Born in 1819 in rural Warwickshire, in 1841 she moved to Coventry, the city she would later use as inspiration for the fictional town of Middlemarch. George Eliot was the pen name of the novelist Mary Anne Evans. Miss Brooke had that kind of beauty which seems to be thrown into relief by poor dress. Ultimately, the human condition is at the mercy of the rapidly changing world. But it also tackles themes including morality, social mobility and industrialisation. Middlemarch offers a lament for the limited options available to women in late Regency England, alluding to their lost potential and unrealised dreams. The dreams of both are thwarted, as they make unwise marriage choices and must deal with the life-changing consequences of their actions through personal sacrifice and soul-searching.Įliot pushed the boundaries of expectation for female writers at the time, refusing to conform to the flighty romance and happy endings of her peers’ publications. At the heart of the book are Dorothea Brooke, a wealthy young woman with ambitions beyond her station, and Dr Tertius Lydgate, who believes he can effect change through the results of his research. Set in the early 1830s, as small town and rural certainties make way for industrial and political transformations, Eliot interweaves the lives of an entire community.
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