study questions

Some Questions for Middlemarch, Books I and II

1. What is the purpose of the "Prelude"? How does it affect our reading of the beginning of the novel?
2. When we are first introduced to Dorothea Brooke, what qualities are emphasized? What are her ideas about life and marriage?
3. Examine the scene in chapter 1 where Celia asks Dorothea about their mother's jewels. Why is this the first scene in the book? What does it tell us about the two sisters?
4. In these early chapters, how do men describe women? Do their descriptions fit the women in the book so far?
5. What scholarly project is Casaubon working on? What commentary do you believe Eliot is making about him with this project?
6. Look carefully at the language in chapter 3 used to describe Dorothea's ideas about marriage. What are the dominant images?
7. Although Celia comes across as the more traditional girl, her assessments of her sister seem accurate. What does she say about Dorothea's judgment? What does she say about Dorothea's patience?
8. Examine Casaubon's letter in chapter 5. We are told Dorothea did not examine it too carefully. What happens when we examine it carefully? What does it reveal about the letter-writer (and the letter-reader)?
9. At the end of chapter 5, the narrator tells us that others found Dorothea to be "so stupid" at times. Why does the narrator do this?
10. Sir James Chettam is angry with Mr. Brooke. Why? Do you agree with Chettam?
11. What are Edward Casaubon's reasons for marrying (given in Chapter 7)? Why does Dorothea want to learn Greek and Latin? Why does the narrator refer to Dorothea as "poor child"?
12. How is Casaubon's house at Lowick described? What is implied by this description? (chap. 9)
13. What is Will Ladislaw's first impression of Dorothea? Are we surprised by his reaction to her?
14. What is Tertius Lydgate's first impression of Dorothea? Do you agree with his assessment? (chap. 10)
15. What matters to Rosamond Vincy? To what class does she belong? How might we contrast her to Dorothea and Celia?
16. How is Mary Garth described? How might we contrast her to the other young women in the novel so far?
17. Describe Rosamond Vincy's ideas of love and marriage. Look carefully at the passage in chapter 12 when she knows that she is being watched by Lydgate. What does this scene reveal about her (and about him)?
18. Who is Bulstrode? What do we know about him so far? What is his opinion of Fred Garth's education? When we later meet Fred, do we think that Bulstrode is right?
19. What is the issue involving the chaplaincy at the hospital? Why does it concern Lydgate?
20. What sort of man is Peter Featherstone? Why does Fred put up with so much from him?
21. What do we learn about Lydgate's past? Does this help us understand his character?
22. What does the narrator mean by the "other kind of 'makdom and fairnesse'" (144)? Why does the narrator embark on this digression at this point in the novel?
23. How involved in courtship and romance does Lydgate appear to be in chapter 16? What is his view of women?
24. Why does Camden Farebrother release Lydgate from any obligation to vote for him for the chaplaincy of the hospital? What does this tell us about Farebrother?
25. How does Lydgate persuade himself to vote for Tyke? (look carefully at his "logic" in chapter 18) Do you agree with his decision? What do you think will be the consequences of this decision? Why does the narrator refer to this moment as the beginning of "the hampering threadlike pressure" of "small social conditions" (180)?
26. What is the irony of Lydgate's condescension towards Farebrother at the end of Chapter 18?
27. Describe Dorothea's state when we first see her in Rome. Are we surprised? Why does the narrator refer so frequently to the size and scale of Rome and its history?
28. Look carefully at the passage that begins "That element of tragedy which lies in the very fact of its frequency . . . " (194). How does this passage relate to the character we have met so far? What claims about the novel and its subjects does this passage make?
29. Why is Dorothea's offer of help to Casaubon rejected so coldly? What nerve has she touched with this offer? What is Dorothea starting to believe about her husband?
30. Ladislaw and his friend Nauman debate over whether Dorothea in the art gallery looks more like a Madonna or a "Christian Antigone." What are we to make of these two choices? Do either fit?
31. What is the effect of the contrast between Casaubon and Ladislaw in chapter 21? What is Dorothea beginning to see? What is she beginning to realize?