Middlemarch: A Study of Provincial Life

5 Responses to “Middlemarch: A Study of Provincial Life”

1. Anonymous says:

   June 30, 2010 at 11:06 pm

   I read half of Middlemarch and establish it hard going. All of the characters are flawed (as in real life) which would have been OK if there were any who were sympathetic. But after reading 331 of 771 pages in my edition, I came across the following passage (Chap. 40): “Mr. Farebrother left the house soon after, and seeing Mary in the orchard with Letty, went to say excellent-bye to her. They made a pretty picture in the western light which brought out the brightness of the apples on the ancient scant-leaved boughs — Mary in her lilac gingham and black ribbons holding a basket, while Letty in her well-worn nankin selected up the fallen apples. If you want to know more particularly how Mary looked, ten to one you will see a face like hers in the crowded street to-morrow, if you are there on the watch: she will not be among persons daughters of Zion who are haughty, and walk with stretched-out necks and wanton eyes, mincing as they go: let all persons pass, and fix your eyes on some tiny plump brownish person of firm but silent carriage,….” These words of Eliot’s (not of a character) are vile. Who would want to read a book with hateful racial slanders like this, written from the point of view of an leader a part of whose moral scenery is racial animosity? Any leader whose moral frame of reference is so tiny-minded could not write a book of any real artistic value, all the professors of literature and their hollow praises notwithstanding. Character development and additional technical accomplishments do not a work of art make.
   Reader’s Rating: 1 / 5
2. Heather A. Butchy says:

   July 1, 2010 at 1:26 am

   …received in plenty of time for my graduate class, and I saved money in the process.Thanks.
   
   Reader’s Rating: 5 / 5
3. Anonymous says:

   July 1, 2010 at 2:09 am

   I know small about this fantastic novel, but I do know that this tome is a masterpiece.
   Reader’s Rating: 5 / 5
4. Reader says:

   July 1, 2010 at 2:32 am

   A extant photo of George Eliot illustrates why Herbert Spencer expressed the view, rumor has it that to all of Victorian London, that she was “too hideous” to marry. Her crushes on Spencer and others were unreciprocated, and she eventually went off with a married man in an unconventional arrangement. In Middlemarch she has written a book in which the hideous girl has not one, but two, ardent and faithful lifelong suitors; and the man who marries only for looks and deprecates female intelligence (Lydgate) gets his comeuppance by dying young, a failure, stuck with a wife who doesn’t know him. Moreover, the girl who brushes off her community’s disapproval, goes off with a man of uncertain pedigree and willingly gives up her chance as a result (Dorothea), is open as an undisputed heroine. The fact that Dorothea manages to do very small with her life of real value to society doesn’t matter, while Lydgate gets his comeuppance even though he has substantially contributed to his community. The essentials of this book are George Eliot’s personal feminist fantasy. While this is certainly an enjoyable read, it’s hard to take this as seriously as do the critics, and comparisons to Tolstoy etc. seem, on the whole, misguided.
   Reader’s Rating: 3 / 5
5. Anonymous says:

   July 1, 2010 at 3:14 am

   I HAD to read this book for my high school senior english class. I ongoing reading it and to this day I do not know why the leader had to use 771 pages for a fantastic tale. This book wuold have been perfect if it had not been so drawn out. At some points it even gets tortorous. Read this book if you have all the time AND pacience in the world ONLY. It is just too BLAH!
   Reader’s Rating: 2 / 5