Monthly Archives: August 2015

My-Life-in-Middlemarch

Encountering the personal side of literature

I want[ed] to go back to being a reader (p 9), declares Rebecca Mead, after her career in journalism. This is how I feel, now, after a stimulating summer season of exploring, discussing, and sharing our writings on Middlemarch. Challenged to produce an essay after each book, I appreciate those of you who responded to my efforts! This ninth article is the hardest to initiate, perhaps because I was missing more of George Eliot’s narrative, and I found Mead’s approach tedious. Too many threads of new information of hers and George Eliot’s lives; I had a hard time staying with her theme to link their experiences to the characters in the novel. Nonetheless, I am impressed that Mead has read Middlemarch so often, through various life stages. Her persistence and curiosity to discover what influenced and motivated Eliot to imagine a life of innovative realistic fiction has given me pause to consider my own recollections and their connection to why I favor certain characters.

 

As a serious, though naïve, freshman at Hollins in 1969, I was interested in learning. Thankfully, my mind was open to whatever education flung my way, although, in retrospect, I give more credit to the professor than to my zeal. I took a chance and signed up for a course on the Old Testament, taught by chaplain Alvord Beardslee, after my preferred course, psychology, was filled. Similar to when Lydgate opened a book on Anatomy, and his life was changed in an instant (p 52), so was mine when Mr. Beardslee pointed my spirit toward another way of being, and reflecting. His intellectual and religious viewpoints challenged my childhood preconceptions. As Dorothea was an earnest, unconventional heroine, like her author (p 13-4), I, too, was attracted to a more unusual path. I majored in religion, and chose to spend my junior year at St Mary’s Divinity School in St Andrew’s University, Scotland. Ironically, during my time there, I acted more like Rosamund and Celia, deciding to enjoy the attentions of handsome and interesting men. But, stirring beneath the fun, was my deep yearning for a meaningful life (p 21), like so many of Eliot’s characters who sought fulfillment via relationship and/or vocation. I pursued a nursing career after Hollins, longing to alleviate the suffering of others (p 18)… no surprise that Dorothea’s, Lydgate’s, and Mrs. Bulstrode’s situations spoke to my own consciousness about how compassion, in varying degrees, is experienced.

 

Religion was never mentioned in Middlemarch, and Mead touched on this. I admired both Eliot’s genuine love for her father, and her candid admission in a letter to him regarding her resistance to his Christian faith. This notion- that we each have our own center of gravity, but must come to discover that others weigh the world differently than we do- is one that is constantly repeated in the book. The necessity of growing out of such self-centeredness is the theme of Middlemarch (p 159). Eliot told her story from the perspective of many characters, so that we, her readers, could release our arrogance in order to appreciate the notion of sympathy (p 158). Thank you, George Eliot, for helping me accept Mr. Casaubon and Rosamund. I think I was more drawn to them, instead of Raffles, because of the esteem I felt for their spouses.

 

Virginia Woolf’s now familiar observation that Middlemarch is appropriate for “grown-up people” (p 47) continued to intrigue me. How have I ‘grown up’ since Hollins, and does this mean I enjoyed Middlemarch more than I would have 40 years ago? My ‘soul’ is still recognizable to me, my emotions are heartfelt, and I strive to share empathy. I recognize the characters of Dorothea and Lydgate; but, thanks to Rebecca Mead’s research (p 164), I also acknowledge Mr. Casaubon’s dread of failure and, even, his caution with those close to him. Eliot’s style of probing our psychological depths appealed to my questioning nature. WHO are we…and WHY are we this way? In my 50s, this yearning I had for something more, turned into learning, as Mead describes Eliot (p 41). Living in a medieval town in England for 10 years, allowed me an opportunity to study to become a guide in St Albans Abbey. My peers were retired history professors, architects, civil servants; all of them educated in the English system. I learned through error, practice, and strong support from the group of 100(!), to become passionate about sharing this unique abbey with the public. My spiritual motivation drove me, keeping me sane in demanding situations (like presenting a lucid explanation of the Abbey’s historical, artistic, liturgical space to large groups). And I was reminded, when Mead explained her thrill at handling Eliot’s manuscripts (p 200), of my work transcribing 18/19th century vestry minutes. I inhabited that era for several years as I labored to understand and communicate that part of Abbey history.

 

A book may not tell us exactly how to live our own lives, but our own lives can teach us how to read a book (p 110). As I continue to ‘grow-up’, exploring my desire for an intellectual life, along with a passion to understand compassion and sympathy- the ethical precepts that Eliot believed were worth salvaging from the Christianity she had rejected ( p 224), I realize that life is not ideal, but it is satisfying; without many regrets, I am grateful.

 

Tudy Hill

 

My-Life-in-Middlemarch

George Eliot Though Rebecca Mead’s Eyes

You know how you will write in a diary how your life sucks and nothing great will ever happen. You can think you are the most boring person and you’re destined to live the same lives as your parents, because that is what you were told to do. You are never going to be the next Jane Austen, J.K. Rowling or George Elliot for that matter. You are going to be living in a rat infested apartment wishing you had published your boring life to inspire some person half way around the world to not be you. Rebecca Mead may have thought like that. Instead of moping about it she got a decent education and dedicated her life to finding out everything she could about her hero. George Elliot.

After reading both books I see why we had to read this one last. We would have been totally lost had we read it first. We wouldn’t know anything and it would have kind of weird. We wouldn’t have known any of the characters or their relationships with any one. We also wouldn’t have known where Elliot got the idea to write the book. Mead also shows a new side to the book that you can’t really get to know unless you know the history.

Mead showed us how she fell in love with Middlemarch and had to know more about it. She shows us how Elliot took people from normal everyday life that she knew changed their name and maybe gave them a bit more personality and made them more provincial. Elliot wrote a book that turned into eight installments through out her life. Mead also shows us why Middlemarch is “one of the few English novels written for grown-up people,”

Eliot also seemed to make herself the main female character whoever you may think that is in her book. Whether you think it is Rosamond, Celia, Mary, or Dorothea you can probably find a little of George Elliot in some aspect of the female characters in Middlemarch. She also told us where Mary Ann Evans got her pen name that she is best known for. She actually got the name from a married man that she was in love with and who she was living with. She also had to use a male’s name to be taken seriously in a misogynistic world of Victorian England where women were suppose to be supported by a man and just have kids.

Eliot was apparently a forward thinker as shown in Middlemarch and Meade tells us. She apparently lived on her own and supported herself by writing Middlemarch. Eliot also was given an excellent education and seemed to always be reading. That was probably the reason she decided to become an author. She was already an editor and her own editor loved her work and was one of the few people who actually knew who George Eliot really was.

Mead probably felt the book was written for adults, because what kind of teenager even back then, would go through half of the stuff the characters went through. Adults loose their spouses more often than young girls. They get thrown into debt without actually thinking of the consequences. It also takes some maturity to see how greedy some relatives and other people can be. It is hard to see when people show their true colors after a relative dies or is close to death. Mead tells the entire life of George Elliot in a few hundred pages. No every famous person stories has to be long or glamorous just look at what Mead had to say about Eliot.

