A Short summary of George Eliot's "Middlemarch"


A Short summary of George Eliot's "Middlemarch"





Novel starts and we find Dorothea Brooke, who is a young woman living with her uncle and sister. She is beautiful, intelligent and generous. Her main ambition in life is to take on a noble project – so she marries an old scholar named Casaubon, thinking that helping him in his research will be the project she's after. Dorothea quickly discovers that he cares more for his own scholarly studies than he does for her.
A young doctor named Lydgate moves to Middlemarch to set up a practice with his new ideas about medicine and science. But he faces a lot of problems. First of all, most of the residents of Middlemarch have lived in the town for their whole lives, and they don't trust newcomers. Second, they don't trust new ideas. Lydgate falls in love with Rosamond Vincy, the sister of one his patients, and finally marries her. But Lydgate discovers that Rosamond is selfish, and Rosamond learns that Lydgate will always be "married" to his work as a doctor. And then they run out of money because neither of them knows how to stick to a budget. These two unhappy couples are connected by Mr. Casaubon's young cousin, Will Ladislaw. Will is a handsome, young artist. Lydgate finds Will to be sympathetic to his ideas about science and medicine, and since Will is an outsider in Middlemarch, too, they quickly become friends. Everyone seems to like Will. Especially Dorothea, who finds that he understands her in a way that her husband doesn't. Mr. Casaubon was always jealous of the friendly bond between his cousin, Will, and his wife. So Mr. Casaubon leaves a condition in his will saying that Dorothea will lose all the money she's supposed to inherit from him if she remarries Will Ladislaw. Dorothea and Will decide to get married. They live happily ever after, despite the fact that they lost the large inheritance from dead Mr. Casaubon. And Rosamond and Lydgate live unhappily ever after until Lydgate dies at an early age, leaving Rosamond free to marry anyone.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tughlaq By Girish Karnad

Image
 Plot: ‘Tughlaq’ is Karnad’s second play written in 1964 ; the play was originally written in Kannada and then translated in Kannada by Karnad himself. It is all about the life of Sultan Muhammad bin Tughlaq who has ruled in India in 14 th  century. There is a lot of controversy among the historians about the character of Tughlaq but Karnad has presented this man as a man of opposites. The central theme of the play is the complexity in the character of Sultan Tughlaq, who has both the elements good as well as evil. He is a visionary man as well as man of action. Other characters also present Tughlaq’s dual personality; his close associates Barani and the scholarly historian Najib are practical politician like him.                 From the very first scene we come to know about the complex personality of Tughlaq, he can be considered as a learnt and an intelligent man. He has abilities to learn and curiosity to know and he is master in playing chess, he has the knowledge
Read more

The Old Woman- Joseph Campbell

Image
As a white candle In a holy place,  So is the beauty Of an aged face. As the spent radience Of the winter sun,  So is a woman With her travail done. Her brood gone from her, And her thoughts as still  As the waters Under a ruined mill.                   The poem 'The Old Woman' is written by Joseph Campbell. The poem is divided into 3 stanza. The meaning of the  poem is deeper than any romantic poem. The poem is very simple, realistic poem. The poet has given  the description  of old lady by different comparisons . It s very natural to see beauty in young women , but t is very understanding to describe the beauty of old woman.  It requires great imaginative power to see beauty in old age.                 In  the first stanza , the poet compares the old lady with the white candle . As the white candle in the holy place gives light and guided  the person who comes there. It is the symbol  of holy figure. Likewise the old lady's face  compared with the white c
Read more

The Hunt by Mahashweta Devi

Image
‘The Hunt’ forms part of a collection published as  Imaginary Maps: Three Stories by Mahasweta Devi in 1995. The other two stories in the collection are namely ‘ Douloti the Bountiful’ and ‘Pterodactyl, Puran Sahay, and Pirtha. ’ All three stories describe a fictional rendition of situations that are very real in the lives of the tribal people. While ‘The Hunt’   is about a half tribal girl’s bold attempt to put a violent end to her personal exploitation as well as to the threat of ecological devastation, ‘Douloti ’  deals with the problem of bonded labour, particularly the women who are exploited endlessly and mercilessly through the system. The heart wrenching image at the end of the story with Douloti’s rotting and bleeding body covering the map of India raises many disturbing questions and speaks volumes for what independent India has failed to do for one sixth of its population. In Devi’s words “Decolonization has not reached the poor. That is why these things happen. Wo
Read more