Middlemarch




 * George Eliot (aka Mary Ann Evans)**

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Iris Jeffries: //__Middlemarch__// was an extremely compelling (and lengthy) work of fiction that kept me interested from start til end. It would be wrong to say that there was one single main character, or even two, as it tells the story of life in a provincial town. There are many different storylines that are all interwoven by family connections, long lost acquaintances, and lifelong friendships. The theme that seems most prominent throughout the novel is marriage. Dorothea Brooke's marriage to Mr. Edward Casaubon surprises the denizens of Middlemarch, especially with the prospect of the younger and more able Sir James Chettam. Meanwhile, there is the arrival of Tertius Lydgate, a young doctor with new ideas to add to modern medicine, some contrary to the common belief. Lydgate takes an interest to Rosamond Vincy, a girl said to exemplify all the qualities that a woman should have. They end up married, while Rosamond's brother, Fred Vincy, deals with debt and a decision on his occupation, as he does not wish to enter the church, yet he has the education for it, and it is what his father expects of him. He also has in mind what his childhood friend, Mary Garth, prefers, as he has hopes to marry her. Dorothea is slowly awakened to what her friends and family members warned her regarding her marriage to Mr. Casaubon, and though she attends to him and is eager to learn as much as possible from him, she also cannot help but enjoy her time with Mr. Casaubon's nephew, Will Ladislaw. At Mr. Casaubon's death, his will states that if Dorothea was ever to remarry, it could never be Mr. Ladislaw, or else he would revoke his money and property from Dorothea. The marriage between Lydgate and Rosamond, also having been initially discouraged, is increasingly threatened by debt. When Mr. Bulstrode recieves an unwelcome visitor that carries shameful secrets of his past, Mr. John Raffles, he employs Lydgate to attend the sick patient, who in his delirium shouts out various snippets of the past that Mr. Bulstrode wishes to remain secret. These secrets involved an earlier marriage to a woman who wished to seek out her runaway daughter to share her fortune but Mr. Bulstrode was paid off, as not to mention the whereabouts of the daughter, though he was aware of her whereabouts. Having previously refused to aid Lydgate in his time of need, Mr. Bulstrode forks over the 1000 pounds, and Lydgate is grateful. The story spreads like fire though, and soon Lydgate is suspect to bribery and he as well as Mr. Bulstrode are ruined. Another twist is that Will Ladislaw, who Dorothea decides to marry despite the lost of her fortune from her deceased husband, was the son of the runaway daughter of the woman who Mr. Bulstrode had previously married. So while the whole town buzzes at the gossip and judges before knowing the whole story, there are many shared emotions and sacrifices to be made. In the end, everyone ends up happy enough. Some say that this book is the greatest novel ever written. I think that it is very good, but I haven't read enough in my life to call it the greatest novel ever written. The story goes on for a long time, but the ends are wrapped up quickly, leaving a satisfied reader.Something important that can be learned from this novel is the sacrifices that are necessary to be made in life.

