middlemarch

One of the central themes that runs through Middlemarch is that of marriage. Indeed, it has been argued that Middlemarch can be construed as a treatise in favor of divorce. I do not think that this is the case, although there are a number of obviously unsuitable marriages. If it had been Elliot 's intention to write about such a controversial subject, I believe she would not have resorted to veiling it in a novel. She illustrates the different stages of relationships that her characters undergo, from courtship through to marriage, George Eliot had pondered enough about the position and the portrayal of women in Victorian society, and the various responses different types of women elicit. Probably this had enabled Eliot to sketch and embed in her novel, charming characters such as Dorothea and Rosamond, two very different women who reflected in them the different tunes of the times. Their ideas would be echoed and supported in the works of other writers in this era. Up until this time, marriage had been thought and been written about to be a method for men to control women and allow them to be dependent and subservient rather than to search for love. To highlight the cause of women, Eliot made a rather calculated move and brought in marriage as a very important theme in Middlemarch. Marriage, central to the lives of women in Victorian society becomes the canvas on which her two characters bloom. Thus, she illustrates the different stages of relationships that her characters undergo, from courtship through to marriage.

A fellow mortal with whose nature you are acquainted with solely through the brief entrances and exits of a few imaginative weeks called courtship, may, when seen in the continuity of married companionship, be disclosed as something better or worse than what you have preconceived, but will certainly not appear altogether the same. (Eliot, 193)

She not only includes the new couples (Fred and Mary, Celia and Chettam), but also the older ones

Cited: Ed. Thomas Pinney, “Margaret Fuller and Mary Wollstonecraft” in Essays of George Eliot, London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1963 Eliot George. Middlemarch. Ed. Carroll, David. Oxford & New York: Oxford University Press, 1996.