Middlemarch


Middlemarch, A Study of Provincial Life is a novel by English author George Eliot, the pen name of Mary Ann Evans. It appeared in eight installments in 1871 and 1872. Set in Middlemarch, a fictional English Midlands town, from 1829 to 1832, it follows distinct, intersecting stories with many characters. Issues include the status of women, the nature of marriage, idealism, self-interest, religion, hypocrisy, political reform, and education. Leavened with comic elements, Middlemarch approaches significant historical events in a realist mode: the Reform Act 1832, early railways, and the accession of King William IV. It looks at medicine of the time and reactionary views in a settled community facing unwelcome change. Eliot began writing the two pieces that formed the novel in 1869–1870 and completed it in 1871. Initial reviews were mixed, but it is now seen widely as her best work and one of the great English novels.

Background

Middlemarch originates in two unfinished pieces that Eliot worked on during 1869 and 1870: the novel "Middlemarch and the long story "Miss Brooke". The former piece is first mentioned in her journal on 1 January 1869 as one of the tasks for the coming year. In August she began writing, but progress ceased in the following month amidst a lack of confidence in it and distraction by the illness of George Henry Lewes's son Thornie, who was dying of tuberculosis. After Thornie's death on 19 October 1869, all work on the novel stopped; it is uncertain whether Eliot intended at the time to revive it at a later date.
In December she wrote of having begun another story, on a subject that she had considered "ever since I began to write fiction". By the end of the month she had written 100 pages of this story and entitled it "Miss Brooke". Although a precise date is unknown, the process of incorporating material from "Middlemarch into the story she had been working on was ongoing by March 1871. While composing, Eliot compiled a notebook of hundreds of literary quotations, from poets, historians, playwrights, philosophers, and critics in eight different languages.
By May 1871, the growing length of the novel had become a concern to Eliot, as it threatened to exceed the three-volume format that was then the norm in publishing. The issue was compounded because Eliot's most recent novel, Felix Holt, the Radical – also set in the same pre-Reform Bill England – had not sold well. The publisher John Blackwood, who had made a loss on acquiring the English rights to that novel, was approached by Lewes in his role as Eliot's literary agent. He suggested that the novel be brought out in eight two-monthly parts, borrowing the method used for Victor Hugo's novel Les Misérables. This was an alternative to the monthly issues that had been used for such longer works as Dickens's David Copperfield and Thackeray's Vanity Fair, and avoided Eliot's objections to slicing her novel into small parts. Blackwood agreed, although he feared there would be "complaints of a want of the continuous interest in the story" due to the independence of each volume. The eight books duly appeared during 1872, the last three instalments being issued monthly.
With the deaths of Thackeray and Dickens in 1863 and 1870, respectively, Eliot became "recognised as the greatest living English novelist" at the time of the novel's final publication.

