Mass market romance always follows the same pattern—two people meet, fall in love, overcome an obstacle, and eventually skip off into the sunset together, destined for a future of happiness or they die tragically and are forever more a testament to true love. This formula has been a massive success in all media because everyone loves the idea of being in love. It is because I am so used to this formula that I immediately hated Dorothea. She sacrifices the worldly things that make her happy and a relationship with a man who appreciates her personality in favor of cerebral pursuits and a marriage with a cracked foundation. Throughout Book 1, Dorothea sets herself up for unhappiness, but due to her youth, fails to see that her pride and ambition are blinding her to real happiness.

Dorothea follows her heart straight into a marriage with a man who does not love her, does not want her to be anything other than his stereotypical notion of a ‘good’ housewife.  In fact, Mr. Casaubon should be a warning to Dorothea; he is foremost a student, putting the academic life above everything. He ends up in a small town, and while well-off, his only family dislikes him. His nephew, an artist, ignores the academic life and is a disappointment to Mr. Casaubon. He is essentially alone until Dorothea falls in love with him. The “colors” of his house were “subdued by time”, indicating a stagnancy that is depressing. His life is lacking in color and vibrancy literally and figuratively.  Even the proposal letter Mr. Casaubon writes to Dorothea lacks all passion. He says that “a consciousness of need in my own life had arisen contemporaneously with the possibility of my becoming acquainted with you (20). In this, Mr. Casaubon shows a personal need that Dorothea can fulfill. She will be a means to an end, or a housekeeper with benefits. This self-serving nature for the good of scholarly work shows a vanity that is off-putting and should serve as a warning.

The problem is that Dorothea is so infatuated with what she could learn from Mr. Casaubon that she is blind to any of his faults. You have to admire Dorothea; she has the gumption and dedication to stick to her self-sacrificing quest for intellectual improvement. However, she does this at the expense of her future happiness. I believe that she truly loves the idea of marriage to Mr. Casaubon; she could not have survived her uncle’s warnings about the pitfalls of married life otherwise. But loving the idea of a marriage is not substantive. Dorothea wants to learn and be taught, seeing her relationship with Mr. Casaubon as a means to further her education. She does not notice Mr. Casaubon’s coolness of feeling because of her youthful zeal for knowledge. It is hard to notice that your lover has his feet firmly on the ground when you are being swept away.

I can forgive her overlooking Mr. Casaubon’s lack of romantic feeling because of her passion, though I feel the marriage will end unhappily. What I cannot forgive is her innate hypocrisy of morality. Dorothea uses her ascetic pursuits as a shield to protect against the world. She gives up horse riding because “she felt that she enjoyed it in a pagan sensuous way” (2). She is constantly governing and judging the actions of the people around her, from the puppy Sir James would give her to her sister admiring jewelry. She judges others on their wealth and pride, but never looks inward in inspect her own self-regard. I feel like throughout the remainder of Middlemarch, Dorothea’s life with spiral as she grows up and gets a realistic look at her husband and life.

-Valerie Harrison