Middlemarch presents an entire world in its depiction of a small community in the early 1800s. However, among a myriad of subplots, the book centres on three main romances. Unlike Jane Austen, two of the stories begin with marriage and disintegrate from there while the third presents a practical and somewhat unromantic version of what might be the best path in love.
Dorothea and Casaubon
Dorothea is young and naive and wants a wider world of the intellect. She meets the much older scholar Casaubon and, wrapped in illusions, imagines helping him in his studies. He turns out to be a dry old stick, a failure who cannot love, and who leaves a poisonous stipulation in his will that nearly destroys her life when he (thankfully) dies.
Dr. Lydgate and Rosamond
Dr. Lydgate comes to Middlemarch as a new doctor full of hopes and plans to improve medicine for all mankind. He misunderstands the community and Rosamond and makes a series of disastrous errors that eventually lead to his pitiful ruin.
Mary Garth and Fred Vincy
Mary is a plain girl with a practical outlook, while Fred is a feckless dilettante who expects, but does not receive, a large inheritance. She loves him but refuses to consider marriage until he makes something of himself.
What do these stories have in common? The contrast of acting from illusion based on naivete or cultural stereotypes with action based on greater understanding and awareness of reality, for me, forms the central moral dilemma. The novel is filled with characters making disastrous decisions based on who they think another person is, or what they believe they deserve in life. Bitter truth keeps impeding expected happiness, but versions of happiness are possible when characters truly understand themselves and others.
Much of the book centres around the disappointment of illusory hopes, and the apprehension of what is really happening. Some characters recover and others don't.
Middlemarch is a long, complex book written in convoluted Victorian English. It's a big commitment, so maybe wait until you have a free month to start reading. It's a cathedral of a book, like the photo below.
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