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Middlemarch Serial Reading Check-in Questions (Books 2-3) (Patreon)

Published:
2022-05-22 15:11:14
Imported:
2026-06
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  • BookThreeCheckIn.mp3

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Content

The third volume of George Eliot's Middlemarch, 'Waiting for Death', has been on the bookstands for several weeks.

And readers can finally learn what life after the honeymoon is like for Dorothea and Casaubon, whilst also better getting to know Mary Garth, Fred Vincy, Rosamond Vincy, and Tertius Lydgate.

So, in anticipation of our long-form lecture on book three, I would love to hear your responses to our check-in questions.

In this audio, we're discussing:

  • advice for readers starting Middlemarch now
  • the benefits of following the serialised schedule
  • questions to mull over as we move deeper into the work
  • my responses to reader comments from our last check-in

Audio Timestamps:

  • 0:00 'Waiting for Death' hits the bookstands
  • 1:00 advice for new readers entering Middlemarch
  • 2:56 serial reading check-in questions
  • 6:06 responding to some reader comments 
  • 12:00 why Middlemarch is a work of genius

Serial Reading Questions:

1) What is the effect of returning to Middlemarch after another two months? Did you manage to get into 'Waiting for Death'?

2) What's happened in your life since volume two? 

3) What has remained in your memory from books two and three? 

4) What are you looking forward to reading more of? Which character arc are you most enjoying?

Here is our content for this masterpiece to date:

Happy Middlemarching, folks!

Files

Previews only

Comments

David Holmes

1) What is the effect of returning to Middlemarch after another two months? Did you manage to get into 'Waiting for Death'? I am not reading the novel serially since that does not work in my structured reading style. I am just beyond the end of section three. I have never had a high opinion of people who wait around for “prospects” and found the whole scene of waiting for death comic. Overall I have already formed an opinion that “Middlemarch” is the greatest of 19th Century English novels. And there is a lot of excellent competition. 2) What's happened in your life since volume two?  What I described in my monthly reading report. 3) What has remained in your memory from books two and three?  Setting the novel three decades before her writing, Eliot is developing a novel where the catalyst for the plot is the tension between the past and the future. I love the authorial intrusions, the astute observations of humanity that allow such real characterization, and the essay nature of the text. 4) What are you looking forward to reading more of? Which character arc are you most enjoying? Character arcs I am enjoying: - Dorothea - her name means “gift of God” from Greek. She is the embodiment of the definition of love from Chapter 13 of Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians; “[4] Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant [5] or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; [6] it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. [7] Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. - Tertius Lydgate - Idealistic and proud. Tertius means “third” in latin. In Christian history, Tertius was Bishop of Iconium and a martyr. I am confident Eliot knew this when naming him. Pride is the deadliest of the seven deadly sins and “goes before a fall”. - Celia - She is the practical sister. Her nickname “Dodo” for Dorothea is indicative that she does not understand her sister, but loves her. Dodos were flightless birds on the island of Mauritius that became extinct in the 17th century because of colonization, killed off by man and invasive species. Skeletons remain in museums. There was a Dodo in Alice in Wonderland. To call someone a Dodo may being an endearing nickname but it implies cluelessness in popular culture. - Will Ladislaw, idealistic and talented. I’m uncertain how Eliot will develop his arc but he interests me. - Rosemond Vincy ; beautiful and aloof, her impending marriage to Lydgate presages a hard time ahead. - Fred Vincy - Youthful and carefree, waiting for “prospects” he is probably in for a fall, but may recover since his shortcomings are not uncommon among the young.