Julia Rogan

My-Life-in-Middlemarch

When I walk back to Middlemarch….

During my reading of Middlemarch, I found myself hating many of the characters. It took multiple readings and days of meditation before I was willing to forgive some of the characters and try to understand their motivation. I was really jealous of several of the other Middlemarch bloggers because they seemed to understand the characters in ways I could not. Reading My Life in Middlemarch invoked a similar feeling within me. Rebecca Mead understood the characters on a level that transcended my own understanding. Mead’s explanations of each character highlighted their progress as people, not just as characters, and allowed me empathize more easily with characters that I hated.

Dorothea really bothered me throughout most of Middlemarch. I found her cerebral and charitable nature very annoying. I could not understand the impact of living in a town like Middlemarch, to be in the country with very little society or experience, having an intimate knowledge of your immediate surroundings but only a vague concept of life outside of your confines. Mead combats this beautifully when she speaks about her own journey to get out of her small English town and head off to university. Dorothea had a mix of arrogance and charity, a final spark of youthful innocence and optimism that I don’t really see in people her age (and im 20), and when I do, I run the other way. Mixing Dorothea’s story with her own allowed Mead to mire Dorothea in reality a bit more and helped me appreciate where Dorothea was coming from.

This illumination didn’t stop with Dorothea. Mead uses her personal journey and her years of experience and personality change to comment on how the reader’s relationship with the characters is a constant evolution. The young teenager Mead delighted in Dorothea where the older reader found solace for failed ambition with Lydgate and later with Celia. Mead also talked about Elliot’s personal evolution and how her growth showed up in her characters. There was something immensely special about understanding the change from idealistic Elliot to rebel (living with a married man) to mother. George Elliot became a person, much like her characters, though this reading. It is so easy to abandon the story of the author as the author gets lost among her creation. By breathing life into Elliot, several characters where explained.

Mead illuminated Middlemarch for me, making me tempted to go back and re-read it for myself and catch more of the subtle character changes. I think I will wait five years until I walk back into Middlemarch. Maybe I’ll finally have patience for Dorothea. Maybe I’ll not want to slap Rosamond. Maybe I’ll find my way back to these blog posts and be embarrassed by my lack of empathy. I can be certain that this book with still resonate with me, characters will find paramours in my real life, and my perception will most assuredly have evolved. Middlemarch is a personal journey, with each character representing different stages of life and understanding. And like any good home town, I know they will be waiting to welcome me home.

 

– Valerie Harrison

My-Life-in-Middlemarch

Reflections of My Life

There is so much information available in My Life in Middlemarch that is overwhelming.  The background, history of Eliot’s life and how it intertwined with the author was quite interesting.  It appears that in most cases, Rebecca Mead could identify with each of the characters at one or more points in her personal life journey.

But, what is very interesting are Mead’s story telling abilities for Ms. Mary Ann Evans.  Wild in her thoughts and actions, Mary Ann is truly an innovative woman.  She openly defied the confines of organized religion, set up house and openly lived as a husband and wife with a married man, was prosperous and a smart business woman in regards to her publications.   It surprises me in many ways is that during my educational years, George Eliot was not heralded as such a brave and unique woman.  The actions that Mary Ann Evans took were not in the norm and while it appears by Mead’s historical references Evans was not applauded but I did not gather that she had been ostracized as a person as much as maybe the Bulstrod’s.

But, in that same respect, through Meade we find evidence of Eliot’s life mimicked in Middlemarch in the same way that we can identify with the story in our personal lives the same that Meade does.  For example, in Eliot’s early life – she is much like Celia – seeing the world and rational as a young adult.  Celia was Dorothea’s balance and I also find Eliot like Dorothea – loving and devoted to the older gentleman and giving a great portion of her being to Thornie just as Dorothea did with Casaubon.  Eliot was chastised by many just as the Bulstrod’s and made positive impressions on the lives of others just as Mary and Fred.  I also found interesting the similarities in the idea of what some of us wished – if Dorothea and Lydgate would have come together.  I wondered if maybe their relationship would be similar and comfortable like Eliot and Lewes was.  When Eliot would be writing and Lewes would be “examining specimens under his microscope” (Mead pg. 249).  There is so many similarities between the author presented to us by Mead that an entire paper is possible to compile, but that is not my aim.

I find it ironic that Middlemarch is still so relevant.  Many of the same situations and busy body tendencies are still present in today’s times.  It makes me wonder if human kind has evolved at all with respect to social relationships.  We deal with gossip, snotty and snide people, those who have self-absorbed ideas who pleasure in shutting down the others around them.  I can pick out the Rosamund’s in my neighborhood.  These are the “keeping up with the Jone’s” type of people, usually as spouse who is jealous of others or wants to make the impression that they are successful when they are barely getting by.  I also know who the Bulstrod’s are and that I feel for them more because of reading Middlemarch.  I recognized immediately the gossip mongers in my neighborhood:  which is ironic as it is a group of men who walk their dogs together every morning instead of the town’s women gathering for tea in the shop down the street.  The neighbors around the corner from me is the Mary and Fred couple of the area.  You just go past their house and with the kids playing in the yard under Mom and Dad’s watchful eye and feel the love ooze from their home.

As for myself, I have yet to identify exactly who I most resemble.  In many ways, I feel as though I am much like Mead where different parts of my life can place me in different characters as times pass.  Overall, while I appreciated the in-depth analysis of all the characters in Mead’s book, I found the historical references more intriguing.  As a person who always prefers real or historical non-fiction as a general read the presentation that Mead gives us is so conversational I was surprised when it was finished opposed to when Eliot’s was completed I was relieved.  All being said, Mead has piqued my interest to go seek out and read (when I get some free time HA!) The Mill on the Floss.

Book-Eight

Black and White and Grey All Over

Middlemarch is a journey. I went from deeply hating almost every character (but Mary, who is, let’s face it, basically the best person ever) to cheering for Dorothea and Ladislaw and pitting Bulstrode. This is not your average happily ever after fairy tale, meant only to leave you with a feeling of wellbeing. It is a story that looks deeply at individuals and calls out each person’s character flaws while highlighting their redeeming qualities. For this reason, the characters are not bound in text—they take on a realistic life of their own. Children cannot understand Middlemarch. You have to live to see the world shift from black and white into shades of grey.

Take Bulstrode. He could easily be the villain of Middlemarch. He stole Ladislaw’s potential inheritance and blackened Ladislaw’s reputation. His inaction killed a man. The problem with this simplistic notion comes from his characterization. Bulstrode was just a man terrified to losing his reputation. He was an old man faced with oncoming physical death and the death of his legacy. Understanding his fear comes easily. Does that mean he is totally absolved of all sin? NO. But it does allow for leniency. It is this multifaceted characterization that George Elliot exploits in Middlemarch. Middlemarch reaches into the depth of the human experience to equalize all members of society.

Rank and social standing shifts in Middlemarch as easily as the weather. Social evolution and devolution happen at every social rank. The business men—Mr. Garth and Mr. Vincy—cling to prosperity with every shift in the economy. They both chose similar paths, though their personal morals determined the success of their family. The clergy—Mr. Casaubon and Mr. Farebrother—changes lives with just a few words. The former with his codicil and the latter with his “timely” speech to Fred. The ladies—Dorothea and Cecilia and Rosemond—all fall and rise on their own, whether or not they follow social standards.

