no great name on the earth. But the effect of her being on those around her was incalculably diffusive: for the growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts".

[edit] Themes in "Middlemarch"

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[edit] Education

The book examines the role of education in the lives of the characters and how such education and study has affected the characters. Rosamond Vincy's finishing school education is a foil to Dorothea Brooke's religiously-motivated quest for knowledge. Rosamond initially admires Lydgate for his exotic education, and his intellect. A similar dynamic is present in Dorothea and Casaubon's relationship, with Dorothea revering her new husband's intellect and eloquence. In both cases, however, the young wives' expectations of their husbands intellects are not reflected in reality.

Despite extreme erudition, Mr. Casaubon is afraid to publish because he believes that he must write a work that is utterly above criticism. In contrast, Lydgate at times arrogantly flaunts his knowledge, making enemies with his fellow physicians. He regards the residents of Middlemarch with a certain amount of contempt stemming from his belief that the townspeople are backwards and uninteresting. However, his education has not included tact and politicking, skills necessary in a small town but are seen by Lydgate as below him, the brilliant doctor.

[edit] Class

The characters in the book belong to distinct social classes based on birth and money. The genteel class (that is to say, the class of people who are financially independent and who do not have to work for a living) are represented by Sir James Chettam, Mr. Casaubon, old Mr. Featherstone, and the Brooke family (Dorothea, Celia, and their uncle). The merchant and professional class is represented by the Vincy family (particularly Fred and Rosamond), and the laboring class is represented by the Garth family.

Class climbing, and class sinking, also features in the book. Mr. Vincy, who has become reasonably wealthy but who is living beyond his means and who is teaching his children Fred and Rosamond to do the same, is hoping that his children will make it into the upper class. He believes Fred will inherit a substantial amount of money from old Mr. Featherstone, so he does not push Fred to work hard at school or pass his exams. He raises Rosamond to spend foolishly because he hopes that, with her beauty and charm, she will be able to marry up. Neither of the Vincy children succeed. Fred alienates Mr. Featherstone and does not inherit the fortune he hoped for, and it is not until he embraces work and fulfils his destiny as a member of the working class that he earns Mary Garth's respect. Rosamond marries Dr. Lydgate believing that she's marrying into an upper class family when in reality Lydgate is short of money and sinking into debt. Rosamond in fact insists on maintaining an upper-class lifestyle even when her husband tries to cut back expenses and to sell off unnecessary belongings in order to avoid bankruptcy.

Lydgate, unlike his wife, is not trying to move up in class but to move down. He was born into a wealthy family, but alienated his relatives by deciding to become a doctor. As a professional, he voluntarily stepped into a lower class. Yet he is still accustomed to the material luxuries he enjoyed in his youth, so he spends more than he should to buy a practice and to set up his household. He persists in idealistic, upper-class activities such as working without pay for the Hospital and alienating patients by not dispensing medicine and by charging for consultations in a manner inconsistent with the traditional practice of medicine in Middlemarch. His patients rightly believe he is an arrogant snob, and they want nothing to do with him. So, by belonging convincingly to neither class, Lydgate effectively shuts himself out from both.

Another class-crossing character is Ladislaw. He lives a fairly Bohemian life at first, but comes to Middlemarch and seeks employment as a clerk. Since he works for a living, he puts himself on a far lower social rung than his relative Mr. Casaubon. Dorothea's marriage to Ladislaw is shocking not because he is a relative or because it is in defiance of Casaubon's will, but because the class and financial differences between Ladislaw and Dorothea are so great.

[edit] 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 Bulstrode.
• John Raffles — Holds the key to Bulstrode's dark past and Lydgate's future. Bulstrode believes his secret will be safe with Raffles' demise.
• Adolf Naumann — A German Painter in the Nazarene movement. He is the combination of two real Nazarene painters, Johann Friedrich Overbeck and Joseph von Führich.^[10]

[edit] Literary significance and reception

Virginia Woolf described Middlemarch as, "one of the few English novels written for grown-up people".^[11] 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".^[12] Critic Jerome Beaty argues that one could read Middlemarch as George Eliot's Reform novel, although political history is represented only "indirectly". ^[13]

Popular since its first publication,^[14] 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. ^[15]

[edit] Film, TV, or theatrical adaptations

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

• 1968: Middlemarch, a BBC production directed by Joan Craft. ^[16]
• 1994: Middlemarch, a BBC production directed by Anthony Page and with a screenplay by Andrew Davies.
• 2009: Middlemarch, to be directed by Sam Mendes and with a screenplay by Andrew Davies.^[17]

[edit] Notes and references

[edit] Bibliography

• Ashton, Rosemary (1983). George Eliot. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-287627-9. 
• Beaty, Jerome (1960). Middlemarch from Notebook to Novel: A Study of George Eliot's Creative Method. Urbana: University of Illinois Press. 
• 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. 
• Dentith, Simon (1986). George Eliot. Brighton, Sussex: Harvester Press. ISBN 0-7108-0588-8. 
• Garrett, Peter K. (1980). The Victorian Multiplot Novel: Studies in Dialogical Form. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-02403-7. 
• 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. 
• Harvey, W. J. (1961). The Art of George Eliot. London: Chatto & Windus. 
• 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. 
• Neale, Catherine (1989). George Eliot, Middlemarch. London: Penguin Books. ISBN 0-14-077173-5. 
• Swinden, Patrick (ed.) (1972). George Eliot: Middlemarch: A Casebook. London: Macmillan. ISBN 0-333-02119-3. 

[edit] Further reading

[edit] Scholarship

• Beaty, Jerome (December 1957). "History by Indirection: The Era of Reform in "Middlemarch"". Victorian Studies 1 (2): 173-179. ISSN 0042-5222. 
• Chase, Karen. Middlemarch in the Twenty-First Century. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006.

[edit] External links

• Middlemarch, available at Project Gutenberg.
• Middlemarch - complete book in HTML one page for each chapter.
• Middlemarch free downloads in pdf, pdb and lit formats
• Middlemarch at the Victorian Web
• Digitized copy of first edition of Middlemarch, a study of provincial life: Volume 1, Volume 2, Volume 3, Volume 4.

v • d • e Works by George Eliot Scenes of Clerical Life (1858) · The Lifted Veil (1859) · Adam Bede (1859) · The Mill on the Floss (1860) · Silas Marner (1861) · Romola (1862–63) · Felix Holt, the Radical (1866) · Middlemarch (1871–72) · Daniel Deronda (1876)