Middlemarch, A Study of Provincial Life. In 1871 and 1872, it was first published in eight installments. It explores various, intersecting stories with a large cast of characters and is set in 1829 to 1832 in the fictional English Midland town of Middlemarch.
Middlemarch, A Study of Provincial Life is a novel by the English author Mary Anne Evans, who wrote as George Eliot. It first appeared in eight installments (volumes) in 1871 and 1872.
Approached issues include: the status of women, the nature of marriage, idealism, self-interest, religion, hypocrisy, political reform, and education. Despite comic elements, Middlemarch uses realism to encompass historical events: the 1832 Reform Act, early railways, and the accession of King William IV.
It looks at medicine of the time and reactionary views in a settled community facing unwelcome change. Eliot began writing the two pieces that formed the novel in 1869–1870 and completed it in 1871. Is now seen widely as her best work and one of the great English novels.
In Middlemarch, the lives of locals in a fictional Midlands town from 1829 onward, the years leading up to the 1832 Reform Act, are the main focus.
Table of Contents
BOOK I. MISS BROOKE. Prelude and Chapters 1-12
BOOK II. OLD AND YOUNG. Chapters 13-22
BOOK III. WAITING FOR DEATH. Chapters 23 - 33
BOOK IV. THREE LOVE PROBLEMS. Chapters 34 - 42
BOOK V. THE DEAD HAND. Chapters 43 - 53
BOOK VI. THE WIDOW AND THE WIFE. Chapters 54 - 62
BOOK VII. TWO TEMPTATIONS. Chapters 63 - 71
BOOK VIII. SUNSET AND SUNRISE. Chapters 72 - 86 + Finale
Four plots with varying degrees of focus can be thought of as making up the narrative. the lives of Dorothea Brooke, Tertius Lydgate's career, Fred Vincy's courting of Mary Garth, and Nicholas Bulstrode's scandal. The two primary stories are Lydgate and Dorothea. Although Bulstrode is focused on the later chapters, each plot is active at the same time.
Dorothea Brooke is a 19-year-old orphan, living with her younger sister, Celia, as a ward of her uncle, Mr Brooke. Dorothea is an especially pious young woman whose hobby involves the renovation of buildings belonging to the tenant farmers, although her uncle discourages her. Dorothea is courted by Sir James Chettam, a man close to her own age, but she is oblivious to him.
She is drawn to the 45-year-old scholar Rev. Edward Casaubon instead. Despite her sister's reservations, Dorothea agrees to Casaubon's proposal of marriage. It is suggested for Chettam to focus on Celia, who has shown interest in him.
The mayor of Middlemarch's town has two oldest children, Fred and Rosamond. Fred is largely seen as a failure and a layabout because he never completed college, but he is satisfied because he is the putative successor to his wealthy but unpleasant childless uncle Mr. Featherstone. Mary Garth, a niece via marriage of Featherstone's, is kept as a companion; although being viewed as plain, Fred is in love with her and hopes to wed her.
On their honeymoon in Rome, Dorothea and Casaubon have their first marital conflict when she learns that her husband is not interested in include her in his intellectual endeavors and has no genuine plans to publish his copious notes, which was her main motivation for being married to him. She meets Will Ladislaw, Casaubon's financially dependent younger disinherited relative. Ladislaw starts to feel attracted to Dorothea; she doesn't notice, but they start to get along.
As a result of his mounting debt, Fred is unable to make his payments. He now informs Mr. Garth, Mary's father, that he must surrender the obligation after asking him to co-sign it. As a result, Mary's money and Mrs. Garth's funds from four years of salary that she had set aside for her youngest son's schooling are lost. Mr. Garth so advises Mary to never wed Fred.
When Fred becomes unwell, Dr. Tertius Lydgate, a recently appointed physician in Middlemarch, treats him. Lydgate has contemporary views on health care and sanitation and thinks physicians should prescribe but not actually dispense medications. Many people in the town find this offensive and condemn it. Despite the doubts of Lydgate's buddy, Farebrother, regarding Bulstrode's sincerity, he joins forces with Bulstrode, a wealthy, religious landowner and developer who wants to construct a hospital and clinic that adhere to Lydgate's worldview.
Lydgate also gets to know Rosamond Vincy, who is educated and gorgeous but shallow and self-centered. In an effort to locate a matching partner, she decides to marry Lydgate, who comes from an affluent family, and she makes use of Fred's condition to get to know him better. Lydgate withdraws from Rosamond when he hears that the neighborhood perceives them as virtually engaged because he initially views their connection as little more than flirtation. But after seeing her one more time, he breaks his word and asks her to marry him.