This is echoed in the Finale. The son of Dorothea and Ladislaw “might have represented Middlemarch”, an opportunity that would never have been given to Ladislaw, for all of his mixed blood. Lydgate recovered his name and had a good living and provided for his family, leaving behind four daughters with a good shot at life. Rank can be dropped or gained, personally or generationally.

Middlemarch doesn’t discount social standing. It has very real effects on the physical and mental health of many characters. Peer pressure inhibits actions and feelings, but is also a counter measure to bad behavior. There is a natural balance that exists because people so not want to face the ire of the larger community. However, by exploring different lifestyles and characters, Middlemarch gives a voice to everyone. In this way, the separation between different people becomes arbitrary. In consequence, you should always be nice to your neighbor because you never know when your neighbor will die and leave his property to a hitherto unknown illegitimate son who will then sell it to you, but not until after exposing your identity to the one man who knows the secret to your utter destruction. But that could never happen in real life. I mean, what are the odds?

– Valerie Harrison

Book-Seven

Divorce isn’t an Option

Marriage is a problem in Middlemarch because no one seems to enter into a partnership; rather, couples enter on severely uneven footing and find the marriage very unstable as a consequence. Mr. Casaubon wanted a secretary and nurse where Dorothea wanted a teacher. Celia wanted a nice gentleman and Sir James wanted Dorothea. Lydgate loved Rosamond and Rosamond loved his social standing.

For Lydgate, Book 7 was a tale of one hardship after another. One of my favorite literary quotes comes from The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton. In a scene where a man is straining under the newly-dawned yoke of marriage, Wharton comments that “he took refuge in the comforting platitude that the first six months were always the most difficult in marriage. “After that I suppose we shall have pretty nearly finished rubbing off each other’s angles,” he reflected; but the worst of it was that May’s pressure was already bearing on the very angles whose sharpness he most wanted to keep”. Lydgate has lost all of his prized angles. For him, marriage is literally the root of all evil. His debt stems from overspending in an attempt to provide for his new wife. Under this debt, which is widely known about through Middlemarch, Lydgate stops his scientific experiments. He considers begging for a loan from his family. He belittles himself to Bulstrode. And has every door slammed in his face. He becomes sickly. His practice begins to flounder. It is through these hardships that it is plainly visible that Lydgate loves Rosamond.  He deals with the “pain of foreseeing that Rosamond would come to regard him chiefly as the cause of disappointment and unhappiness”, even crying after she rebukes him. His character transformation has gone from a man with a purpose and grand plans to a shell of a man with little recourse left to him.  This fall works to reinforce the notion that one-sided love cannot make a marriage endure.  I wanted to step into the book and slap Rosamond when she declared that she “wished she had died with the baby” just because she was facing a reduction in her standard of living. I truly feel for Lydgate. After all, how do you go on fighting when the one you love looks at you as a failure?

This whole fiasco is compounded by Rosamond constantly going behind Lydgate’s back. She writes to his uncle and speaks to her father when he expressly did not want her to. She blocks the downsizing of their house, though it might have been their last refuge. She does not care about his opinion in these matters. It is a stereotypical role reversal. In stereotypical family units, the man takes care of financial matters and the women looks after the house, taking care to live within the means she is provided with. In the Lydgate house, Rosamond has no concept of budgeting and bullies and manipulates Lydgate into solutions that will not solve any of their financial problems. Rosamond holds all the cards and is the real power in her house.

This book delves into what marriage means. Is it a pathway to social climb? Should it be sued to secure education? Is there a benefit to losing part of yourself in another person? In reality, Middlemarch gives plenty of examples of marriages that are fundamentally skewed and cracked. In a time where divorce does not happen, Middlemarch provides several test cases that demand choosing a partner carefully.

– Valerie Harrison

Book-Five

Out of Control

Total control over your life is never going to happen. Try as we might, the guiding hand of fate will push us down stairs we are trying to climb up, will shove us off course, and generally mess up all of the best laid plans. Control is a central issue of Book 5. Characters fight for it, lose it, and die for it, and no one ever fully attains it.

The most blatant example of the need for control happens to Dorothea. Even before the death of Mr. Casaubon, Dorothea is unhappy with the idea of blindly agreeing to a promise to Mr. Casaubon because she felt “the need of freedom asserting itself within her”. Though Mr. Casaubon never receives that promise, he still is found to have added a codicil to his will stripping Dorothea of her inheritance should she marry Ladislaw. Mr. Casaubon seeks to control Dorothea from the grave. His jealousy and impending death, coupled with the prospect of leaving nothing worthwhile behind him, prompts him to grab at any avenue of control—and the only lane left is Dorothea. His desperation for control is evident and highlights the desperation jealously and impending death can instill.

Ladislaw fights for control as well. He is “a sort of gypsy, rather enjoying the sense of belonging to no class; he had a feeling of romance in his position” of transience. Ladislaw takes control of his life by being a nomad. He refuses to shackle himself to any place or person. He gives himself complete autonomy in order to feel in control as his own man. This changes as he decides that “no other woman could sit higher that [Dorothea’s] footstool”. It’s not that he loves her; rather, he wants to save her, “regardless of “whatever fire-breathing dragons might hiss around her”. Ladislaw wants to play the hero and wrest Dorothea from the grasp of Mr. Casaubon, the grasp of married and settled life. He wants to play the white knight, without having an escape plan. Ladislaw takes control through chaos.

Bulstrode begins to lose control with the appearance of Mr. Raffles. Bulstrode goes so far as to say that “independence… could be supplied to [Raffles], if [he] would engage to keep at a distance”. While nothing bad immediately happens, and Bulstrode successfully bribes Raffles to leave, the threat still lingers on the horizon. Bulstrode’s success is threatened, and his potential control over his life is weakened.  Simultaneously, Lydgate’s debts begin to come due. Lydgate has great potential—he has a new hospital, he has a large and growing client base, and is a better healer than the other doctors in Middlemarch. Lydgate receives a notice “insisting on the payment of a bill for furniture”, indicating that he hasn’t been paying back all his bills in a timely fashion or at all. He is at risk of losing respectability, as he bought most of his household goods on credit.

Mr. Brooks is up for election in his district. The only problem is that he is completely out of touch with his salt of the earth neighbors. He rambles about “Machinery, now, and machine-breaking…it won’t due, you know, breaking machines”. He fails to capture is audience because he doesn’t know them. Mr. Brooks becomes a fool during this speech—as much because of his own inability to make speeches as his inability to relate to his audience. The crowd, and by extension, his whole neighborhood is out of his control.

Book 5 sees all of these men begin to feel the pressures of outside elements. Whether it be debt, family, delusions of grandeur, generally being out of touch, or jealously, something inevitably pops up leaving the character in a tail spin, highlighting the cracks in every carefully cultivated persona.

– Valerie Harrison

Book-Four

Men Troubles

Three Love Problems was spent largely exposing the faults of the men in Middlemarch. The women have faults of course—Dorothea is oblivious and Rosamond is needy and blind to the dangers in front of her. But the men, while they undeniably had issues in the previous books, where roasted in this book.

