Silas Marner | Silas Marner

At a glance:

Author: George Eliot
First Published: 1861
Type of Work: Novel
Type of Plot: Fable
Time of Work: The early nineteenth century
Setting: Rural England
Principal Characters: Silas Marner, Godfrey Cass, Dunstan Cass, Nancy Lammeter, Dolly Winthrop, Eppie
Genres: Long fiction, Fable, Domestic realism
Subjects: Values, Child rearing or parenting, Children, Family or family life, Love or romance, Nineteenth century, Marriage, Mistaken or secret identity, Betrayal, Rural or country life, Alienation, England or English people, Adultery, Adoption or adopted children, Greed, Faith, Small-town life, Money, Theft, Loneliness, Gossip, Gold, Precious metals or stones, Weaving or weavers
Locales: England

Form and Content

Set in rural England in the early nineteenth century, Silas Marner covers a time span of some thirty years during which Silas undergoes a process of spiritual-emotional death and rebirth. The secondary plot revolving around Godfrey Cass is of nearly equal importance, and the intersections of the two plots create the primary energies of the novel. In both stories, moreover, suffering is created by men but redeemed by women.

Silas has grown up within the fundamentalist religious community of Lantern Yard—an ironic name, because there is more...

Silas Marner | Silas Marner

At a glance:

Form and Content

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