Rachel Mitchell: As an avid reader of older novels such as those by Jane Austen and Wilkie Collins, I was quick to receive __Middlemarch__ and was not disappointed with George Eliot's (or Mary Anne Evans', if you prefer) tale of a provincial Midlands town. Reading almost like a Victorian daytime drama, __Middlemarch__ deals with issues such as class, education, and choices the characters make in attempting to create their own ideals. Eliot elegantly weaves the stories of our three protagonists, Dorothea Brooke, Tertius Lydgate, and Fred Vincy, injecting in them a true sense of vitality and a dose of their own potential downfall. Throughout the novel, questions can be asked of what brings out the best in our lives. Is it the initial situation we stand in or the choices we make in developing ourselves? Could it be a combination of both? Much like many other Victorian novels, __Middlemarch__ quickly introduces Dorothea Brooke and Mr. Casaubon, her choice of marriage and equal in social status. Though Eliot suggested that Miss Brooke might not have made such an ill-advised decision had she had a mother, Dorothea's own nature of striving to remove physical pleasure (such as horseback riding) and her ardent passion to pursue learning proved to decide the marriage she was so set on. Thus, Dorothea creates an illusion in her mind that when married to Reverend Casaubon, she will be his helper and he will be her teacher. No such relationship ever came about, and it is seen that Dorothea's youth and energy is imprisoned in a nightmarish life. Casaubon himself does not see the situation much clearer as he leads himself to believe he would publish "The Key to All Mythologies" while he is icy to his wife's wish to learn. Not only does he have Dorothea trapped during the duration of their marriage, but also after death he selfishly forbids her from continuing with his nephew Will Ladislaw, and if she does, he will not leave Lowick, his estate, to her in his will. Lydgate's story results in the same downfall of character, but comes about in an entirely different way. The young Doctor Lydgate comes to Middlemarch with his new-fangled medical notions and a secret past (of coming from a wealthier family). Rosamond Vincy ensnares his affections, believing that his money and security will always be provided and her own social status will be raised. Her own greed causes her and her indulgent husband (Lydgate) to delve into greater depths of debt, as she refused to cut out the luxuries in her life in apprehension that it will lower her status. Fred Vincy, the brother of Rosamond, is provided a very different fate based on the choices he made. Introduced as a dropout of college that was waiting around for an old relative's (Mr. Featherstone's) money, Fred Vincy begins much like his sister. As the story progresses, however, Fred is faced with a shocking truth that he had not received the money he thought he was owed. Soon after, he goes to work for Mr. Garth, the father of a young woman he had liked from childhood (but she was in a lower class than him and would not take him because he was irresponsible). With the help of Mr. Farebrother, Fred is able to become a responsible, self-sufficient adult and wins Mary's heart and respect for marriage. The end does not disappoint as Eliot neatly ties up the plot threads with an expert knot and each character receives his or her dues. Though at first the length appeared daunting, __Middlemarch__ was excellently crafted and provided many excerpts of other literature, proving to be both a pleasure and a reward to read.

July 2, 2009

Sue Chanson: Because I actually enjoy reading fiction of an earlier century, I look at the lengthy novel as many hours of fun. I enjoyed rereading //Middlemarch.// It had been at least ten years since I first read the book. It's fun to see how your perceptions and focus changes with a reread years after the first. As both Tertius Lydgate and Dorothea Brooke try to define their lives in terms of morality, I shared their efforts. Dorothea Brooke so naively sees her path to a good (ie. moral) life only through her attachment to a worthy man. Of course, Eliot may be suggesting that, for women, the only path to a satisfying and productive life in that time was, indeed, through attachment to such a husband, father, brother. Ironically, when she finds the man that she actually loves, her life still revolves around helping him to do good in the world of political life. Tertius, defining the good life as one devoted to science and healing, sees the woman he marries, Rosamond, as little as Dorothea saw Casaubon. The novel explores relationships between men and women not only in those two characters but also in several others. The gender issue was important to me and also the concept of trying to live a good life with the personal challenges in achieving that goal. We Eliot readers may be a small group but we had a wonderful visit to the past and closed the book with satisfaction.

