“Middlemarch” - By George Eliot

Background:

Middlemarch,  written by English author George Eliot, is a Victorian Novel which talks about the social and political reform in the mid-19th century.  With Eliot‘s elegant writing style and subtle language, the novel is not only about politics and society but also about ambition, love, marriage, social status, spirituality, and compassion.  In the mid-19th century, reform was a hot topic in England. The novel was published in 1870 and received great public acclaim. The novel was historically successful due to the connection between specific events and general political progression.

Middlemarch was First published in 1871-72 although set in 1830s. Deals with various changes in political and social landscape.

Themes:

1)    Politics

2)    Progress

3)    Marriage

4)    The woman question

5)    Compassion and Humanity

6)    Social status and Wealth

7)    Dissatisfaction

Mr. Brooke’s nieces, Dorothea and Celia lived in an estate in Middlemarch. Dorothea has always wanted to marry a man with great academic achievements. Therefore, she was engaged with a pastor named Mr. Casaubon, who is 27 years older than her. She then met his nephew, Will Ladislaw, who was a thoughtful and attractive young man, and he immediately fell in love with her. In the meantime, an idealistic doctor named Tertius Lydgate came to the town. He created a new hospital and advocated medical reform. He married Rosamond Vincy, who was actually superficial and selfish. They eventually ran out of money and was saved by Dorothea and Rosamond's uncle. Unfortunately, Lydgate considered his whole life as a failure and died painfully at the age of 50.

On the other hand, Mr. Casaubon was always jealous of Will Ladislaw. After Casaubon's death, Dorothea found a codicil in his last words that saying she would lose all of his inheritance if she chooses t marry Ladislaw. Dorothea was so kind-hearted that she only worried about Ladislaw's reputation after being both condemned by her husband. She had no vanity and soon found herself in love with Ladislaw. This is definitely unpredictable because Dorothea was so devoted to her religion and loyal to Mr. Casaubon. She eventually decided to give up her wealth and marry Will, which was a sincere decision that she had never regretted.

Rosamond is typical of 19^th century woman in that she marries young and becomes a wife . and at the and of the novel, it is revealed that she had four children by Lydgate. In this way she conforms to the 19^th century notion of a woman’s primary roles being a wife and a mother. So, by this we can say that Eliot can connect with human emotion of feeling out of place by seen through her characters and certain scenes.

So, we can say that Middlemarch is definitely one of the greatest british novels. It uses comparisons of different situations and emotional fluctuations to present a combination of a beautiful romance and an exciting social reform. George Eliot even uses different passages to give us  hint to show them how to read the book and interpret it. The most amazing thing is every single decision made by the characters is a reflection of humanity and our society.