應外二 49782014 高璇柔
應外二 49782018 曹心怡
應外二 49782021 翁韋如
應外二 49782024 劉玉婷
應外二 49782051 黃寶兒
應外二 49784020 劉穎蓁
Author
George Eliot (1819 –1880)
• Mary Anne (Mary Ann, Marian) Evans
• Pen name George Eliot
• English novelist and one of the leading
writers (Victorian era)
• Author of eight novels
• Celebrated for their realism and
psychological insights.
George Eliot (1819 –1880)
Major Works
(Middlemarch)
Characters
Dorothea Brooke
• Brought up by her uncle.
• Insists on wedding Mr. Casaubon because
of his supposed wisdom.
• Refuses to complete Casaubon’s work
due to his distrust.
• Donates money to the hospital to help the
needed and helps Lydgate pay his debt.
• Gets married with Mr. Ladislaw in the end.
Edward Casaubon
• A scholar intends to write “The Key to All
Mythologies.”
• Forbids Dorothea from interfering his work.
• Prohibits his cousin Ladislaw working in
Middlemarch.
• Adds codicil to his will. If Dorothea gets
married with Ladislaw, she cannot inherit
his legacy.
Will Ladislaw
• An Italian with white mice.
• Possesses lower social and economic
standing.
• Works for Mr. Brooke to elect councilor.
• Leaves Middlemarch for he finds out the
codicil in his cousin’s will.
Tertius Lydgate
• An idealistic, ambitious, and talented
doctor
• Good birth but small financial means
• Come to Middlemarch to fulfill his ideal
• Married Rosamond Vincy
• Gives up his ideal eventually and want to
give his wife a happy life
Rosamond Vincy
• An egocentric and proud woman
• Despises the life in Middlemarch, hoping to
live an aristocratic life
• Married Tertius Lydgate because of his
good background
• The marriage provides her with an
increased status
Nicholas Bulstrode
• A wealthy banker in Middlemarch
• A pious Methodist who tries to impose his
beliefs in Middlemarch society
• Has a dark past
• Lives in agony because he is afraid that
his past would be revealed
• Leaves Middlemarch with his wife after his
secret had been revealed
Fred Vincy
•
•
•
•
Rosamond's brother, the mayor’s son
Spendthrift and irresponsible
Loyal to his lover-Mary
Fails to meet his parents’ expectation of
being a clergy, not knowing what to do in the
future
• Finds his profession and wins his lover
Mary’s respect and they get married in the
end
Summary
Rosamond
Fred
Vincy Vincy
(mayor’s
(mayor’s
son) daughter)
Dorothea (niece of landowner)
Husband and wife
First marriage
Love and get married
Edward
Lydgate
Casaubon
(doctor)(scholar)
Second marriage
Mary Garth (Featherstone’s nurse)
Inviter and supporter
Covet his money
Ladislaw (cousin of Casaubon)
(banker)
Featherstone Bulstrode
(Fred’s uncle)
Theme
Theme
Marriage
Marriage in Middlemarch is a
beginning, not an ending
Theme
Compassion and Forgiveness
Compassion, Forgiveness, Sympathy –
these are big ideas in Middlemarch
Theme
Women and Femininity
Women in Middlemarch have personalities
and ambitions independent of their
husbands
Theme
Science
Science and scientific progress was a
big deal in the 19th century
Theme
Dreams, Hopes, Plans
• Casaubon
• Dorothea
• Lydgate
Theme
Dissatisfaction
• Dorothea
• Lydgate
• Casaubon
• Most of the dissatisfaction in this
novel is a result of a failure to settle
lofty ambitions with everyday realities
(financial problems).
Theme
Society and Class
• the relationships between different
people have large and small effects on
everything around them
ambitions
realities(financial problems)
social expectations
dissatisfaction
Theme
Spirituality
• religious feeling
• personal belief
• moral sense