Can a person have influence over another, even in death? Yes, in Mr. Casaubon’s case, who continued to wield unwelcome control over his young and innocent wife. Throughout their short time together, Dorothea was dutiful, in all circumstances, to an older, aloof and selfish husband. In fairness, I doubt Mr. C was aware of any other kind of behavior. As Eliot describes him often, Poor Mr. Casaubon…. seemed incapable of tenderness or romantic passion. I would be surprised if the marriage was ever consummated. How much did Dorothea contribute to this unfulfilled marriage? Her experience with emotion is uncertain. In Book 1, she admits to tears when hearing a particular organ play, yet this response is immediately downgraded by her uncle. I think this impressionable, intelligent woman takes very seriously her role as older sister, and views her life as worthy based only on her accomplishments and ability to help others. Perhaps she accepts the old man’s offer of marriage because she does not feel threatened by any expectation of intimacy, or even attention to her womanly nature. Mr. C perceives that his own life may be improved with the aid of someone to help him with work and household, and Dorothea mistakes this need for affection.
Her guileless conduct towards everyone, including impetuous Will Ladislaw, is puzzling. Hints of unhappiness spill out of her characteristically reserved manner, as Mr. C, overreacting to jealousy and mistrust, behaves in a callous manner. Any of Dorothea’s natural spontaneity and joy disappear, as she comprehends her situation of living in a virtual tomb (p 475). Even the desire she once felt to learn from her husband’s abundance of knowledge has succumbed to a dread of his company (p 481). All of this is in stark contrast to Will’s world of warm activity and fellowship (p 475). Dorothea’s disillusionment with her marriage, along with the realization that her husband’s work will not be recognized or appreciated by the public, make her wary of agreeing to commit her life to the completion of his notes. An innate devotion, however, leads to a massive guilty reaction in the wake of his unexpected death. The slight optimism (when they walked together) at the end of Book 4 is crushed.
Dorothea’s remorse is compounded when she learns of her husband’s malicious will constraints…ironically, she begins to consider a new warmth and desire for Will, along with a violent shock of repulsion from her departed husband (p 490). If Mr. C had bothered to talk with his wife and discover her sentiments, his own suspicion and fears could have been laid to rest. I don’t think he ever knew about her passion for reform, which, if allowed to develop, would have given her great pleasure.
Now, Dorothea’s future, based on her overwhelming duty to uphold morality over discovery of her own desires, may be manipulated by the cold grasp of her husband’s dead hand. (P 493)
Who else is affected by Mr. Casaubon’s legacy? Will longs to be in the presence of Dorothea, a perfect woman (p 435). He accomplishes this wish by living with her uncle and succeeding as editor of a local political newspaper; and he discovers that he is gratified and energized by the uneasy, but exciting life of political drama. As a result of Mr. C’s will, however, Ladislaw is no longer welcome in Middlemarch. I don’t think he is immediately aware of the scheming reference to him in the will, but he clearly senses a change of attitude. In his own mind, Will speculates if he prefers Dorothea as vision, more than an experience of possessing her? As a dream of his political future engages his mind, he struggles how to part from Dorothea, his muse.
Tudy Hill