Middlemarch (Wadsworth Series in Mass Communication) [Englisch] [Taschenbuch]

The novel's 'heroine' is Dorothea Brooke, a young woman of excellent virtue who is passionately idealistic about the good that can be achieved in life. The provincial setting of Middlemarch is the environment in which Dorothea's struggle to fulfil her ideals takes place, and the novel's central theme is how the petty politics of provincial 19th century England are largely accountable for her failure. In parallel with Dorothea's story is the story of Lydgate, an intelligent and ambitious doctor who also runs up against the obstructive forces of provincial life and finds them severely restrictive of his goals.

Eliot is supremely compassionate, yet never blind to the faults of her characters. Dorothea's ideas of social reform are naive, while her high opinion of Casaubon's work proves to be a major mistake. But Eliot is never cynical when the motives of her characters are pure, and does not censure them for failure. What she is critical of is the narrow minded self-seeking attitude which forces Dorothea and Lydgate to come to terms with the fact that often good does not win out over circumstance. The subtext to this is the fact that the high ideals and sense of responsibility intrinsic in both Dorothea and Lydgate means that there is no question of them ever finding love together. In essence, Middlemarch is simply about life and how things don't always work out, despite our best intentions, but are often the product of negative forces. In other novels Eliot's didacticism can sometimes jar, but it is impossible to ignore the depth of her wisdom in Middlemarch.

Middlemarch is the best novel of our greatest novelist - of the major Victorian writers only Tolstoy can really compare with her - and I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Middlemarch is essentially about how lives can go wrong. It starts out with idealistic Dorothea Brooke wanting to reform the world and young Tertius Lydgate being about to rock the medical world with striking new discoveries. Eliot shows what life does to those two. Or better say, she points out how it is essentially each person himself or herself who is responisble for what happens. "Time will say nothing but I told you so."

No reader can fail to be touched by the wake-up call of this book: We must face what we are about to to with our lives and not take important decisions lightly.

I love George Eliot's style of writing - beautifully and distinctively eloquent and expressive, and with such observance and skills in depicting the depths and complexities of human relations and the demands and passions of the heart. The book also explores the issues of "class" (e.g. in the courtship between gentleman Fred Vincy and working class Mary Garth), "money" (e.g. questions raised over Featherstone's will after the old miser's death), "politics" (on elections and the cause promoted by the 'liberal' Middlemarchers), "scandals" (especially concerning the dark secrets of the respected banker, Mr Bulstrode) and even "murder" - all portrayed brilliantly in high drama and with engrossing suspense.

My favourite character is the heroine, the virtuous Dorothea Brooke whose life is made miserable by her marriage to the old, dull, selfish academician, Casaubon. Her later acquaintance with young Will Ladislaw who is Casaubon's cousin ("cousin, not nephew", as the vain Casaubon always makes a point to clarify, due to the apparent age gap between them) provides Dorothea with the companionship of someone who listens to and respects her views and who brings a ray of sunshine and cheer into her otherwise lonely life. Love soon blossoms between Dorothea and Will but they're forbidden to court/marry even after Casaubon's death due to a nasty clause put in by Casaubon in his will. It was pure heartache to read of the feelings that these two have for each other but aren't able to express due to societal constraints. Will knows rather early on that he loves her; it takes Dorothea longer to realize her true feelings. I got all teary-eyed when I read the part where Dorothea, alone in her room and in a state of inescapable anguish, moans out "Oh, I did love him!" [And to quote]: "... But she lost energy at last even for her loud-whispered cries and moans: she subsided into helpless sobs, and on the cold floor she sobbed herself to sleep".

The other main characters are no less interesting and will easily capture the reader's heart and compassion. There's Dr Lydgate, an ambitious man whose marriage to the vain, beautiful but spoilt Rosamund Vincy turns out to be a most exasperating and expensive affair (you have to read the book to find out just how SO). There's also a love triangle involving Fred Vincy, Mary Garth and Farebrother (the vicar). The other smaller characters such as Bulstrode, his wife, Mr Garth (Mary's father), a blackmailer (Raffles) and others are all well-painted and believable, each with their own story to tell.

Unlike some classics, this one provides a most satisfying ending because it discloses in the 'Finale' what happens later to the main characters after the "main story" has ended - e.g. up to what age they live to, if the (new) marriages are successful, how many children each couple has, etc.

"Middlemarch" is a truly remarkable classic and a wonderful, wonderful read.