Plot

Set in the years immediately before the 1832 Reform Act, Middlemarch follows the intertwined lives of several inhabitants of a Midlands town. The main strands concern Dorothea Brooke’s search for purpose, the medical ambitions of Dr Tertius Lydgate, the romantic fortunes of Fred Vincy and Mary Garth, and the eventual downfall of the banker Nicholas Bulstrode.
Dorothea Brooke, a wealthy young woman of strong religious idealism, lives with her sister Celia under the guardianship of their uncle Mr Brooke. Though admired by the baronet Sir James Chettam, Dorothea instead marries the much older clergyman and scholar Edward Casaubon, hoping to dedicate herself to his research. On their honeymoon in Rome, she discovers the sterility of the marriage and befriends Casaubon’s disinherited cousin, Will Ladislaw. Casaubon grows jealous of Ladislaw’s friendship with Dorothea, and his insecurity deepens as his health declines.
Meanwhile, the Vincy family occupies an important place in Middlemarch society. Fred Vincy, the mayor’s son, is charming but feckless, relying on the expectation of inheriting from his wealthy uncle, Peter Featherstone. He is in love with Mary Garth, the practical and principled niece who keeps house for Featherstone, but she refuses him while he remains irresponsible. Fred’s debts lead him to involve Mary’s father, Caleb Garth, in financial loss, straining his hopes of winning her. When Featherstone dies, the inheritance goes not to Fred but to an illegitimate son, leaving Fred humiliated and forced to reconsider his path.
Fred’s illness during this period brings him under the care of Dr Tertius Lydgate, a talented young physician new to Middlemarch. Lydgate hopes to reform medical practice through science and sanitation, and finds support from the wealthy, evangelical banker Nicholas Bulstrode, who funds a new hospital. Lydgate’s dedication earns him respect, but his courtship of Rosamond Vincy, Fred’s beautiful but vain sister, leads to marriage and financial strain. Rosamond’s extravagance draws Lydgate into debt, undermining his professional independence.
Casaubon, increasingly ill, tries to bind Dorothea to his control, asking her to promise obedience to his wishes after his death. When he dies, his will reveals a clause disinheriting her if she marries Ladislaw. The provision fuels gossip in Middlemarch and complicates their relationship. Dorothea continues to struggle between duty and affection, while Ladislaw remains in town as a journalist, supporting Mr Brooke’s unsuccessful parliamentary campaign on a Reform platform.
Bulstrode’s past eventually returns to haunt him. The arrival of John Raffles exposes how Bulstrode had profited dishonourably in his youth, concealing the existence of Ladislaw’s mother, the rightful heir to his first wife’s fortune. Fearful of exposure, Bulstrode hastens Raffles’s death while attempting to cover his tracks. His disgrace spreads to Lydgate, who has recently accepted Bulstrode’s financial help; many in Middlemarch assume the doctor complicit in corruption. Though Dorothea defends his honour, public opinion forces Lydgate and Rosamond to leave, his ambitions for medical reform destroyed.
As scandals and disappointments reshape the town, Fred redeems himself by training as a land agent under Caleb Garth. With the guidance of the kindly Rev. Farebrother, who suppresses his own love for Mary, Fred matures and eventually marries her. Dorothea, after recognising her feelings for Ladislaw, rejects the security of Casaubon’s fortune and chooses to marry him, despite her family’s disapproval.
The novel concludes with a brief “Finale” summarising later lives. Fred and Mary live contentedly with their children. Lydgate prospers in a conventional career but dies at 50, leaving Rosamond to remarry a wealthy physician. Dorothea and Ladislaw raise two children, their son inheriting Mr Brooke’s estate, while Dorothea devotes herself to her husband and to reformist causes. Each character’s fate reflects the mixture of compromise, limitation, and idealism that defines life in Middlemarch.

