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George Eliot's Middlemarch - 'The Widow and the Wife' (Lecture Six) (Patreon)

Published:
2022-10-27 15:22:25
Imported:
2026-06
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Content

"Do you not see now that I could not submit my soul to yours, by working hopelessly at what I have no belief in?"

In the sixth instalment of George Eliot's masterpiece, 'The Widow and the Wife,' we continue to mark the arcs of characters now dear to us. And perhaps our thoughts turn to our own personal character arcs.

Timestamps:

  • 0:00 the feeling of returning home
  • 2:30 egoism, empathy & locus of control
  • 6:50 delayed gratification & the moral muscle
  • 10:00 how the reader can heighten the realism
  • 11:00 character arcs, resolution & meaning
  • 15:00 the opening of book six
  • 20:00 Dorothea tries to break free
  • 23:30 the sacrifice of submitting one’s soul
  • 25:47 juxtaposing Rosamond & Dorothea
  • 27:00 what truly matters to us?
  • 29:30 the burden of fortune
  • 31:22 a battle of the wills
  • 35:00 love vs shame & fortune
  • 37:30 reading the present in the past
  • 40:00 the rise of the railway
  • 49:00 ‘you can’t hinder the railroad’
  • 52:00 how George Eliot speaks to men
  • 56:30 wisdom speaks to youth
  • 59:00 men, women & maturation
  • 1:01:00 crystallised vs fluid intelligence
  • 1:03:00 choosing one’s path in life
  • 1:05:00 work is love made visible

Here is the content to date for our Middlemarch reading journey:

Questions to Consider:

1) Have you observed any benefits to delaying gratification in your life?

2) Whose character arc are you most invested in now? And what is your own arc looking like at the moment?

3) Dickens wrote to Eliot in admiration and said that he was sure the novelist was a woman. Would you have been able to tell that ‘George Eliot’ was actually Mary Ann Evans?

Happy Middlemarching, folks!

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Comments

LESLIE SCHIPPERT

I must admit I binged Middlemarch because I fell in love with it. I'm not too good at delaying gratification. I'm so far behind everyone in this book club and trying to catch up. I guess that's silly because I can listen to the lectures anytime. You are right, Ben; we see ourselves reflected in the characters. I can relate to old Casaubon; at 62, I realize my character arc could end anytime. I understand his selfishness in wanting his life work to be completed. As a teacher, I find myself close to retirement. I wonder if I have reached many kids. Am I done? Should I stay another year, risking stressing my mental and physical health but giving myself another chance to be a great teacher? EGO!!!! Yes, I agree that pain informs the future. After much pain, I understand love and relationships somewhat better. Poor Casaubon never understood love, unlike Dorothea, who realized love is not just a feeling but a choice. Even if we don't like that relationship, you must admire her commitment.

Jonathon Glover

Delaying gratification is both rewarding and excruciating. The serial reading will take me into early August. I think I will put this one down until the end of July, and binge the last 2 books across the 2 months. A reward for patience. It’s hard to separate the arcs at this point, as they are all engrossing, and in some ways, interconnected. Dorothea is a literary gift, but I loved the development of Rosamund in this section. Watching the slow deterioration of her and Lydgate’s relationship feels excruciatingly real, and relatable. I am completely invested in the Dorothea and Will romance, and find their lack of communication incredibly frustrating. But I have been in that situation before, where you are waiting for the other to say the right thing. Funnily enough, it is our hopeless Fred Vincy who captures the main message for me from Book 6 “The regret was genuine, and inspired Fred with strong, simple words”. I think Will and Dorothea could learn a lot from Fred’s arc. Finally, I loved Rosamund’s foreshadowing of their romance with the incredibly cheeky comment “I have no doubt the end will be thoroughly romantic.” Delightfully wicked!