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