The Readers Review: Literature from 1714 to 1910 discussion

CHAPTER XLIII
CHAPTER XLIV
CHAPTER XLV
CHAPTER XLVI
CHAPTER XLVII
CHAPTER XLVIII
CHAPTER XLIX
CHAPTER L
CHAPTER LI
CHAPTER LII
CHAPTER LIII

Maybe we should rename Middlemarch "Tumbleweed Town"?.. I think people are too busy with other books to be able to give it much time. But I've been enjoying re-reading this more than any other book I've read for ages. The older I get the more I like it.

One of the things I like is how our sympathy for Dorothea increases along with her distress and sense of failure in her marriage. To start with her idealism was a little off-putting, but now her compassion for Casuabon calls on our sympathy. "She was always trying to be what her husband wished, and never able to repose on his delight on what she was." Poor Dorothea. No wonder she's attracted to Ladislaw, with whom she is allowed to be herself.

Ir's harder to feel pity for Bulstrode, yet George Eliot even manages to make us identify with him, when his conviction that God is on his side is upturned by the appearance of Raffles (who could almost be a devil - "as if by some hideous magic, this loud red figure had risen before him in unmanageable solidity.") I think Eliot builds up the suspense wonderfully: as with Dorothea's marriage, this know this relationship will not end well, but it doesn't stop us - me, anyway - reading avidly. And the different threads of story are stitched together very skilfully, so that all the characters touch each other's destiny.

I have finally found my way back to this book though not in the same fervent way as Bleak House. Despite the discussion officially being over, I will at least try to mention a few major points that came into my mind when reading this section:

Emma, I fully agree with you on Dorothea. I felt sorry for her with regards to her marriage. She is trying so hard and still cannot please her husband. I must admit I almost felt relieved for her when he suddenly died. It was not fair of him to ask her for a promise without knowing what it entails. What a sign of fate that she did not have to answer in the end.
BTW, I thought Dorothea was a little astonished and maybe even confused to find Will in Rosamund Lydgate's drawing room.

Fred Vincy is back to become a clergyman and asks Mr Farebrother to be the messenger between him and Mary. Poor Mr Farebrother! He seems himself to have feelings for Mary. Mary seems to love Fred, but due to his lifestyle she cannot give in and be with him. This shows how important providing for a decent living is and why maybe in those days marriages for economical reasons were more common then for love. I hope Fred will be able to settle and he and Mary will get a happy ending.

I did not quite get why the heir of Stone Court appeared to take his inheritance, sell it and disappear again. Though he leaves us a piece of the chain in form of his stepfather Mr Raffles, an old acquaintance of Mr Bulstrode. And we get to know a little revelation that Mr Bulstrode must have married Mr Casaubon's aunt/ Will's grandmother or so. However, maybe I misunderstood this as he could not have earned much from that relation due to the disinheritance. At least there is some dubious connection between him and the Ladislaw's.

Generally speaking, I also like the fluency of the chapters coming together piece by piece. I will just read on now and write now and then a little comment whether it will be read or not. :-)

I think Joshua Rigg - the heir of Stone Court - is really there as a plot device. Chapter 53 says, "The cool and judicious Joshua Rigg had not allowed his parent to perceive that Stone Court was anything less than the chief good in his estimation..." but he "looked at Stone Court and thought of buying gold." So he never intended to keep Stone Court, and just dips in and out of the plot. It seems to me that his chief roles in the book are to disappoint Fred and Peter Featherstone's other relatives, and as you say, to work Raffles into the story.

And, yes, Dorothea was definitely taken aback to find Ladislaw in Rosamund's drawing room. Without wishing to spoil it for you, more will follow from this...

Enjoy the rest of the book :)

I agree about Joshua Rigg being essentially a plot device - it was a way to deal with none of the known characters getting the property and to introduce Raffles and the kind of person he was. It was a little odd, though!

In some ways, I found it a bit disappointing that there wasn't more about Rigg, not because I was interested in his character but because most of the other characters had been so richly developed that it made this stand out more as a plot device.

Susan, I guess that is what made me think of him as almost obsolete. All the other characters are definitely more developed and therefore his character stands out for not being mentioned much at all.

BTW, nice that we can still have a discussion about the book. I am at chapter 57 now and might finish book 6 next week then. :-)

Thanks Emma! I will enjoy the book, also started to watch the BBC series from 1995. :-) And you have made me curious with regards to any possible happy endings. ;-)