Student Question
What are the major themes in Middlemarch?
Quick answer:
The major themes in "Middlemarch" include social status and ambition, where characters risk their security to climb the social ladder. The novel also explores charity, particularly unrecognized acts of kindness, and critiques the roles and expectations of women in society. Themes of inheritance, marital relationships, and the clash between love and social ambition are also prominent, highlighting the struggles and disillusionments of provincial life.
In the novel 'Middlemarch' by george Eliot, the author examines the themes and ideas of status, society, social climbing and the risks of all these motives in provincial life. many risks with home and security are taken by people on financial gambles - many are trying to 'keep up with the joneses' trying to go one better than their neighbours and risking all that they have already achieved. True love was often sacrificed in the last century to drive working hours harder and harder to make money for material things - so couple/family life was often damaged. Love and social ambition clash. These are the threads and themes to look for in the narrative and the dalog. Good luck.
What are the major themes in Middlemarch?
There are a lot of good themes in this novel.
The main theme of the novel is charity. The kind of charity whereby the person is not recognized. Saint Theresa...
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is spoken of at the beginning is one of these such people. The narrator then postulates about other people who had a positive effect on the world but nobody gave them any credit. The story ofMiddlemarch is an example.
The interactions of the men and women are quite different. The wives of Middlemarch are always expected to be low-keyed and submissive however they should possess talents that are treated as hobbies. Celia, Mrs. Garth and Mrs. Bulstrode are characters that are like this.
Dorothea doesn't choose stupid and trite hobbies that the other women chose. She gives herself totally to her husband's work when he is living.
Inheritance is another theme in Middlemarch, showing how how land and capitol are passed down the male lineage after death. The old patterns of patriarchy are illustrated in this novel: males having privilege/power and paternity.
Marital relationships is another theme in Middlemarch. There are three story lines, all involving different marriages. First the courship period is shown where the couples, Dorothea and Casaubon, Rosamond and Lydgate, have illusions about marriage. Their impressions are not realistic. Worst of all is their expectations that they nursed during the courtship were squashed by the actual married life.
In addition greed and the past returning to haunt the characters are other themes.