A study of provincial life.

Name: - Gohel Daya B

Roll no:-3

Sem:-2

Assignment topic: - A study of provincial life.

Paper: - 6 (

Submitted to: - Maharaja Krishnakumarasinha university.

Department of English.

Email Id: - dayagohil47@gmail.com

v     Introduction:-

    Middlemarch

             By: George Eliot

Published:-1871

George Eliot (1819 – 1880)

                    British 19^th century

v      George Eliot was an English novelist writing in the Middlemarch 19^th century. Before the any further we should let you know that Eliot was a woman. Don’t let the name fool you it was an artist. Her real name was Marin. Evans so now you know and can laugh up your sleeve at folks Oh you’re.

            If we had to sum up Middlemarch in just a few words, we might say that it’s a novel about social and political reform. But also a novel about love and marriage. And about trying and failing. About the second chances. It is in other words, huge and wide ranging novel.

     

The length of the novel actually forced Eliot's agent (and long-time lover), George Henry Lewes, to invent a new way to publish it. For most of the 19th-century, novels were published in one of two ways – either broken into installments of one or two chapters to be printed in a magazine (like Charles Dickens novels) But Middlemarch was too big to fit into three volumes, and publishing it a chapter or two at a time would take forever. So Lewes arranged to have it printed in eight installments over the course of sixteen months to get people hooked on the story, and then to print it altogether in four volumes. This was a great move by Lewes Middlemarch sold like crazy, and confirmed Eliot's reputation as the greatest living English novelist.

 Criticism about George Eliot

     This study of George Eliot’s pictorialism will begin with a biographical chapter her knowledge of art, artist and the literature of art.

The next two chapters will characterize her test in painting and sculpture and discuss the role of painting and theory. Her fiction examining the four principal genres that she loved to recreate portraiture sacred and heroic history painting and landscape.

v      A Study of Provincial life:-

The subtitle of Eliot’s Middlemarch, “A study of provincial life” succinctly demonstrates her breadth of ambition.

Eliot is not merely concerned with the individual narratives but also with the society at large.

By telling the story of young three woman of slightly different classes, their suitors and the social milieu in which their relationship develop. Eliot is able to show the nuances of class in the 1830s.It is her seventh novel began in 1869 and then put aside during the final illness of Thornton Lewes the son of her companion George Henry Lewes.during the following year Eliot resumed work fusing together several stories into a coherent whole and during 1871 – 72 the novel appeared in serial from. The first one volume edition was published in 1874 and attracted large sales subtitle “A study of provincial life” the novel is set in the Subtitled "A Study of Provincial Life", the novel is set in the fictitious Midlands town of Middlemarch, which is thought to be based on Coventry, during the period 1830–32. It has multiple plots with a large cast of characters and distinct, though interlocking narratives. The main themes include the status of women, the nature of marriage, idealism, selfinterest, religion, hypocrisy, political reform, and education. The pace is leisurely; the tone is mildly didactic (with occasional authorial comment). Although Middlemarch has some comical elements, it is a work of realism. Through the voices and opinions of different characters we become aware of various issues of the day: the Great Reform Bill, the beginnings of the railways, the death of King George IV, and the succession of his brother, the Duke of Clarence (who became King William IV). The novel also provides insight into the state of contemporary medical science and the deeply reactionary mindset found within a settled community facing the prospect unwelcome change. Though none of the characters in Middlemarch are intentionally humorous in their diction, except Mary Garth who employs great wit, the narrator's tone is often wry and humorous. Labourers speaking in dialect also add humour, as they do in many of Shakespeare's plays. The eight "books" of the novel reflect the form of the original serialization. A short prelude introduces the idea of the latter day St. Theresa, presaging the character Dorothea; a post script, or "finale", after the eighth book gives details of the subsequent fate of the main characters. Middlemarch has retained its popularity and status as one of the masterpieces of English fiction, although some reviewers have expressed dissatisfaction at the destiny accorded fictitious midlands town of Middlemarch, thought to be based on Coventry, during the period 1830-32. It has multiple plot with a large cast of characters and in addition to its distinct though interlocking narratives it pursues a number of underlying themes, including the status of women the nature of marriage, idealism and self interest, religion and hypocrisy, political reform and education. The pace is leisurely the tone is midly didactic (with an authorial voice that occasionally bursts thought the narrative) and the canvas is very broad. She focuses primarily on higher classes capable of instigating change. She there by demonstrates the reciprocal influence of individual narrative and broader social trends.    