Characters

  • Dorothea Brooke: An intelligent, wealthy woman with great aspirations, Dorothea avoids displaying her wealth and embarks upon projects such as redesigning cottages for her uncle's tenants. She marries the elderly Reverend Edward Casaubon, with the idealistic idea of helping him in his research, The Key to All Mythologies. However, the marriage was a mistake, as Casaubon fails to take her seriously and resents her youth, enthusiasm, and energy. Her requests to assist him make it harder for him to conceal that his research is years out of date. Faced with Casaubon's coldness on their honeymoon, Dorothea becomes friends with his relative, Will Ladislaw. Some years after Casaubon's death she falls in love with Will and marries him.
  • Tertius Lydgate: An idealistic, talented, but naive young doctor, is relatively poor, but of good birth. He hopes to make big advances in medicine through his research, but ends up in an unhappy marriage with Rosamond Vincy. His attempts to show he is answerable to no man fail, and he eventually has to leave town, sacrificing his high ideals to please his wife.
  • Rev. Edward Casaubon : A pedantic, selfish, clergyman who is so taken up with his scholarly research that his marriage to Dorothea is loveless. His unfinished book, The Key to All Mythologies, is intended as a monument to Christian syncretism, but his research is out of date as he cannot read German. He is aware of this but admits it to no one.
  • Mary Garth: The plain, kind daughter of Caleb and Susan Garth serves as Mr Featherstone's nurse. She and Fred Vincy were childhood sweethearts, but she will not let him woo her until he shows himself willing and able to live seriously, practically and sincerely.
  • Arthur Brooke: The oft-befuddled, none-too-clever uncle of Dorothea and Celia Brooke has a reputation as the worst landlord in the county, but stands for Parliament on a Reform platform.
  • Celia Brooke: Dorothea's younger sister is a beauty. She is more sensual than Dorothea and does not share her idealism and asceticism. She is only too happy to marry Sir James Chettam when Dorothea rejects him.
  • Sir James Chettam: A neighbouring landowner, he is in love with Dorothea and helps with her plans to improve conditions for the tenants. When she marries Casaubon, he marries Celia Brooke.
  • Rosamond Vincy: Vain, beautiful and shallow, Rosamond has a high opinion of her own charms and a low opinion of Middlemarch society. She marries Tertius Lydgate, believing he will raise her social standing and keep her comfortable. When her husband meets financial difficulties, she thwarts his efforts to economise, seeing such sacrifices as beneath her and insulting. She cannot bear the idea of losing social status.
  • Fred Vincy: Rosamond's brother has loved Mary Garth from childhood. His family hopes he will advance socially by becoming a clergyman, but he knows Mary will not marry him if he does. Brought up to expect an inheritance from his uncle, Mr Featherstone, he is a spendthrift, but later changes through his love for Mary and finds by studying under Mary's father a profession that gains Mary's respect.
  • Will Ladislaw: This young cousin of Mr Casaubon has no property, as his grandmother married a poor Polish musician and was disinherited. He is a man of verve, idealism and talent, but no fixed profession. He is in love with Dorothea, but cannot marry her without her losing Mr Casaubon's property.
  • Humphrey Cadwallader and Elinor Cadwallader: Neighbours of the Brookes, Mr Cadwallader is a rector and Mrs Cadwallader a pragmatic and talkative woman who comments on local affairs with wry cynicism. She disapproves of Dorothea's marriage and Mr Brooke's parliamentary endeavours.
  • Walter Vincy and Lucy Vincy: A respectable manufacturing couple, they wish their children to advance socially and are disappointed by Rosamond's and Fred's marriages. Vincy's sister is married to Nicholas Bulstrode. Mrs Vincy was an innkeeper's daughter and her sister the second wife of Mr. Featherstone.
  • Caleb Garth: Mary Garth's father is a kind, honest, generous surveyor and land agent involved in farm management. He is fond of Fred and eventually takes him under his wing.
  • Camden Farebrother: A poor but clever vicar and amateur naturalist, he is a friend of Lydgate and Fred Vincy and loves Mary Garth. His position improves when Dorothea appoints him to a living after Casaubon's death.
  • Nicholas Bulstrode: A wealthy banker married to Vincy's sister, Harriet, he is a pious Methodist keen to impose his beliefs in Middlemarch society. However, he has a sordid past he is desperate to hide. His religion favours his personal desires and lacks sympathy for others.
  • Peter Featherstone: An old landlord of Stone Court, he is a self-made man, who has married Caleb Garth's sister. On her death he takes Mrs Vincy's sister as his second wife.
  • Jane Waule: A widow and Peter Featherstone's sister, she has a son, John.
  • Mr Hawley: A foul-mouthed businessman, he is an enemy of Bulstrode.
  • Mr Mawmsey: A grocer
  • Dr Sprague: A Middlemarch physician
  • Mr Tyke: A clergyman favoured by Bulstrode
  • Joshua Rigg Featherstone: Featherstone's illegitimate son, he appears at the reading of Featherstone's will and receives a fortune instead of Fred. He is also the stepson of John Raffles, who comes into town to visit Rigg, but instead reveals Bulstrode's past. His appearance in the novel is crucial to the plot.
  • John Raffles: Raffles is a braggart and a bully, a humorous scoundrel in the tradition of Sir John Falstaff, and an alcoholic. But unlike Falstaff, Raffles is a truly evil man. He holds the key to Bulstrode's dark past and Lydgate's future.