The Middlemarch Readalong Week 1

So week 1 of the #Eliotalong, hosted by An Armchair by the Sea, is finished, and boy, do I have some thoughts.

WARNING: SPOILERS!

It is not possible to be involved with a book discussion without discussing the book. So should you have plans to read Middlemarch at any point in time, just back away from this post and pick up the book! Or better yet, come and join us in the readalong! The more the merrier!

You can find the post Bex put up with these questions here.

1. Is this your first encounter with George Eliot? How are you finding it? Did you have any preconceptions about Eliot or the book before you started?

Yip. I am a newbie to Middlemarch. I was expecting a heavy, dull slog with inaccessible language and limited plot (I have no idea why I thought the latter, I just did.). After I got past the initial hurdle (the first few pages), the reading became much easier. I have enjoyed Eliot's sense of humour and her observations (which can be funny too) which show quite a lot of insight into humans and how they think.

2. How do you feel about Dorothea?

Ooooo. Tricky. There are somethings I really like about her. I like that she isn't shallow; that she could see beyond Casaubon's plain ugly looks and appreciate him for his intelligence. I really like that she wants to develop her own knowledge, which was evident in her choice of husband and in her research for the housing project. In fact, the housing project was interesting of itself. I know that James Chettam allows her to do this when he was hoping to marry her, but she seemed only interested in the project to improve people's lives (or perhaps for her own interest). I must admit that I also liked that she dressed down. It was as though she was trying to make the point that she was not just a pretty girl. In fact, it would seem that she was trying to not be seen as pretty but as something more - clever - emphasising what she thought was important.

But, I fear she has made a big mistake in marrying Casaubon. Although I know that in those days, women did marry because 'of what they would get out of it', because that was the sole purpose really for marriage, (Thank you 21st century!) I do not know if she is going to get what she wants from Casaubon (she wants the learning more than the man, in my opinion). If nothing else, Casaubon's lack of passion in the build up to his marriage to Dorothea, seems a bad beginning:

Hence he determined to abandon himself to the stream of feeling, and perhaps was surprised to find what an exceedingly shallow rill it was. As in droughty regions baptism by immersion could only be performed symbolically, Mr. Casaubon found that sprinkling was the utmost approach to a plunge which his stream would afford him; and he concluded that the poets had much exaggerated the force of masculine passion.

― George Eliot, Middlemarch

I will confess to have done a bit of reading up on this: the comparison to Milton does not bode well for her either. Apparently Milton's daughters did not enjoy working under their father.

Mihály Munkácsy’s 1877 oil painting “The Blind Milton Dictating Paradise Lost to His Daughters.”

To quote from Deborah Milton (which you can find in an essay here): I often confused his bitterness concerning all that had gone amiss in the great world with his domestic discontents, being more familiar. Was it my mother who had brought about the Fall and troubled times? Was my childish failure to obey his every with the reason for the turmoil in the streets and his displeasure?

I really do sympathise with Dorothea though. I think it must have been a horrible time for women, when they were left with a bare education and nothing to stimulate their intelligence. But more about that later. For now, I am thinking she is going to regret her decision. I hope she doesn't end up in a similar position to Milton's daughters, who were apparently left with nothing after he died.

3. Who is your favourite character so far and why?

That's a tricky one. I have only met a few characters so far. I suppose, Dorothea is my favourite, but that is because she is the character I have got to learn the most about and I have a lot of hope stored up for her character. She could prove to be a disappointment.

I think Lydgate, the new doctor, sounds like he could be an interesting character too. Not that we have heard much about him as yet. His character's arrival is showing some of the political aspects of the novel. But I am interested in what he is planning on doing too.

I can, however, say that I am not fond of her uncle, Mr Brooke. My initial impression of him is that of a know-it-all, and like a certain potions master, I find that trait insufferable. Look at this passage for example:

"You are an artist, I see," said Mr. Brooke, taking up the sketch-book and turning it over in his unceremonious fashion.
"No, I only sketch a little. There is nothing fit to be seen there," said young Ladislaw, coloring, perhaps with temper rather than modesty.
"Oh, come, this is a nice bit, now. I did a little in this way myself at one time, you know. Look here, now; this is what I call a nice thing, done with what we used to call brio." Mr. Brooke held out towards the two girls a large colored sketch of stony ground and trees, with a pool.

― George Eliot, Middlemarch

He seems to be an expert on everything, and my experience with people like that is that they generally are very far from being experts. But maybe that is my own bias getting involved. But I doubt it. Just look at the diction: 'in his unceremonious fashion'. Doesn't that just reek of his entitlement?

4. The place of women is mentioned a lot in the first few chapters. Discuss.

As I said in my kick-off post, Eliot chose to write under a man's name as she felt women were not taken seriously as writers. From this I gather she wanted to be taken seriously; that she realised her own value and the value of her writing. Throughout the first section, women's abilities are undermined and their opinions are disregarded. While this is accurate of the times I find it frustrating. What did they expect after keeping women naive and, for the most part, uneducated? Here is another passage by that annoying Mr Brooke that pretty much sums up everything:

"Well, but now, Casaubon, such deep studies, classics, mathematics, that kind of thing, are too taxing for a woman—too taxing, you know."
"Dorothea is learning to read the characters simply," said Mr. Casaubon, evading the question. "She had the very considerate thought of saving my eyes."
"Ah, well, without understanding, you know—that may not be so bad. But there is a lightness about the feminine mind—a touch and go—music, the fine arts, that kind of thing—they should study those up to a certain point, women should; but in a light way, you know. A woman should be able to sit down and play you or sing you a good old English tune. That is what I like; though I have heard most things—been at the opera in Vienna: Gluck, Mozart, everything of that sort. But I'm a conservative in music—it's not like ideas, you know. I stick to the good old tunes.

― George Eliot, Middlemarch

This is also referring back to what I read about Milton and his daughters, who apparently could read and write multiple languages perfectly, but could not understand a word of it. But let me ignore Milton - I have spoken about him enough. Reading a language without understanding it. Talk about a pointless skill. (I can read Korean from having lived in South Korea for three years, but it didn't help at all unless I was on the subway and I was reading the names of the stops. All that happened is that the alphabetic characters went from odd shapes to gobbledygook, as they then made sounds that made no sense.) In other words, Brooke's approved of a completely redundant education. In fact, he then goes on to say that women should only be partially educated in 'the arts' - which was to entertain the men. To have girls be like pretty little Rosamund who could play music beautifully or sing beautifully for guests. But how could one expect more from a woman, when that was the extent of her education? But! Isn't this novels existence then a slap in the face to all men who carried these thoughts - since it was written by a woman?

5. Anything else?

Nope. This post is beginning to feel as long as Middlemarch itself. I know I did have other thoughts, but right now, I can't think of them. If I do, I will add them in here.

Otherwise, I am concerned that I am going to get confused with characters, especially if I stop reading. So, if I get ahead, please don't be disappointed. If I put this down to wait for next week's read, I am going to be completely lost.