ü      Characters:-

o  Dorothea Brooke — is an intelligent, wealthy woman. She marries the Reverend Edward Casaubon, with the idealistic of the helping idea with helping the resech project, thus; so we can say mythology. the marriage was a mistake, as Casaubon does not take her seriously and resents her youth, enthusiasm, and energy. Because of Casaubon's coldness during their honeymoon, Dorothea becomes friends with his relative, Will Ladislaw, Some years after Casaubon's death she falls in love with Will and marries him.

o  Tertius Lydgate — an idealistic, talented, but naïve young doctor, but though of good birth he is relatively poor. Lydgate hopes to make great advancements in medicine through his research However; he ends up in an unhappy marriage to Rosamond Vincy.

o   Edward Casaubon — A pedantic, selfish, elderly clergyman who is obsessed with his scholarly research. Because of this his marriage to Dorothea is loveless. His unfinished books Key to All the Mythologies are intended as a monument to the tradition of Christian . However, his research is out of date because he does not read German.

o  Mary Garth — the practical, plain, and kind daughter of Caleb and Susan Garth, she works as Mr. Featherstone's nurse. She and Fred Vincy were childhood sweethearts, but she refuses to allow him to woo her until he shows himself willing and able to live seriously, practically, and sincerely.

ü Mary Garth and Fred Vincy

o  Arthur Brooke — the often befuddled and none-too-clever uncle of Dorothea and Celia Brooke. He has a reputation as the worst landlord in the county, but stands for parliament on a Reform platform.

o  Celia Brooke — Dorothea's younger sister is a great beauty. She is more sensual than Dorothea and does not share her sister's idealism and asceticism, and is only too happy to marry Sir James Chettam, when

      Dorothea rejects him.

o  Sir James Chettam — a neighbouring landowner, Sir James is in love with Dorothea and helps her with her plans to improve conditions for the tenants.

o  Rosamond Vincy — is vain, beautiful, and shallow; Rosamond has a high opinion of her own charms and a low opinion of Middlemarch society. She marries Tertius Lydgate because she believes that he will raise her social standing and keep her comfortable. When her husband encounters financial difficulties, she thwarts his efforts to economise, seeing such sacrifices as beneath her and insulting. She is unable to bear the idea of losing status in Middlemarch society.

o  Fred Vincy — Rosamond's brother. He has loved Mary Garth from childhood. His family hopes that he will advance his class standing by becoming a clergyman, but he knows that Mary will not marry him if he does so. Brought up expecting an inheritance from his uncle Mr Featherstone, he is spendthrift. He later changes because of his love for Mary, and finds, by studying under Mary's father, a profession through which he gains Mary's respect.

o  Will Ladislaw — a young cousin of Mr Casaubon, he has no property because his grandmother married a poor Polish musician and was disinherited. He is a man of great verve, idealism and talent but of no fixed profession. He comes to love Dorothea, but cannot marry her without her losing Mr Casaubon's property.

o  Humphrey Cadwallader and Eleanor Cadwallader — Neighbours of the Brookes. Mr. Cadwallader is a Rector. Mrs. Cadwallader is a pragmatic and talkative woman who comments on local affairs with wrycynicism. She disapproves of Dorothea's marriage and Mr. Brooke's parliamentary endeavours.

o  Walter Vincy and Lucy Vincy — A respectable manufacturing family. They wish their children to advance socially, and are disappointed by both Rosamond's and Fred's marriages. Mr. Vincy's sister is married to Nicholas Bulstrode. Mrs. Vincy was an innkeeper's daughter and her sister was the second wife of Mr. Featherstone.

o  Caleb Garth — Mary Garth's father. He is a kind, honest, and generous businessman who is a surveyor and land agent involved in farm management. He is fond of Fred and eventually takes him under his wing.

o  Camden Farebrother — A poor but clever vicar and amateur naturalist. He is a friend of Lydgate and Fred Vincy, and loves Mary Garth. His position improves when Dorothea appoints him to a living after Rosamond Vincy and Tertius Lydgate Casaubon's death.

o  Nicholas Bulstrode — Wealthy banker married to Mr. Vincy's sister, Harriet. He is a pious Methodist who tries to impose his beliefs in Middlemarch society; however, he also has a sordid past which he is desperate to hide. His religion favours his personal desires, and is devoid of sympathy for others.

o  Peter Featherstone — Old landlord of Stone Court, a self-made man who married Caleb Garth's sister and later took Mrs. Vincy's sister as his second wife when his first wife died.

o  Jane Waule - A widow and Peter Featherstone's sister, has a son, John.

o  Mr. Hawley — Foul-mouthed businessman and enemy of Bulstrode.

o  Mr. Mawmsey — Grocer.

o  Dr. Sprague — Middlemarch doctor.

o  Mr. Tyke — Clergyman favoured by Bulstrode.

o  Rigg Featherstone — Featherstone's illegitimate son who appears at the reading of Featherstone's will and         is given his fortune instead of Fred. He is                  also related to John Raffles, who comes into town to visit Rigg but instead reveals Bulstrode's past. His appearance in the novel is crucial to the plot.

o  John Raffles — Raffles is a braggart and a bully, a humorous scoundrel in the tradition of Sir John Falstaff, and an alcoholic. But unlike Shakespeare's fat knight, Raffles is a genuinely evil man.