Mr. Casaubon is stuck in a rut of territorial jealously. He is isolating Dorothea from Ladislaw because he sees Ladislaw as a potential enemy. In reality, Ladislaw is a foil for Mr. Casaubon. Ladislaw is young, intelligent, and understands new ideas and concepts. Mr. Casaubon is bogged down with age, and while he is intelligent, he is facing the knowledge that his research may be obsolete before he even sets pen to paper for an academic work. Ladislaw listens to Dorothea and treats her like her words have value—something Dorothea does not find in her husband. Ladislaw is everything Mr. Casaubon wishes he was or could be again. This is a problem that will only grow and it betrays Mr. Casaubon as a frightened old man, scared of losing Dorothea—his nurse, secretary, and maid. The cracks in this character are deepened considerably in this book, though the faults are, on the whole, pitiable.

Ladislaw does not escape unharmed. He specifically stays in Middlemarch for Dorothea. He wants to save her from her folly in marrying Mr. Casaubon, and therefor interjects himself into her society with much gusto. However, his actions put a tremendous pressure on the Casaubon’s marriage. It is undeniably selfish for Ladislaw to ignore his uncle (and benefactor) so completely for such selfish reasons. In the end, it will be Dorothea who will suffer the wrath of Mr. Casaubon, and she will not even understand why he will be angry with her. It is Ladislaw’s youthful belief in his ability to right wrongs and be a savior that show him to be misguided and selfish.

And then there is Fred. I really hate Fred. His behavior is constantly pardoned by everyone—his parents, the Garths, and Middlemarch society in general.   Even Mrs. Garth finds herself “ready to think well of him again when he gives [her] good reason to do so” though it was merely a quirk of fate that kept the Garths from feeling the unfriendly effects of the loss of the money for Fred’s debts. Fred send the vicar as “an envoy” to tell the Garths that “he is going away, and that he his miserable about the debt…, and his inability to pay, that he can’t bear to come himself even to bid [them] good by”.  Fred cannot bring himself to apologize or inform the garths himself that he is leaving. Sending an envoy highlights his cowardly nature and is inexcusable. Fred leaves knowing that he will be leaving behind a family is tight financial straits and a damaged future. I feel like he will see the good fortune of Mr. Garth’s new position as fate intervening on his own behalf and settling his debts, rather than remaining in the debt of the Garths. Fred has no right to be relieved because he seriously messed up. He is fundamentally a coward who relies on fate to bolster him. He feels entitled to a good life. I hope he grows up, but I am not holding out much hope.

Interpersonal relations remain a struggle for the people in Middlemarch. They are becoming real people rather than characters—they have disappointments, good characteristics, bad habits, health problems, and struggle with money. I hope they also have the capacity to grow.

-Valerie Harrison

Book-Six

My Good Name

The age old saying that pride comes before the fall is true; too much pride leads to arrogance and complacency. However, everyone must have a little pride—pride in their work, in themselves, in their capacity for faith. Pride demands that we walk a line. For several Middlemarch residents, personal pride, healthy and otherwise, is being challenged, putting many characters in situations they are not comfortable with.

Lydgate is deeply in debt and his pride is the main reason why. His motives were sweet; he just wanted to provide his new wife with a nice life. Unfortunately, his pride keeps him spiraling deeper into debt because he is controlled by what he thinks society demands a man with a good living ‘should’ have. He can’t immediately sell off possessions because he “thought he was obliged” to maintain a certain standard of living. It is so painful to see him struggle with this pride. Telling Rosamond that they needed to scale back was excruciating. Lydgate has nowhere to turn—he refuses to ask his father in law for help and cannot repossess the healing he dispensed when people don’t pay him for his service. It is touching that Lydgate does not sell the jewelry. He wants to badly to provide for his wife and not take back wedding gifts. He reveals himself to truly love Rosamond, while Rosemond acts like a child and pouts and goes to daddy for help. This stress may humble Lydgate, but he still struggles to provide for Rosamond over himself or his honor.

And then there is Ladislaw. I never truly believed that he loved Dorothea until this book. He always described her in terms of classical, unparalleled beauty, to the extent where his adoration bordered on worship rather than love. However, he hastens to leave Middlemarch when he finds out about the codicil and realizes the effect it could have on her—and his—honor in the eyes of their neighbors. His pride cannot stand being besmirched by gossip. Ladislaw would rather leave Middlemarch for good than have his honor questioned.

Ladislaw turns down the offer of financial assistance from Bulstrode for pride as well. Ladislaw knows that the money from his mother’s family was gotten by dishonorable means. At a time where Ladislaw is questioning his own honor and knows the town is doing likewise, it would be forsaking his own honor to accept the money from Bulstrode. Further, Bulstrode is motivated by pride and honor. He realizes that he is dishonorable—though unwilling to let go of his position of respect attempts to atone by bribing Ladislaw. This Hail Mary is repugnant. Bulstrode makes sure Ladislaw realizes that he has no legal claim on the money, thus protecting his interests while attempting to atone for his sin. Bulstrode is characterized as a clearly impotent, dishonorable old man, trying to eke out some semblance of forgiveness before he dies. By refusing the money, Ladislaw cements his good character and condemns all dishonorable action by Bulstrode —the best punishment that could have happened.

 

– Valerie Harrison

Book-Eight

A Roller Coaster of Emotion

Book 8 brings to a close my dynamic journey amongst selected characters in George Eliot’s Middlemarch. My particular favorites, Dorothea and Lydgate, faced difficult situations in their marriages, but never ultimately submitted to the anguish they suffered. Rather, they shared a personal honesty that won me over.

 

Dorothea’s impetuous generosity (p 733) gave encouragement to Lydgate when everyone else, including friendly Mr. Farebrother, doubted the young doctor’s conduct. Her bold attitude countered the prevailing opinion that Lydgate accepted a bribe in order to protect his community reputation. Tertius, overwhelmed by Dorothea’s belief in his goodness, unburdened his marital troubles, including his wife’s rebuffs, to this gentle, trustworthy soul. Dorothea not only listened with keen empathy, but she was impelled to call on Rosamund, urging reconciliation between husband and wife. I observed in Dorothea’s behavior a brave and unconventional woman who behaved unselfishly. Her argument that human nature may be rescued and healed (p 735) might sound naïve… until her return trip to the Lydgate’s house after the horrifying shock of discovering Will sitting (intimately, in her opinion) beside Rosamund. The young widow’s pride and self-assurance vanished as she supposed Will’s love for her to be a sham. Yet, during an agonizing night, she came to the conclusion that three lives (p788) (Lydgate, Rosamund, and Will) depended on her ability to free them from permanent self-destruction. Her decision contrasts with Rosamund’s high opinion of herself in which she expected marriage to be a glory to her (p756). Bitter (and immature) disappointment drove Rosamund to cling to the mistaken belief that Will would suit her better. Listen to the author’s accurate description of the Lydgate’s level of communication: the silence between them became intolerable to him; it was as if they were both adrift on one piece of wreck and looked away from each other (p 756)…an evocative image.

