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Middlemarch Plot

The document provides a summary of the plot of the novel Middlemarch by George Eliot. It describes the main characters, including Dorothea Brooke, who rejects a marriage proposal from Sir James Chettam and instead marries the much older Mr. Casaubon. Meanwhile, a new doctor named Lydgate arrives in Middlemarch hoping to advance medicine but struggles to gain acceptance. He marries Rosamond Vincy who grows egotistical and their marriage suffers. Dorothea falls in love with Casaubon's cousin Will Ladislaw but Casaubon leaves his estate to her only if she does not remarry, though in the end she and Will decide to marry despite conventions.

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286 views1 page

Middlemarch Plot

The document provides a summary of the plot of the novel Middlemarch by George Eliot. It describes the main characters, including Dorothea Brooke, who rejects a marriage proposal from Sir James Chettam and instead marries the much older Mr. Casaubon. Meanwhile, a new doctor named Lydgate arrives in Middlemarch hoping to advance medicine but struggles to gain acceptance. He marries Rosamond Vincy who grows egotistical and their marriage suffers. Dorothea falls in love with Casaubon's cousin Will Ladislaw but Casaubon leaves his estate to her only if she does not remarry, though in the end she and Will decide to marry despite conventions.

Uploaded by

Anna Ber
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Middlemarch

Dorothea Brooke is a strong, idealistic young woman, who is keen to learn and do useful things for society.
She is courted by a fine young man, Sir James Chettam, but she does not think he is stimulating enough and
does not love him, therefore she rejects him. Sir James then marries her sister Celia, with whom he will
later have a baby. Dorothea meets a middle aged man, Mr. Casaubon, and admires him strongly, thinking
that he is doing a great literary work and that she could learn a lot of things from him. He sees in her the
perfect wife, and they get married.
Meanwhile, in Middlemarch a new man arrives, Doctor Lydgate, who wants English medicine to improve by
surpassing old cures. He uses a totally new method and so he is not appreciated by some Middlemarchers.
He decides to marry Miss Rosamond Vincy, a young refined girl who aspires to rise above other country
families; she marries him because he has very good relations.
Rosamonds brother in the meanwhile expects to inherit the property of an old uncle who incites his
expectations. On the contrary, when he dies Fred discovers he has not been given anything. He hoped to
marry his childhood friend Mary Garth, a very poor and plain girl, who loves him very much; but she doesnt
encourage him until he demonstrate his worthiness and starts doing his best in order to find an honest job.
During the honeymoon, Dorothea has the opportunity of meeting Casaubons young cousin, Will Ladislaw.
Will is the son of a woman who escaped her family in her youth and he is provided of by Casaubon. When
they go back home, Dorothea and Will fall in love with each other and she realizes that she has done a big
mistake by marrying Casaubon. When Casaubon has a heart attack and dies, he leaves Dorothea his
fortune, which she can keep and administer if she gives up marrying Will. Will decides to leave
Middlemarch in order to become rich and marry Dorothea after that.
Lydgate is a good husband and gets into debt in order to please Rosamond and give her what she is used to.
When he realizes he cannot pay the debt, he decides to sell their house and move into a smaller one,
decision which cannot be accepted by Rosamond. Her egoism slowly makes them fall out of love with each
other and live a life without affection.
The apparition of a new character in the story, Mr. Raffles, makes us understand that an important banker
of the city, Mr. Bulstrode, was involved in dishonorable trades in his youth and has later married Wills
grandmother, who left him her fortune, not knowing where her daughter was. Therefore, Wills mother had
escaped because she didnt want to be involved in illegal matters. Bulstrode lends Lydgate some money,
but when Raffles spreads Bulstrodes story around Middlemarch, they both decide to leave town. Only
Dorothea preserves her faith in Lydgate.
At the end of the story, regardless of social conventions, Dorothea and Will decide to marry each other, and
Fred finally obtains Marys approval.

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