The novel is set in English countryside near a town called Middlemarch during the 1830s. Eliot centers the plot around three couples. The first couple is Rosamond Vincy, a manufacturing factory owner's daughter, and Tertius Lydgate, a young ambitious doctor. The second couple is Mary Garth, a land surveyor's daughter, and Fred Vincy, brother of Rosamond. The third couple is Dorothea Brooke, niece of a well-to-do landed gentleman, and Mr. Causabon, a clergyman and historical scholar. Their unhappy marriage is further nettled by the appearance of Causabon's cousin, Will Ladislaw.
The main thesis of Middlemarch might be summarized as "what happens when idealism and the real world clash." Idealism is represented by the characters of Dorothea and Lydgate. Dorothea, at the age of twenty, has already decided that she wants to spend her life doing good, specifically helping a great man do his great work. She has (almost comical) fantasies about reading to and ministering to the blind John Milton. Lydgate has the ambition of making breakthrough medical discoveries and has come to Middlemarch because he believes it will be easier to do his research away from the city. I won't give away the plot but both characters marry the wrong people for the wrong reasons. Instead of marriage being supportive of their goals, they find it to be a yoke. Being such selfless and honorable people, they give up their idealism and submit to the whims of their spouses. Neither Mary nor Fred are idealistic, but their relationship does succeed because Mary acts as the sensible, practical half to guide Fred, who becomes good to win Mary's hand in marriage. Fred's true love for Mary might be considered a form of idealism. So what is Eliot's message? She is advocating idealism tempered by practicality. Under the best circumstances, idealism will enable a person to become greater than him/herself. In the worst cases, idealism is completely crushed by harsh reality. Probably most idealists fall into the middle. They make mistakes and compromise, but eventually they do accomplish some good in the world. Eliot is telling these people to be brave and endure their trials because in the end, their efforts will pay off (see the second quote below).
A secondary theme in Middlemarch is class differences and social expectations. Many examples are sprinkeld throughout the novel. Rosamond's main aim is to secure an upper class husband with high connections so she can rise above the Middlemarch crowd. Thus Dr. Lydgate's noble connections (his uncle is a baronet) immediately attract her attention. Mrs. Vincy objects to her son Fred courting Mary because Mary's family has a lower social status than the Vincys. The irony is that Fred actually ends up happier than his sister Rosamond. Dorothea wants to do saintly good but is severely restricted by her gender and lack of education. It is no coincidence that Eliot chooses to set the novel during the 1830s when reform was a weighty topic in British politics.
Now I'll move on to stylistic comments. Eliot adopts the omniscient narrator method like all the novelists of the Victorian period. I imagine that some people find this style annoyingly didactic, but I rather enjoy the thoughtful commentary. It's nice to see what's going through each character's head. This method is particularly powerful during Rosamond and Dr. Lydgate's marital squabbles as Eliot jumps back and forth between their contrasting perspectives. Having read quite a few modern 20th century novels, it's refreshing not to having to guess the author's intentions. One minor complaint I have is that occasionally Eliot's narrations are overbearing. It is probably emphasized at least a dozen times that Mr. Causabon does not really love his wife and that Rosamond Vincy is a selfish brat. At one point, Eliot even goes into a long segway about why she's spending so much time discussing "low characters." She tells the reader (presumably upper-class folk) to treat it as a parable! Moreover, I occasionally had trouble following the wordy 19th century language.
The story itself is so intricate and finely woven together that it feels like a tapestry of provincial life. This unique feature separates this novel from the works of other Victorian writers I've read (Dickens, Hardy). Somehow Eliot manages to tie together the lives of a French-educated doctor, a manufacturing owner's family, a vicar, a rich banker, a surveyor's family, and landed gentry. By the end of the book, you feel like you know the whole town! No wonder Eliot subitled her novel "a study of provincial life."
I especially enjoyed Eliot's witty and eloquent descriptions. My favorite passages were at the beginning and end of the book. Here's an example (which appeared on a College English Literature AP Exam):
Miss Brooke had that kind of beauty which seems to be thrown into relief by poor dress. Her hand and wrist were so finely formed that she could wear sleeves not less bare of style than those in which the Blessed Virgin appeared to Italian painters...A few years ago, I included this beautiful passage in our family Christmas newsletter following the September 11th tragedy:
For the growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts; and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been, is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited tombs.Supposedly one of our friends cried after reading it.
In summary, I highly recommend Middlemarch! I have but two reservations for the interested reader: 1) the book is over 900 pages long and 2) you must like idealistic epics told by a didactic narrator.
My motivation for reading the book came from watching the BBC dramatization (1994). After finishing the book, I found that the dramatization covered 95% of the book and only left out one major plot detail. The BBC production is vivid and moving; the acting is so convincing that you feel like you have lived in Middlemarch.
I would recommend reading the book (to get the finer details) and then watching the miniseries as a treat. If you find Eliot's narration overly verbose/moralistic or are short on time, the miniseries stands extremely well on its own.
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