 

Dorothea’s motives, as pure as they appear, may have arisen from the need to distract her empty heart. Rosamund’s surprise at not receiving Dorothea’s anger at her return, resulted in a release of mutual sorrow, and for a minute or two they clasped each other as if they had been in a shipwreck (p 797). Dorothea’s vulnerability and insight from her own short marriage, prompted Rosamund to disclose the true object of Will’s affection. Hopefully Dorothea, so full of kindly feelings towards men, experienced a fresh appreciation of marriage, full of an unleashed passion from her chaste soul. And even though Rosamund lost an imaginary lover, she remained the focus of her husband’s affection, never realizing the pain and disappointment she triggered in his heart. Lydgate had chosen this fragile creature, and had taken the burthen of her life upon his arms. He must walk as he could, carrying that burthen pitifully. (p 800)

 

Lydgate’s attraction to lovely Rosamund was the source of his unceasing devotion to a wife who became his downfall. He recognized his illusory hope for their relationship to deepen in fellow compassion. Loyalty to her, above his own sensibility, compromised his aspirations for a career of progressive medicine, supported by research. It was heartbreaking to me when Lydgate came to the realization that only those who know the supremacy of the intellectual life- the life which has a seed of ennobling thought and purpose within it- can understand the grief of one who falls from the serene activity into the absorbing soul-wasting struggle with worldly annoyances (p 737). His decision to face the town’s defamation of his personal integrity and medical practice was a poignant turning point in his career. Perhaps the loss of Lydgate’s enlightened approach to medical treatments was the cause of his early death from a common infectious disease. I think Dorothea’s words are a fair tribute to him: To love what is great, and try to reach it, and yet to fail (p 764).

 

Three more couples deserve mention. The Bulstrode marriage can be summed up in the quotation before chapter 74: Mercifully grant that we may grow aged together (Book of Tobit, Marriage Prayer). Like Dorothea with Mr. Casaubon, Mrs. B dutifully and lovingly stood beside her husband, despite disapproving and hurtful comments from her circle of acquaintances. She was a loyal spirit (p 749), but she had real feelings and needed to sob out her farewell to all the gladness and pride of her life (p 750). Mrs. B. embraced humiliation, by removing all that was superfluous to her previous existence, as she tenderly and compassionately bore her husband’s shame with him. I respect her decision. I also wonder if Dorothea, whose temperament of mercy, pity, love, and peace, embodies William Blake’s quotation from the ‘Songs of Innocence’ (p 760), will reach out (in days to come) to the innocent wife of Mr. Bulstrode? I expect the woman who lived faithfully a hidden life, and rests in an unvisited tomb (p 838) remained true to herself.

 

Mary and Fred, who represented humor and hopefulness, especially for each other, achieved a solid mutual happiness (p 832). When Aunt Bulstrode sought to do something charitable for her brother’s family, it was Fred (who was given Stone Court) and Mary who benefitted.

 

Celia’s devoted sisterly love for Dorothea was her one encouraging attribute, in my opinion. She and Sir James Chettam deserve each other’s trivial quest for acceptability.

A sunset of dreams ended in sorrow for the Bulstrode and Lydgate marriages. A sunrise of love finally united Dorothea to Will, and Fred with his Mary. George Eliot’s talent to explore so many sides of our human psyche lent maturity to her novel Middlemarch. I was satisfied with this book for grown-up people (p. xxii, Virginia Woolf).

 

Tudy Hill

Book-Seven

A View of the Townspeople

Book seven was definitely the buildup section to the end of the book and while all the attention was focused on Bulstrode, Lydgate, Dorothea and Rosamund, I was personally appalled at the town’s people.  I know that scandal is a tinder wood for gossip but I felt sorry for those involved in the middle of it.  For the most part, they had no clue for some time.  I also do not understand why the people would take the word of a drifter as truth instead of asking those who have lived among them.

I understand that when Mr. Garth was approached, he kept his word and did not divulge the information, but his attitude was well know.  He did not agree nor disagree to it, and did not expand and the real culprit is Mr. Hawley.  Mr. Hawley approached and questioned Mr. Garth and just like a game of telephone, the statement of Mr. Garth was so misconstrued that it “had quite lost the stamp of inference” (pg 718).  So, this whole situation was made worse by the gossips and appeared that Mr. Garth was the one who started it.  Such a mess.

The town was so upset that Rosamund was wooed and pulled to a newcomer that, as Trudy previously pointed out, was able to “carry off the prettiest girl in town” (pg 639).  Since Lydgate was already under suspicion it still seems strange that he would be automatically deemed an accomplice on the word of a ragged man, Mr. Raffles.  – Side bar: his name is great, he completed ruffled (raffled) up the community.  – But the town’s people took this unknown as truth verses one that was in their company for a while.  Mr. Raffles was even able to get the people on his side in death with the situation calling him a “poor creetur” and a “finer gentleman” than Mr. Bulstrode (pg 724).  If they would have actually encountered him and interacted with the people, I do not believe that Mr. Raffles would have impacted Middlemarch so much with his waggling tongue.

As for Mr. Bulstrode, he too was treated and never told of anything either, but as he stated, people didn’t care for him much of the time anyway because of his business so he was unaware that anything was different in the town gossip. With a completely awful outing at the town meeting, I truly thought that Mr. Bulstrode was going to have a heart attack and collapse.  It probably would have turned out better for him and his family if he had.     I do acknowledge that Bulstrode contributed to Raffles death.  Raffles was a chronic alcoholic and Lydgate never really said what was wrong with him, just what not to give him.  Bulstrode deliberately did not advise his maid to refrain from giving him alcohol and even gave her the key to the cellar.  Contributed only because without that habit, Raffles would have never been sick.  I will fully admit that I wanted Bulstrode to kill Raffles, but would have preferred that it was done by smothering and not being a coward and sending his maid to do it.  Regarding his personal holiness that was in his own mind, he preached at others but he never listened to the sermon of another which would skew his view.  I vaguely wonder if he may have had some mental deficiencies.  But, I think an ending of Bulstrode going to jail / prison would have satisfied me more.

On the same point, Raffles was diagnosed with alcohol poisoning, most likely alcoholism and an ill-functioning liver, which was confirmed by the other doctors.  These same doctors defended Lydgate’s practices and that he did nothing wrong and yet the people still believe Lydgate to be a scoundrel and he lost more patients.  No one bothered to mention to the townspeople that alcohol poisoning creates delirium would could negate the information that Raffles provided as was provided by Lydgate at the initial consultation.

I guess, all the towns people really wanted to have a new scandal.  It created business, as this information “required dinners on it” and any and all ladies “went out to tea” oftener (pg 723).  It seems that there was not this much commotion or business and socializing since the auction earlier.  People and their reactions are very interesting to me. I am also still amazed that no matter what the time or era, people still gossip mongers and how many others are destroyed during chin-wagging.  Mrs. Bulstrode is the largest loser of the group, she lost everything.  Even if she would have submitted and left or divorced her husband, she would then become the divorcee which would have ousted her from the Middlemarch community.  Valerie was right early on in Book Three – maybe they should have all considered moving.