Around the same time, Casaubon returns from Rome but passes away after a heart attack. As he cares for Casaubon, Lydgate informs Dorothea that it is difficult to predict the nature of his illness and his prognosis: he may indeed live for about 15 years if he takes it easy and stops studying, but it is also possible that the disease may develop quickly, in which case death will be unexpected.
Quotes:
“For pain must enter into its glorified life of memory before it can turn into compassion.”
“Sane people did what their neighbors did, so that if any lunatics were at large, one might know and avoid them.”
“The troublesome ones in a family are usually either the wits or the idiots.”
Fred gets better, but Mr. Featherstone gets sick. On his deathbed, he admits to having written two wills and asks Mary to assist him in robbing one of them. She declines, unwilling to participate in the company, and Featherstone passes away with both wills in tact. The £10,000 that was supposed to go to Fred Vincy actually went to Joshua Rigg, the father of Featherstone's illegitimate son.
Casaubon, who is unwell, had started to doubt Dorothea's kindness to Ladislaw. If he were to pass away, he attempts to convince Dorothea to make a lifelong commitment to "avoid doing what I should deprecate, and apply yourself to achieve what I should desire." Before she can respond, he passes away because she is afraid to concur. It is discovered that a clause in Casaubon's will states that Dorothea will forfeit her inheritance if she marries Ladislaw.
Due to the unique nature of the disease, Ladislaw and Dorothea's relationship is awkwardly suspected by many people. Ladislaw is in love with Dorothea, but he keeps it a secret because he doesn't want to get her into trouble or void her inheritance. She is aware of her romantic feelings for him but has to keep them in check. He continues to reside in Middlemarch and works as the newspaper editor for Mr. Brooke, who is launching a campaign to run for office as a Reformer.
Lydgate quickly finds himself in serious debt as a result of his attempts to appease Rosamond, and he is compelled to ask Bulstrode for assistance. His connection with Camden Farebrother helps him in this endeavor. In the meantime, Fred Vincy's amazement at having caused Caleb Garth's financial difficulties prompts him to reevaluate his life. He decides to pursue land agent training under the understanding Caleb. Unaware that Farebrother is also in love with Mary Garth, he urges him to argue his point to her. By doing this, Farebrother sacrifices his personal interests for Mary's sake since he realizes that Mary genuinely loves Fred and is just waiting for him to find his position in the world.
Unknown John Raffles, who is aware of Bulstrode's dubious past, shows up in Middlemarch with the intention of extorting money from him. The churchgoing Bulstrode was involved in dubious business dealings in his youth; his money was built through his marriage to a wealthy, much older widow. The widow's daughter, who was supposed to inherit her mother's riches, had fled; Bulstrode found her but failed to tell the widow; as a result, he received the inheritance instead of the widow's daughter.
Ladislaw is revealed to be the son that the widow's daughter gave birth to. As soon as Bulstrode realizes their connection, he becomes overcome with guilt and offers Ladislaw a sizable quantity of money, which Ladislaw declines because it is tainted. While lending a sizable quantity of money to Lydgate, whom Bulstrode had previously refused to help get out of debt, in order to avoid being exposed as a hypocrite in front of everyone, Bulstrode speeds up the death of the terminally ill Raffles.
But word of Bulstrode's crimes had already gotten out. Lydgate is engulfed in Bulstrode's shame as word of the loan spreads and he is accused of conspiring with Bulstrode. Only Dorothea and Farebrother continue to have any faith in him, but the universal disapproval nevertheless encourages Lydgate and Rosamond to leave Middlemarch. Bulstrode, who is disgraced and despised, has only his wife's support as he prepares for exile as solace.
Ladislaw plans to leave the town after Mr. Brooke's election campaign fails. He pays Dorothea a final visit, but she has fallen in love with him. She rejects Casaubon's wealth and surprises her family by announcing her engagement to Ladislaw. At the same time, Fred marries Mary after finding success in his new line of work.
The major protagonists' ultimate fates are described in the "Finale." Married couple Fred and Mary have three happy sons. Outside of Middlemarch, Lydgate runs a prosperous practice and makes a decent living, but he never finds fulfillment and passes away at the age of 50, leaving behind Rosamond and four kids. Rosamond marries a wealthy doctor after he passes away. While Dorothea enjoys her role as a wife and mother to their two children, Ladislaw works in public reform. In the end, their son receives Arthur Brooke's estate.
