Middlemarch by George Eliot

First published: 1871–1872

Type of work: Novel

Type of plot: Psychological realism

Time of plot: Nineteenth century

Locale: England

Principal Characters

• Dorothea Brooke, an idealistic young woman
• Edward Casaubon, her scholarly husband
• Will Ladislaw, Casaubon’s cousin
• Tertius Lydgate, a doctor
• Rosamond Vincy, the woman Lydgate married
• Celia, Dorothea’s sister
• Sir James Chettam, Celia’s husband

The Story

Dorothea Brooke and her younger sister, Celia, are young women of good birth who live with their bachelor uncle at Tipton Grange near the town of Middlemarch. So serious is Dorothea’s cast of mind that she is reluctant to keep jewelry she had inherited from her dead mother, and she gives all of it to her sister except a ring and a bracelet.

At a dinner party where the middle-aged scholar Edward Casaubon and Sir James Chettam both vie for her attention, she is much more attracted to the serious-minded Casaubon. Casaubon must have had an inkling that his chances with Dorothea were good; for he seeks her out the next morning. Celia, who does not like his complexion or his moles, escapes to other interests.

That afternoon, Dorothea considers the scholar’s wisdom. While she is out walking, she encounters Sir James by chance; he tells her that he is in love with her and, mistaking her silence for agreement, assumes that she loves him in return. When Casaubon makes his proposal of marriage by letter, Dorothea accepts him at once. Mr. Brooke, her uncle, thinks Sir James a much better match; Dorothea’s decision merely confirms his bachelor views that women are difficult to understand. He decides not to interfere in her plans, but Celia feels that the event will be more like a funeral than a marriage and frankly says so.

Casaubon takes Dorothea, Celia, and Mr. Brooke to see his home so that Dorothea might order any necessary changes. Dorothea intends to defer to Casaubon’s tastes in all things and says she will make no changes in the house. During the visit, Dorothea meets Will Ladislaw, Casaubon’s second cousin, who does not seem in sympathy with his elderly cousin’s marriage plans.

While Dorothea and her new husband are traveling in Italy, Tertius Lydgate, an ambitious but poor young doctor, is meeting pretty Rosamond Vincy, to whom he is much attracted. Fred Vincy, Rosamond’s brother, has indicated that he expects to receive a fine inheritance when his uncle, Mr. Featherstone, dies. Meanwhile, Vincy is pressed by a debt he is unable to pay.

Lydgate becomes involved in petty local politics. When the time comes to choose a chaplain for the new hospital of which Lydgate is the head, the young doctor realizes that it is in his best interest to vote in accordance with the wishes of Nicholas Bulstrode, an influential banker and founder of the hospital. A clergyman named Tyke receives the office.

In Rome, Ladislaw encounters Dorothea and her husband. Dorothea has begun to realize how pompous and incompatible she finds Casaubon. Seeing her unhappiness, Ladislaw first pities and then falls in love with his cousin’s wife. Unwilling to live any longer on Casaubon’s charity, Ladislaw announces his intention of returning to England and finding some kind of gainful occupation.

When Fred Vincy’s note comes due, he tries to sell a horse at a profit, but the animal turns out to be vicious. Because of Fred’s inability to raise the money, Caleb Garth, who had signed his note, now stands to lose one hundred and ten pounds. Fred falls ill, and Lydgate is summoned to attend him. Lydgate uses his professional calls to further his suit with Rosamond.

Dorothea and her husband return from Rome in time to hear of Celia’s engagement to Sir James. Will Ladislaw includes a note to Dorothea in a letter he writes to Casaubon. This attention precipitates a quarrel that is followed by Casaubon’s serious illness. Lydgate, who attends him, urges him to give up his studies for the present time. Lydgate confides to Dorothea that Casaubon has a weak heart and must be guarded from all excitement.

Meanwhile, all the relatives of old Mr. Featherstone are waiting impatiently for his death. He hopes to circumvent their desires by giving his fortune to Mary Garth, daughter of the man who had signed Fred Vincy’s note. When she refuses the money, he falls into a rage and dies soon afterward. Upon the reading of his will, everyone learns that he left nothing to his relatives; most of his money is to go to Joshua Riggs, who is to take the name of Featherstone, and a part of his fortune is to endow the Featherstone Almshouses for old men.