Vickie Culpepper

Book-Five

Doting on Dorothea

My frustrations with Eliot’s characters, which I found overwhelming at the beginning of my readings, have begun to evolve into genuine interest in their livelihoods–at least for certain Middlemarch residents.  During the early chapters of this novel, I found that I didn’t respond deeply to any of the introduced characters, despite the many pages which were devoted to their respective plights.  Few characters drew my interest–the Garths, Fred, Ladislaw–but in reading Book Five, my interest and sympathies have extended to the widowed Dorothea.

 

When I first began Middlemarch (last summer, before promptly giving up in the middle of Book Two), I found Dorothea rather insufferable.  Her naivete, her rushed marriage, her surface-level plans for Sir James’ cottage improvements:  all elements combined to have me barely tolerate the chapters devoted to her experiences within the novel.  On my second attempt, I find myself giving Dorthea a more fair chance, especially now that she has suffered the loss of her husband, the loss of the only person who pays her any attention in Will Ladislaw, and the unwarranted pity of her sister and brother-in-law.

 

A number of scenes in Book Five have softened my heart towards Dorothea and show the maturity that she has begun to develop during her tumultuous and unhappy marriage. She still struggles in communication with Mr. Casaubon, putting off his important request on the evening before his death because she does not know how to react to his newly passionate demeanor.  She has slowly begun to consider her own needs before those of her husband and of their relationship when she hesitates to answer his request to follow his wishes, answering “in a clear voice, the need of freedom asserting itself within her” (B5, Ch. 48).  She soon regrets her decision to blow off Casaubon, seeking him out the next morning only to find that he has died during his morning walk without ever having the chance to share with her his important request.  The dichotomy of her concern for her husband and her attempts to protect herself from his cold demeanor shows that she no longer unquestioningly puts his happiness and importance above her own but understands that she must compromise sometimes to make their relationship work.

 

Her maturity is further contrasted with her sister’s silliness when Dorthea goes to live at Freshitt following Casaubon’s death.  Celia unfeelingly tells Dorthea about the mystery codicil and rushes her mourning period “for not only was baby quite well, but really when a husband had been so dull and troublesome while he lived” there was no reason to be melancholy while staying with the Chettams (B5, Ch. 50).  Dorothea is constantly seen as more rational and caring than Celia during her stay with the Chettams, a direct foil to the way their relationship was introduced in Book One when Celia better understands Sir James intentions and anticipates Mr. Casaubon’s dullness.  The elder sister’s growth is also evident in her considerations and motivations to help the lowly residents of Middlemarch between Books One and Five.  In Book One, she quickly forgets her plans to rebuild the cottages with Sir James when his romantic intentions are revealed and her budding relationship with Casaubon begins to take over.  In contrast within Book Five, Dorothea deeply considers the long term effect which the new vicar at Lowick will have on its residents.  She tells Lydgate that Tyke’s sermons are too righteous for the neighbors that she now knows well.  Instead of the apocryphal preachings of Tyke, she wishes for a vicar who knows that “[i]t is surely better to pardon too much, than to condemn too much” (B5, Ch. 50).  Her insight into the needs of the community to whom she now feels responsible and her research into Mr. Farebrother’s sermon abilities shows that she has a genuine interest in helping the residents of her and Casaubon’s parish and will do everything she can to continue to serve them.

 

Dorothea’s growth throughout this novel has softened my once harsh criticisms of her.  Whereas she came off as being young and overly eager in the early books of this novel, her rather unhappy life following her marriage to Mr. Casaubon has resulted in an accelerated introduction to adulthood.  Her once naive visions about helping all those around her, from the poor residents of her community to becoming the helpmate of her husband, have evolved into a stronger consideration for her own happiness and a more genuine interest in helping those she cares for.  Her decision to vacate Freshitt and return to her duties at Lowick in the first chapter of Book Six shows me that her evolution will continue throughout the rest of the novel, and hopefully my esteem for her will continue to grow.

 

Elizabeth Hatcher

Book-Eight

Disappointment

Despair and a little annoyed is how I am left with the close of Middlemarch.  The lead character, Dorothea, held so much promise in all the good that she could do in Middlemarch that I am disappointed with her.  There were moments of a great aptitude for business that she held.  Her work in funding the hospital, the school bell, the improvements and all the other things that she was getting involved in.  Dorothea was becoming a strong woman in a place controlled by men and had a good hold of things to get her own way.  Her decision to marry Will is all good and fine, but I was hoping that she would offer to sell the Lowick Estate to Sr. James and Celia to combine the properties (neighboring) since they had a family monopoly going on.  This way, Dorothea could have emptied out the Estate of Casaubon and used the money for proceeds.  She could have established trusts and funds for the hospital, infirmary, the school and all the other items that she wanted to get involved in.  If given a little time, she could have influenced Farebrother’s sister to become involved in her capacity as she had shown similar Dorothea like qualities in her compassion and demeanor.  Mary would have been an excellent choice to help facilitate the changes.

I also wanted more information on the outcome of Mr. and Mrs. Bulstrode.  Yes, he is a hypocrite and did some stupid things, but made no effort (that we are aware of) to clear his name or look for the support that was given to him.  Even when all came out regarding everything to Dorothea and she took on her Knight in Shining armor act, she could have done something.  She was the holder of secretes to all and with the amount of respect everyone was always giving her, one would think that she would have done something more than reimburse him.

For that matter, Dorothea could have had will contact Bulstode to get back the money of Will’s inheritance and then turned that into an endowment or trust for even further good.  Instead, she just let all the money go to waste.  I know that she said it was an albatross and that she did not want it, just as Will did not want his money that was by unsavory methods but they could have taken it to advance their philanthropic ways.  In the name of Casausbon or his mother.  Dorothea had so much potential with her thoughts and plans, that I am disappointed that she did not use those talents in a better way.  In my opinion, taking money that you don’t want and giving to the Church or other goodwill ways would be a better way to do their good.

I am also disappointed in the majority of it all being “a happily ever after” story.  Everyone turned out, for the most part, happy.  Will and Dorothea lived a do-good life in London, Rosamund got her golden spoon in the end, Lydgate I am sure was adored by his children, and Celia got her sister back and the children kept the estates in the family just as Sir James wanted.  The only ones that did not get their way was the Bulstrode’s to a degree, she did not get to stay in Middlemarch (probably a good thing), but he did not lose his wife, which was his biggest fear.  I believe that Bulstrode could have remained in seclusion on the outskirts of Middlemarch as long as he kept his beloved.  Even though he was a despicable businessman, I believe that he was very devoted to his wife.  The words shared by Eliot about their relationship were few, but what we did have gave me the impression that their relationship was built on mutual love and adoration for each other.  I am not surprised that she did not leave him, while awful, it was not done when she was with him or even knew him.  And I don’t know why everyone got so huffy about it, all they ever worried about was how much everyone had and how much they would get for their wives to be dowries.

Overall, I am disappointed and wanted a little more thorough of a closure.  We get drawn into their lives, like they are our neighbors only to get a snippet of the after effects.  While my whining will not change then ending, I still am left wanting a little more.