Jessica Orcutt: It took me some time to become used to the way Eliot writes //Middlemarch//. The long, complex sentences frequently forced me to go back and reread a page or two. However, after the first 100 pages or so, I became so delighted in and enthralled with the intricate plot and the development of the characters that I simply couldn't put the book down. I especially approve of the fact that Eliot did not create a thoroughly evil character (except for Raffles, perhaps). All the characters in //Middlemarch// had both good and bad characteristics, which made the story appear all the more realistic. For instance, Fred was a kind, honest, loyal, and loving man who had a weakness for gambling. I can't find any faults in Mary, a plain girl who is, aside from her father, possibly the most moral and righteous character in the entire book. Ladislaw, though impulsive, was intriguing because he was the only person in the story who had no obligations. He was not tied to anything or anyone except Dorothea, and even then only because he was so deeply in love with her. Rosamond was meant, I suppose, to be the image of the perfect woman. I was glad when I found that she would not bow down to Lydgate's occasionally ridiculous notions. However, my liking for her soured when I found that she only did what she did so as to improve her own personal happiness. She only ever thought of herself. In this, Rosamond was the polar opposite of Dorothea, who though of everyone except herself. Lydgate, Rosamond's doting husband, was a very unfortunate man. He had so much pride that he would sooner ruin his family than have people pity him. When he finally beat down his pride enough to go to ask for money from Mr. Bulstrode to help pay his monstrous debt, he became tainted by Bulstrode's ugly past. Dorothea was a wonderful character. She was passionate about her beliefs, and she thought nothing of herself and everything of others. I found Mr. Casaubon to be one of the more annoying persons. I happen to agree with Celia in believing that Dorothea should never have married a crusty old man who carries on the most fruitless research that would mean nothing even if he did manage to finish it within his lifetime. Dorothea married Mr. Casaubon merely for the sake of a romantic notion that she would help him with his work and uncover secrets that had been lost in time. I must say, with some embarrassment, that I couldn't help but rejoice when Mr. Casaubon finally died. Eliot ends this intense yet delightful Victorian drama perfectly. We see how the three couples (ie. Fred and Mary, Rosamond and Lydgate,and Dorothea and Casaubon/Ladislaw) end up living, for the most part, happily ever after. I found all the characters to be absolutely fascinating in the way they changed and matured from the beginning of the story, when everyone seemed so joyously naive, to the end, when everyone had realized who they were meant to be and found contentedness in that knowledge. Eliot ends the book with such hope and happiness that I couldn't help but feel immensely satisfied with the whole thing. Thus, though at first rather daunting in length and complexity, I found //Middlemarch// to be a truly special book that I hope to go back and read again many times in life.

Katherine Smith: Although, as many have already remarked, __Middlemarch__ is quite a lengthy novel, I actually found it to be a very interesting commentary on life in a 19th Century English provincial town! In fact, the book is one of the novels that I have had the priviledge to read that is not pushed forward by an extravagent or exciting plotline, full of forced action, but rather the entire cast of diverse character's in the town. More often than not, The citizens of Middlemarch indeed tend to have pretty normal backgrounds, with perhaps the exception of Mr. Bulstrode or Mr. Lydgate. Most of the events that occur in the story are ones that people in all stages of life and periods of time can relate to. Birth, death, the trials of love and jealousy, marriage, gossip and human scandal, money matters, and the all important issue of finding purpose and meaning in life, whether through occupations or spiritual mysticism, all propel the plot of __Middlemarch__ and make the book also universally relatable. From dear Dodo (which I find to be such a hilarious name for Celia to call Dorothea) stuck in a unhappy marriage to a jealous and uncaring husband to Mary, one of my favorite characters in the book who has fallen in love with Fred, who, in my opinion, is one of the most selfish characters in the entire book, to even the late Mr. Featherstone, a greedy old man, who in the end had to die surrounded by his money-mongering family who left bitter and angry after they found out they had no share in his second will. I found all of the characters in the novel very interesting and I found that there also were quite a number of misogynistic males throughout the entire book, which surprised me because George Eliot was in fact a woman. Though I am not entirely sure whether or not this helped a feminist theme that Mary Evans might of had throughout the book, I couldn't help notice primary examples of sexism appear in the actions and behavior of all the men who married during the novels course (this including Mr. Causabon, Mr. Ladislaw, and Mr. Lydgate), as well as in older males in the community like Mr. Brooke. There were a number of incedents involving all of these men in which they were confronted with dominance and intellegence in a female and were threatened. The responses to this threatened feeling varied, but in all cases, the male characters commented that they found this unappealing and unnatural in women. Even the passionate and completely enamoured Mr. Ladislaw, when hearing a stunning and composed speech by Dodo on the fate of poorer peoples on the estate of Mr. Brooke, remarked how disappionted he was that his love weakened when he realized how brilliant and eloquent Dorothea really was. This feminist question throughout the novel really drew me into the town of Middlemarch, as well the idea of politics being so involved in the everyday lives of the entire community. I never realized before reading __Middlemarch__, that middle class life in that time was so completely ruled by town politics. One of the aspects of the book that I found more more annoying than anything was this drama that the townspeople of Middlemarch seemed to put on instituions like hospitals and the electing of religious leaders that I always thought were supposed to be untainted ideas. Religion and the saving of human lives were ideas that I always thought were pure and simple, not to be ruined by small town rivalries and petty human greed and jealousy. But then again, that truthfulness that Mary Evans puts in the book is one of the reasons why, yet again, I must say that I think I chose the right book to spend my time reading this summer. It really is a poignant and wonderful story that is very honest in its truths about life and the characters (no matter in what time) that go through it, even if not everyone it afforded a "happy ending" as is expected of so many stories, especially those written by female authors.

