Middlemarch

Dorothea: wholesome, rhetorical, trapped, dedicated, unsure.

“I am very glad that my presence has made any difference to you.” Pg. 187

“Actually, you pay little attention to me and I may as not even be here because you do not notice my presence.”

Mr. Casaubon: isolated, knowledgeable, distant, prim and proper, perceptive.

“It had been easy for me to gain a temporary effect by a mirage of baseless opinion; but it is ever the trial of the scrupulous explorer to be saluted with the impatient scorn of chatterers who attempt only the smallest achievements, being indeed equipped for no other. And it were well if all such could be admonished to discriminate judgments of which the true subject matter lies entirely beyond their reach, from those of which the elements may be compassed by a narrow and superficial survey.” Pg. 189.

“The works, in this case, are too simplistic to analyze. The have no real importance to my life and are better to not even be thought of again.”

Will Ladislaw: high strung, civil, sharp, hestitatant, calm.

“I suspected you of knowing so much, that you knew how to say just what was most cutting. You said—I dare say you don’t remember it as I do—that the relation of my sketch to nature was quite hidden from you. At least, you implied that.” Pg. 193.

“How could you forget that memory we shared, it stands out so vividly in my mind.”


In Eliot’s opinion (found in On Realism), what are some of the author’s most important responsibilities when designing characters for fiction? Do you think she “practices what she preaches” in Middlemarch? Why or why not?

I think the author’s most important responsibilities when designing the characters for fiction is to create characters that seem realistic enough to be emotionally tied to them while reading but at the same time dramatized as to not bore the reader. The characters in this story portray real emotions, actions, and consequences we see in movies, books, and life in general. The characters are believable and the author does a great job at representing how you have the power to change or influence your future. I do believe she practices what she preaches because I think she believes in the motto “what comes around goes around.” The characters are really personal and we get to know them really well by their actions and emotions.