The theme of Middlemarch

Name          :                 Jumani pooja k

Roll   no     :                          07                

Sem            :                       2

Part             :                      1

Paper No:               204: The Victorian Literature

Topic          :              The Theme of Middlemarch

Year           :                2011-12                   

                                                      

                                                                       Submitted by

                                                                       Dr Dilip barad

                                                                       Department of English

                                                                      Bhavnagar University

                                                                       

The theme of Middlemarch

Meaning of Middlemarch:

“Middlemarch” has a double meaning. One is Nelmezzo del cammindi nostra Vita, the other is to do with the central English provincial counties in which is taken place a “march’s “marchland “in English is border between counties. The novel is an image of a society, political, agricultural,oristoaratic, plebeian, religious, scientific. Its ambitions are those of Bazac’s human much. It is a microcosm, local but also universal, containing bodies and minds, individuals, families and comedy, Rome and Europe in middle Earth.

Eliot was writing a story called “Miss Brooke”, and she began work on a story of a scientifically ambitious young doctor in a provincial town, and suddenly saw that these two were parts of the some whole. Dorothea Brooke and terries Lydgate could be called the hero and heroine f the work, though they do not meet until the end of the first part of the book and one of the powers of Eliot’s writing is that a large number of her other characters, for a time,or briefly, are the heroes of their stories and the centers of their worlds.

Theme

The Imperfection of Marriage

Most characters in Middlemarch many for have rather than obligation, yet marriage still appears negative and unromantic. Marriage and the pursuit of it are central concerns in Middlemarch, but unlike in many novel of the time, marriage is not considered the ultimate source of happiness. Two examples here explain of Eliot not here two examples are Dorothea’s marriage fails because of her youth and of her disillusions about marrying a much older man and other side Lydgate’s marriage fails because of irreconcilable personalities. Both are Lydgate and Dorothea they were not happy their marriages both nature are different and Lydgate didn’t understand her feelings. We can say that Dorothea was typical Indian women.

Other side Mr. and Mrs. Bulstrode also face a marital crisis due to his inability to tell her about the past and Fred Vincy and Mary Garth also face a great deal of hardship in making their union. As none of the marriages reach a perfect fairytale ending, Middlemarch offers a clear critique of the usual portrayal of marriage as romantic and unproblematic.

The Harshness of social Expectation. The ways in which people conduct themselves and how the community judges them are closely linked in Middlemarch when the expectations of the social community are not met; individuals often receive harsh public criticism. For example the community judges Lydislaw harshly because of his mixed pedigree Fred Vincy is almost disowned because he chooses to go against his family’s wishes and not join the clergy. It is only when Vincy goes against the wishes of the community by foregoing his education that he finds true love and happiness. Finally, Rosamond’s need for gentility and the desert to live up to social standards becomes her downfall. In contrast, Dorothea’s decision to act against the rules of society aloes her to energy as the most respectable character in the end.

Self- Determination Vs. Chance

In Middlemarch, self determination and chance are not opposing forest but, rather, a complicated balancing act when characters strictly adhere to a belief in either chance or self-determination, bad things happen- when resmond goes against the wishes of her husband and wrutes a letter asking for money from his relative, her act of self- determination puts Lydgate in an unsavory and tense situation coupled with a refuel to help. On the flip side, when Fred Vincy gambles away his money, ruling soling on chance, he falls into debt and drag with him the people who trust him only when he steps away from gambling and decides not to go into the clergy do particular. The character of fare brother demonstrates the balance between fate and self-determination. This balance is exemplified in his educated gamble in the same of whist. Through a combination of skill and chance, he is able to win more often than not. His character strikes a balance between chance and his role in determining that fate. The complexity of the tension between self-determination and chance is exemplary of the way in which the novel as a whole tends to look at events from many vantage- points with no clear right or wrong, no clear enemy or hero.

Education

The novel examines the role of education in the lives of the characters and it also how does education affected the characters. Rosamond Vincy’s finished school education is a foil to Dorothea Brooke’s thirst for purposeful education which was generally denied women of the era. Here Rosamond initially admires Lydgate for his exotic education and his installed. A similar dynamic is present in Dorothea and Casaubon’s relationship, with Dorothea revering her new husband’s intellect and eloquence.

Despite extreme erudition, Mr. Casaubon is afraid to publish because he believes that he must write a work that is utterly above criticism.

Self- delusion

Most of the central characters of novel have habit of building castles in the air and then attempting to the live them. Because they are idealistic, self- absorbed, otherwise we can say that out of the touch with reality. They make serious mistakes the novel are very away from a real reality. It the novel most characters make mistakes because their life pataner are not soote them. For these mistake their life was become unhappy. In the novel some characters learn from this process and other do not those who learn not to build castles in the air generallt end up happy, while those who persist in ignoring pragmatism are miserable.

Compassion and Forgiveness   

Compassion Forgiveness, sympathy these are big ideas in Middlemarch part of Dorothea’s problem is that she feed too much. Both “compassion” and “sympathy,” if you look at the root works. We feel that sympathy with Dorothea.

Women and Femininity

For a female novelist, George Eliot sure didn’t think too high of female writers. She even wrote an essay called “silly novels by Lady novelists,” and chose write.

Science

Science and scientific progress was a big deal in the 19^th century….just look at all the new discoveries and inventions of the period.