Plans are made for Rosamond’s marriage with Lydgate. Fred Vincy is ordered to prepare himself finally for the ministry, since he is to have no inheritance from his uncle. Mr. Brooke has gone into politics; he now enlists the help of Ladislaw in publishing a liberal paper. Mr. Casaubon now dislikes his cousin intensely after he rejected further financial assistance, and he has forbidden Ladislaw from entering his house.

After Casaubon dies suddenly, a codicil to his will gives Dorothea all of his property as long as she does not marry Ladislaw. This strange provision causes Dorothea’s friends and relatives some concern because, if publicly revealed, it will appear that Dorothea and Ladislaw had been indiscreet.

On the advice of his Tory friends, Mr. Brooke gives up his liberal newspaper and cuts off his connection with Ladislaw. Ladislaw realizes that Dorothea’s family is in some way trying to separate him from Dorothea, but he refuses to be disconcerted about the matter. He resolves to stay on in Middlemarch until he is ready to leave. When he hears of the codicil to Casaubon’s will, he is more than ever determined to remain so that he can eventually disprove the suspicions of the village concerning him and Dorothea.

Meanwhile, Lydgate and Rosamond have married, and the doctor has gone deeply in debt to furnish his house. When he finds that his income does not meet his wife’s spendthrift habits, he asks her to help him economize. They begin to quarrel, and both his practice and his popularity decrease.

A disreputable man named Raffles appears in Middlemarch. Raffles knows that Ladislaw’s grandfather had amassed a fortune as a receiver of stolen goods and that Nicholas Bulstrode, the highly respected banker, had once been the confidential clerk of Ladislaw’s ancestor. Moreover, Bulstrode’s first wife had been his employer’s widow. Bulstrode built his fortune with money inherited from her, money that should have gone to Ladislaw’s mother.

Bulstrode had been blackmailed by Raffles earlier, and he reasons now that the scoundrel will tell Ladislaw the whole story. To forestall trouble, he sends for Ladislaw and offers him an annuity of five hundred pounds and liberal provision in his will. Ladislaw, feeling that his relatives have already tainted his honor, refuses; he is unwilling to be associated in any way with the unsavory business and decides to leave Middlemarch for London, even though he has no assurance that Dorothea loves him.

Lydgate drifts more deeply into debt. When he wishes to sell what he can and take cheaper lodgings, Rosamond manages to persuade him to continue keeping up the pretense of prosperity a little longer. When Bulstrode gives up his interest in the new hospital and withdraws his financial support, the situation grows even worse. Faced at last with the seizure of his goods, Lydgate goes to Bulstrode and asks for a loan. The banker advises him to seek aid from Dorothea and abruptly ends the conversation. When Raffles, in the last stages of alcoholism, returns to Middlemarch and Lydgate is called in to attend him, Bulstrode, afraid the doctor will learn the banker’s secret from Raffles’s drunken ravings, changes his mind and gives Lydgate a check for one thousand pounds. The loan comes in time to save Lydgate’s goods and reputation. When Raffles dies, Bulstrode feels at peace at last. Nevertheless, it soon becomes common gossip that Bulstrode had given money to Lydgate and that Lydgate had attended Raffles in his final illness. Bulstrode and Lydgate are publicly accused of malpractice in Raffles’s death. Only Dorothea takes up Lydgate’s defense. The rest of the town is busy with gossip over the affair. Rosamond is anxious to leave Middlemarch to avoid public disgrace. Bulstrode, too, is anxious to leave town, because Raffles had told his secret while drunk in a neighboring village; Bulstrode becomes ill, however, and his doctors will not permit him to leave his bed.

Feeling sympathy for Lydgate, Dorothea is determined to give her support to the hospital and to try to convince Rosamond that the only way Lydgate could recover his honor is by remaining in Middlemarch. Unfortunately, she comes upon Rosamond pouring out her grief to Will Ladislaw. Dorothea, suspecting that Rosamond is involved with Ladislaw, leaves abruptly. Angered at the false position Rosamond had put him in, Ladislaw tells her that he has always loved Dorothea from a distance. When Dorothea forces herself to return to Lydgate’s house the following morning, Rosamond tells her of Ladislaw’s declaration. Dorothea realizes she is willing to give up Casaubon’s fortune for Ladislaw’s affection.

Despite the protests of her family and friends, they are married several weeks later and leave Middlemarch to live in London. Lydgate and Rosamond live together with better understanding and prospects of a happier future. Fred Vincy becomes engaged to Mary Garth, with whom he has long been in love. For a time, Dorothea’s family ignores her, but they are finally reconciled after Dorothea’s son is born and Ladislaw is elected to Parliament.

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