Preetha Hebbar: As someone who enjoys reading classical literature, I have put off reading Middlemarch for quite sometime, mostly because of its length! I was unable to get really involved with the novel for the first 100 pages, but then I found it very different from other books in its category, simply because it was character, rather than plot driven. Every time I felt that I could relate to a character, they would have some kind of unforgivable flaw. The flaws in each of the characters made the story rounded and realistic. Dorothea, the so-called intellectual woman, really turned out to be a subservient wife, while the self-righteous Mr. Bulstrode had some pretty serious skeletons in his closet. Money played a greater role in the novel than I would have expected, but lack of debt in that period of history would have been wholly unrealistic. The knowledge that George Eliot was Mary Evans played a great role in my preconceived notions about Middlemarch the novel. I was hoping to find women who were more intelligent and free thinking like she was, rather than ones like Dorothea and Rosamond. Dorothea was idealistic to a point where she looked foolish and was subservient to a point where she even lost her sense of idealism. Rosamond, on the other hand, never pretended to be an intellectual, but was always a gold digger, if you will, only marrying Lydgate for his supposed wealthy relations. Mary Garth was a righteous and moral character, but was wholly unsatisfying to read about, as was Celia. As they say, well behaved women rarely make history, or in this case, interesting literature. The men were all misogynistic and self-absorbed on some level, either in debt, politics or both. Fred and Lydgate in particular were continuously trying to put their lives together, but because bad judgment, Fred ended up hurting people and Lydgate ended up making enemies in the society. At points in the novel, I'll admit, I was desperately hoping for their success. Casaubon was probably my least favorite character in the novel, which probably isn't a shock to most of you. His possessiveness with Dorothea and petty jealousy in regards to Will was extremely frustrating! Honestly, I was more frustrated with Dorothea's (or Dodo as she //should// be called in this case) lack of reaction. I was of course relieved when Casaubon died (who wasn't?), but upset that his unfounded paranoia continued to be an issue. There were many more characters, and I could probably spend hours discussing them in great detail; however, I've decided to only discuss the ones I feel strongly about. Being a great fan of Jane Austen, I was pathetically rooting for happy endings all around, but in the end, I greatly enjoyed the novel for what it was and loved Mary Evans' way of molding every aspect of the character. Her talent of painting a character's picture allowed me a glimpse into the lives of the people in this rural English town. I agree with Iris in saying that I haven't read nearly enough literature to call this "the greatest novel ever written," but I do believe it makes the Top 10 on my own chart. While I was irritated by the chauvinism and lack of feminism (which were only due to my own preconceptions and feministic disposition), I loved the realistic nature of the work and will definitely be revisiting in years to come.