to do what he is asking - he isn't conscious of how much more damaging it was for a woman to enter into such a relationship.  Maggie does, however, which is why she refuses him.

In The Mill on the Floss, George Eliot depicts the underlying roughness and injustice of a supposedly civilized society. For one thing, as a girl and then woman, Maggie Tulliver always seems to come out at the bottom of the heap. She is an intelligent girl, yet it is her brother, Tom, who receives an advanced education. Maggie does go to school, but it is far from equal. What's more, Maggie's mother often gets upset that Maggie is intelligent and therefore does not behave as she thinks her daughter should.

Later in the novel, Maggie's father prevents her from meeting with Philip, the son of his sworn enemy. The conflict between their fathers is not the fault of Maggie or Philip, but the situation keeps them apart. After Maggie's father dies in poverty, Maggie goes out to work as a teacher to support herself. She has no other choice. Then when Maggie and Stephen spend the night together on a boat, the fault falls completely on Maggie, and people start seeing her (unjustly) as a fallen woman. Even her brother, Tom, who has always been Maggie's role model and support, disowns her.

Society is not kind to Maggie's father either. He is in debt and then loses his lawsuit with Lawyer Waken (Philip's father) about the use of a section of the River Floss. This puts Mr. Tulliver out of business and out of hope. He is bankrupt and has to auction off his mill. Then to add insult to injury, Lawyer Waken buys the mill and keeps Mr. Tulliver on as its manager. This is horribly humiliating. Mr. Tulliver dies after attacking Lawyer Waken in a desperate expression of his frustration.

The novel also depicts society's views about relationships. Maggie, for instance, doesn't get to decide whom she will marry. Her father and brother keep her away from Philip. Stephen and Maggie are attracted to each other, and he asks her to marry him, but Maggie decides that she will remain single, bearing the burden of her pain and guilt. She makes herself something of a martyr, but this is what society seems to expect her to do. She is not supposed to find happiness.

We must remember that this book was written by a woman who was unhappy with the societal norms of her time. Many of the salient factors of the Victorian Age present in Mill on the Floss seem to be portrayed with the intent to critique prevailing gender roles. I will briefly discuss two examples and their relationship to gender.

One important aspect of Victorian culture in the novel is the tension around what kind of education the children should receive. Tom, a middle-class male, is expected to attain a classical education, including the study of Latin, philosophy, and mathematics. It is clear that his mind is not suited for this kind of intellectual labor. When his father asks him about a geometry book by Euclid, he responds, "Oh, I don't know; it's definitions, and axioms, and triangles, and things. It's a book I've got to learn in—there's no sense in it.” By contrast, his sister Maggie enjoys learning. She is curious and inquisitive, and she has a positive relationship with books. At one point in the novel, she remarks,

But I can tell you almost everything there is in my books, I've read them so many times, and that will amuse you. And I can tell you something about Geography too,—that's about the world we live in,—very useful and interesting. Did you ever hear about Columbus?

Though she excels in this area, Maggie is not supposed to spend her time learning the things that boys are supposed to learn. She is expected to learn domestic chores and housekeeping. These gender roles and the way they intersect with education are an example of a historical factor from the Victorian era and its direct influence on the novel.

The career choices available to each character are also indicative of the era. After the Tullivers lose all their money, it falls to Tom to earn enough to get by. There are few careers available to middle-class women beyond becoming a teacher or governess. Maggie takes in sewing projects in exchange for small sums, but Tom does not want people to know that his sister is providing services for money. He says, "I don't like my sister to do such things...I'll take care that the debts are paid, without your lowering yourself in that way." A woman working demonstrates a masculine trait, but it also suggests that her family belongs to the lower classes. When Tom emphasizes that he does not want his sister to work, he is saying that he does not want to be seen as working-class.

Hopefully, these examples will get you started.

One of the salient features of the Victorian age in the novel 'The Mill on The Floss' by George Eliot is the author's experiences of trying to conform to the restrictively conservative society of the age - particularly relating to girls and women. Unusually for some girls of her day, she recognised in herself an intellectual capability that was considered 'coarse' or 'unfeminine' in women at the time. Also unfeminine was the trait of impulsiveness - which Eliot had 'in spades.' She was also honest, forthright and passionate - qualities which did not endear her to more traditional society personages. Refusal of acceptance of these qualities in her caused Maggie (Eliot?) to feel rebellious, and later in the novel she fulfils the strong and managerial role she always knew she was capable of.