Middlemarch the Great, Part 1

Hello and welcome to 2020.

I read Middlemarch over Christmas and I've been postponing my blog post because it is such a vast and complex book - how can I do justice to it in one brief post?   Therefore, I've decided to write about the book in parts, this being Part 1.

George Eliot, pseudonym of Marian Evans, was born 200 years ago on November 22, 1819, hence the interest in her writing lately.  I strongly encourage you to listen to Eleanor Wachtel's fabulous interview with three writers who discuss Middlemarch.  You can find Writers & Company on podcasts.  

George Eliot wrote Middlemarch in 1871, setting it in 1829-1832.  She is considered a Victorian novelist.   Fascinating fact:  She lived common-law with a married man for 24 years, before briefly marrying another man before her early death.  By comparison, Jane Austen lived from 1775 - 1817, setting her books in the late 1700s.   I mention Jane Austen, because the two writers are both satirists of their age, and write about relationships and culture.   George Eliot's work in much darker and deeper, and the marriages don't end with the wedding, but continue to the often bitter end.

Middlemarch presents the whole world of a small English town, encompassing every kind of person and situation that can be found there.   This book has been considered one of the best novels ever written, and I can see why - the concerns and situations described in 1871 are relevant to our modern times, encompassing consistent human realities such as self delusion, disappointment, tragedy, comedy, politics, insanity and the nuances of good and bad relationships.  One big difference between then and now, of course, is the prose style.  Eliot's prose is lengthy, convoluted, digressive and often difficult to understand.  You can skip those parts. It is a very long book that requires quite a commitment of time.

I will end Part 1 now, and continue Part 2 tomorrow, when I will touch on the three romantic relationships of the novel, two of which fail completely.  Why is the third romance so successful?  Stay tuned!