 

Vickie Culpepper

Book-Six

Education, Smeducation

While Middlemarch occupies us with gossip, love and politics-another subject that is repetitively brought up is education.  Much discussion is centered on the quality of education and the necessity of it.  Fred started with University and then left due to his poor grades.  After failing spectacularly as a young man, although in fair honesty he had a lot of help from his parents, he did complete his B.A. only to be promptly chastised by Mr. Garth on the lack of his abilities.  Fred questions Mr. Garth asking if he is “too old to learn” his business and is reassured that while the education is not learned from books, a “foundation” can still be laid to provide Fred with a future (pg. 561).  Mr. Garth does not question Fred’s learning ability but questions the quality of Fred’s foundation.

What strikes me most is the critique Mr. Garth offers regarding Fred’s education.  This evaluation is age old and often raised, as it is today, about how the education of people impact the future.  Mr. Garth exclaims at the faulty penmanship of Fred and observes that “to think that this is a country where man’s education may cost hundreds and hundreds” only to turn out a poor product (pg 566).  What is interesting is how the penmanship statement is relevant today.  Not only a personal statement, penmanship presents a picture to the world – careful letters and straight lines show care and attention to detail.  Architects are taught how to write in the standard block style on blueprints before they are introduced to CAD.  A need for handwriting analysts for verifying signatures is necessary.

As some know, cursive writing is no longer taught in many public schools.  I wonder at how foregoing the instruction of manuscript may impact our future?  How will students be able to read historic documents which are full of beautiful and careful script?  It is commonly known that with technology so prevalent in our culture the need for certain talents are negligible.  I can see in the future that cursive writing will soon be regarded as a “fancy” ability, where cursive is only taught at a defunct finishing school or other private institution, just as calligraphy was dropped from the norm as well.  Possibly, there will be some parents who see the need for this style to remain with our culture.  I know that I was taught calligraphy – both to write and read – when I was in about fourth grade.  Granted, I went to a non-traditional grade school, but remember distinctly being told by the teacher that to have this ability will help in college and in business.  Hand written thank your and letters are a norm and the ability to read historical documents, as in our Constitution, would be necessary.  This is something that I still use today, in thank you letters and reading documents from the past.  Script is very important.  It often shows the type of person you are and the care that you take with certain matters.

Recently, I was shopping and overheard a conversation between two employees.  One girl, who recently graduated from high school told her manager that she was not able to read a sign in the employee area.  This grabbed my interest and I was plainly eavesdropping.  The manager asked her why, and the girl said that it was something that they were not taught, that the style of writing was not presented to their class for reading.  The type face was Lucinda Calligraphy.  It’s a standard script found in most computer programs, and often in company emails to present a more personal style of closing an email.  I was shocked to find that this is a standard.  I wanted to ask how she signed her name, was it just printed or did she just give up and put a big X?  Is this what our society is reduced too – an educational system or standard that is subpar and unable to take the time to recognize and teach a writing style that is centuries old?

Shaking my head, I continued on with my shopping.  I felt sorry for the girl, thinking of all the things that she will not experience because of her inability to read cursive writing.  How is she going to read others signatures?  Will she be able to appreciate the historical documents of our country?  How is this going to impact her future?  Can all we look forward to is atrocious spelling, computer typeface and made up words with shortcuts established to get our meaning across in one-hundred eighty characters or less?  I feel sorry for our future persons who will not appreciate the written cursive word.

I am an avid support of technology – the ability to store important documents on a flash drive, email and text a friend in a manner of seconds and I support companies and entities that endorse paperless environments.  But there are a few things that I can’t seem to let go.  I love books, not Kindles and Nooks, but books.  I don’t want to read by the glow of a blue light or give up my favorite bookmark.  There is something so wonderful in the joy of holding the heft of the pages, the feel of the pages and being able to smell the glue which binds it to it spine.  I adore the ability to make my own notes in the margins (in script, mind you) and skim effortlessly to find them and even the ability to flip through the pages quickly where they run into a blur.  I love the ability to write a pretty and thoughtful letter to a friend instead of sending an email or calling.  But more significantly, I love how I sign my name.  It’s a personal statement and gives so much information about the personality of who is writing it.  I’d rather keep my signature instead of an X or *cringe* a thumbprint or even *horrifying* to lick the paper to seal it with my DNA.

Mr. Garth brings up a great point to Fred:  his penmanship is “disgusting” and he needs to consider the consequences of it (pg. 566).  Just as Mr. Gath advises, Fred must take the time to “form the letters and keep a straight line” in order to prevent “sending puzzles” across the country (pg. 566).  Even if Fred did not go into Mr. Garths profession, his penmanship would affect his abilities as a clergy man.  Letters and notes of congratulations or sympathy would need to be drafted.  Clarification and documentation for death and weddings and births would have to be officiated – how could Fred not be able to foresee how his writing would impact others?   He would be sending out cryptic messages into the unknown, where in the case of our current students – will they be haunted by the ghostly script of Dickens or Shakespeare sending them cryptic messages they are unable to read?  In the future, students will not be able to read cursive without the aid of a computer program that transcribes it into plain text.  Does this mean that the rare books collection will soon be lost too?  Would Rebecca Mead even bothered to visit the New York Public Library to touch, smell and see in person the script of her idol, George Elliot, if she had not been taught to read and write cursive (Mead pg 11)?  Right now, the future is uncertain.  I hope school districts don’t forget the importance of cursive script, otherwise we will live in a world of abridged manuscripts and forgotten words because someone could not “translate” the code.  Cursive writing my well become the next hieroglyphics.   

Vickie Culpepper

Book-Seven

Responsibility respected…or shunned?

Two persons are tempted… but, in my opinion, one will survive intact, while the other collapses. The author’s skill of maintaining interesting dialogue, stimulated by exceptional portrayals of how the human mind thinks, is fascinating. George Eliot has a true gift for analyzing why people make the choices they do.

 

Lydgate was not held in high esteem by the local community, so his credit crisis is met with derision. Partly they are influenced by his ability to carry off the prettiest girl in town (p639); and Middlemarch doctors are apprehensive of Lydgate’s vision of medical reform, because it might dislodge their own unchallenged position of authority. Rosamund belonged to the town/she was one of them; therefore, any financial arrears must be due to the outsider ’s flaws.

 

Lydgate, an innate ‘giver’ (to his profession and to his wife), did not grasp the extent of his overspending until he realized that his job was not sufficient to support their lifestyle. Rosamund, always the center of attention, could not comprehend any needs or desires but her own.

 

When Mr Farebrother noticed that Lydgate seemed bored (p641), he offered a friendly ear, but Lydgate felt threatened by this innocent gesture. The young physician was afraid to lose control of his life and admit failure in both marriage and profession. Plagued by monetary worry, he was distracted from his enthusiasm for medicine. Prospects were grim when he confessed to himself that incompatibility is chiefly between scientific ambition and a wife who objects to that kind of residence. (P 679) Reaching out to her, emotionally, she responded with a lukewarm regard, and Lydgate dreaded a future without affection (P 649).

