Book 1 was somewhat of a struggle for me. In reading the description provided on many sites, I was immediately intrigued by the main character- Dorothea in the book. However in starting to read it was a struggle to want to continue reading and understanding the characters. Dorothea’s personality I believe is what kept me going. She was a fascinating character to learn more about, the way in which Eliot wrote this character you can tell she is sincere and believe what she is saying and doing is the best. Yet, as I continue it made me question where she got these ideas from, where did her extreme come from and did losing her parents push her to this extreme.

 

One of the first description provided by Eliot of Dorothea was the fact that she a beauty who did not wear expensive clothes to standout. I was taken, believing that she was going to be a modest even humble character in the book. But as I continued on reading, I learned that it was her religious devotion that lead to her choices in clothes. I was hoping more than anything it was the understanding of the world and how it worked that lead to her decision. Leaning that it religion was a large influence on her made me question if she was using religion as a defense for her extreme ideas, especially as a female.

 

Something I love about Dorothea is her want to help the poor and belief in her ideas that could help them. At the same time I wonder if she ever seen actual poor people in her community, have she ever asked these poor people what they want. You cannot be in your castle and expect to know what is best for a group of people. A lot of questions came to mind about her intention and what lead to this obsession to help these people.  

 

One scene that stood out for me was her reaction to her sister Celia when she asked about splitting their mothers’ jewelry. Dorothea was very passive aggressive in this scene when it came to her sister, instead of understanding where her sister was coming from she just critic her the whole entire time. I felt as if she was putting her sister down or even sitting on top of her high horse and looking down her nose on her sister. I found it funny that most of the scene she looking down on her sister for gushing over the jewelry but once she saw the emerald jewelry her tune change. It was shocking how fast her mood change but once she realized her love of the jewelry she turned the critic internal and try to justified it to herself.

 

Sir James Chettam vs. Mr. Casaubon- These two characters are polar opposites but when choosing who’s a good choice of husband for Dorothea, I would have to agree with Celia and go with Sir James Chettam. He seems to be the logical choice in the sense that he will indulge her with her extreme ideas. He will give her the time and attention that she needs and follow anything she says, lets not forget he’s head over heels.  

Keulesia Webley-Sewell