 

Rosamund did not have the ability to comprehend another’s viewpoint if it caused pain or discomfort to herself. Her retorts to Lydgate regarding why they must downsize, centered on social class and personal riches, and she blamed the lowering of his reputation, not her own selfish fears. Lydgate’s anger was stoked when she made financial decisions behind his back. Making no effort to work with him, his emotional outbursts only convinced her of her own virtue. Rosamund had learned how to manipulate the social system of male dominance, using pitiable complaints and tears… forcing her husband to back down on any rational proposals to deal with their debt. When her plans went awry, he shouldered the burden and disappointment. Rosamund’s feminine charms were her impenetrable defense.

 

What frightened Lydgate most about their vulnerable relationship? To lose his love for her, would mean there was nothing to bind them. So the young physician gave up his unrealistic expectation of an ideal wife who would devotedly honor and obey him. With the added disappointment of ignoring his research, he couldn’t bear to lose anymore of his hopes. Rosamund, on the other hand, gave up easily, when her airy conditions for happiness in marriage had not been met (P 661).

 

What could Lydgate do besides beg, borrow, or gamble … none of which fit his temperament. Pushed to the brink, he showed up at the local pub, startling Fred, who immediately turned away from his plan to gamble that night. Sensitive souls, like Fred and Mr. Farebrother, saw through Lydgate’s strange behavior, as they provided temporary rescue.

 

Soon enough, Lydgate’s humiliating circumstances compelled him to face Bulstrode, asking for a gift of 1000 pounds. At first, the banker denied, until the sorry episode with Raffles triggered an immediate change of heart. Bulstrode’s ‘gift’ was only offered with the intention of preventing the anguish of an imminent disgrace (P 688). But his devious payment to his protege is secondary to the evil deed he committed of Raffles’ murder. How heart-rending, but true, that a ‘man of God’ chose the path of dishonesty, initially to expand his ministry, but ultimately believing that his way was more important than God’s way. Bulstrode lost respect for human compassion, thus God’s voice was silent in his consciousness. Lydgate’s suffering on account of his natural empathy has the potential to result in his renewal; whether that includes his marriage remains to be seen.

 

Tudy Hill

 

 

Book-Eight

Be Careful What You Wish For

All good things must come to an end, even if we wish they could go on forever. All season must end to give birth to a new season. All of childhood must end so a person can open a new chapter in their life. School must end, but learning never does. All stories must end not all have happy endings. Middlemarch did end with a few more twists than one would expect in a nineteenth century novel.

It was surprising that even though Rosamond was married, she had a sort of forbidden romantic feelings for Mr. Ladislaw that she thought were reciprocated. She seemed to think that Mr. Ladislaw was going to whisk her away from Middlemarch and her husband. Her hasty marriage and engagement was a really bad idea when she decided to marry Mr. Lydgate. Even when Mr. Lydgate was able to pay off his financial debt by borrowing money from Mr. Bulstrode he had a high social price to pay. The people in town ostracized Mr. Lydgate. It is in bad taste to borrow money even if you will pay it back.

The citizens of Middlemarch feel that Mrs. Bulstrode is trapped in a horrible marriage since they think that Mr. Bulstrode killed John Raffles by disregarding Mr. Lydgate’s advice while Mr. Bulstrode took care of him.

Then there is Dorothea’s problem. She had to go and encourage Rosamond not to leave Middlemarch since Rosamond keeps urging Mr. Lydgate to do so due to the fact she is embarrassed and cannot wait to get out. However Dorothea sees Rosamond and Ladislaw in a compromising position and feels embarrassed and leaves rather hastily. Ladislaw can’t help, but goes after Dorothea and tells her that he has no interest in Rosamond.

In the end even though Dorothea looses all of her land that she actually hates she marries Ladislaw and they decide to live off of her 700 pounds a year and know that they will be happy together. Celia feels like her sister betrayed her since Dorothea told Celia she will never get married again. Dorothea does have a son and since Chettam has decided to cut off contact Celia feels hopeless since she will never know her nephew. She also feels like they should forgive her, but I think Chettam is jealous that she married Casaubon and then married Ladislaw while he had to marry her sister.

Fred finally got to marry Mary. He also eventually got a very profitable business working in land and did not have to go into the church. Mary also wrote a book of children’s stories and was the only one in the whole book who actually got a book published.

Mr. Lydgate ended up having a profitable practice and dying at 50 of diphtheria. Then Rosamond was left with her children and ends up marrying an old rich physician. She never got away from doctors; her second husband also loved all of her children. Unfortunately, Mr. Casaubon never got his dream realized of publishing his out of date book.

Julia Rogan

Book-Seven

You’re So Vain

Since Lydgate is in debt he needs to find a way out of debt without selling anything that he gave to Rosamond. Finally Lydgate thinks he has the perfect idea. Lydgate is going to sell his house with all the furniture and he and Rosamond can live in a smaller house that may not be as nice, but still comfortable. Lydgate refuses to ask for help, because he does not want to be a beggar or have a bad reputation. Lydgate also believes that Rosamond loves him so much they will be fine as long as they are together and she will not mind a smaller house. What Lydgate did not expect was Rosamond’s vanity to try and derail all of Lydgate’s plans.

Rosamond did not want to live in a smaller or sell her beautiful home. So she decides to take matters into her small little delicate hands. The first thing she does is she goes straight to her papa and asks for money. Lydgate specifically told her, “do not ask for money from your father”. Rosamond thinking she is her parents’ favorite child and asks. Mr. Vincy for money. Mr. Vincy tells her to leave and seems to find it funny that the man he did not want Rosamond to marry is in debt and has to find a way out of it, since Rosamond wanted to marry Lydgate thinking she would be set for life. Rosamond also tries to tell Lydgate to ask for a salary for his work at the hospital from Bulstrode. Lydgate’s work at the hospital was meant to be volunteer work. Rosamond also says that Lydgate could dismiss the servants, but makes it sound like she would never want to live in a house where they don’t have servants.

Since that plan failed she goes to Mr. Trumball whom Lydgate had gone to earlier that same day to tell him that their house is not for sale which is a contradiction to what Lydgate had said earlier that day. She also tells Mr. Trumball not to tell Mr. Lydgate of the plan. In Rosamond’s mind she gets to keep her house and Lydgate could find some other way to make some money. She just wants to keep her beautiful house and her furniture. However this causes problems since the debt collectors come to the Lydgate’s house and start seeing what they could make money with. The debt is also no small debt. The Lydgates are 1,000 pounds in debt.

Lydgate becomes so desperate to keep his problems as secret as possible that he goes to the Green Dragon. The Green Dragon is the only club in Middlemarch. It has billiards and you can gamble at billiards and that is exactly what Lydgate does to try and earn some money to pay off his debt. Lydgate is unable to make the amount of money he needed and sees Fred and feels a bit embarrassed.

Fred still does not want to go into the church and is actually enjoying his work with Mr. Garth as a land agent. Mrs. Vincy is actually okay with seeing Mary as a daughter in- law when she sees how well Mary interacts with children at the Vincy Christmas party. There is just one problem. The vicar Mr. Farebrother is also in love with Mary. I don’t think that is really going to go anywhere though. The reason being Mary won’t marry Fred if he goes into the church so why would she marry a vicar.

Julia Rogan