Book Seven – Two Temptations (Previous books are still up)


1) Chapter 63 describes a family dinner at the Vincy home to which Mr. Farebrother is invited. What did you think of the subtexts of the dinner, of Mr. Farebrother’s interactions and observations, and of the general impression of the state of the extended Vincy family?

2) Lydgate tells Rosamond that they have to reduce their expenses and move to another, less expensive home in Chapter 64 Rosamond has other ideas, and implements them. The chapter ends:
"Poor Rosamund for months had begun to associate her husband with feelings of disappointment, and the terribly inflexible relation of marriage had lost its charm of encouraging delightful dreams. It had freed her from the disagreeables of her father's house, but it had not given her everything that she had wished and hoped. The Lydgate with whom she had been in love had been a group of airy conditions for her, most of which had disappeared, while their place had been taken by everyday details which must be lived through slowly from hour to hour, not floated through with a rapid selection of favourable aspects”
What do you think of Rosamond’s reaction, and of the ideas she has put into place?

3) Lydgate’s situation is deepened in Chapter 66 :
But just as he had tried opium, so his thought now began to turn upon gambling -- not with appetite for its excitement, but with a sort of wistful inward gaze after that easy way of getting money, which implied no asking and brought no responsibility. If he had been in London or Paris at that time, it is probable that such thoughts, seconded by opportunity, would have taken him into a gambling-house, no longer to watch the gamblers, but to watch them in kindred eagerness. Repugnance would have been surmounted by the immense need to win, if chance would be kind enough to let him. An incident which happened not very long after that airy notion of getting aid from his uncle had been excluded, was a strong sign of the effect that might have followed any extant opportunity of gambling.
What do you think of what happened in the Green Dragon? How does Fred save him, and how does Fred save himself?

4) Raffles has turned up in Chapter 70 and threatens to expose Bulstrode. However the plan comes to naught when Raffles dies at Bulstrode’s home
What do you think of the convenience of his death? Do you think that Bulstrode has any culpability? Do you think that Lydgate does? How does Lydgate’s loan from Bulstrode cause the situation to be worse?

5) The situation gets out of hand for Bulstrode and Lydgate in the next chapter
Do you think that Middlemarch has been fair in their judgments of Bulstrode and Lydgate?

6) This book is titled “Two Temptations” What are the two temptations?

Book Six, the Widow and the Wife. Books one, two, three, four, and five are still up.


1) This book opens as Dorothea is staying with Celia and the new baby. Celia thinks that she should stay visiting them (and there is an amusing exchange between she and James where she declares that Dorothea could not have as wonderful a baby as she has, and he responds with, “not if it had been like Causabon” bwahahhahahahaa). Dorothea is ready to go back home.
Why do you think Celia wishes her to stay, and do you think it was time for Dorothea to head home?

2) As Dorothea collects Causabon’s effects and contemplates her marriage:. “At first she walked into every room, questioning the eighteen months of her married life, and carrying on her thoughts as if they were a speech to be heard by her husband. Then, she lingered in the library and could not be at rest till she had carefully ranged all the note-books as she imagined that he would wish to see them, in orderly sequence. The pity which had been the restraining compelling motive in her life with him still clung about his image, even while she remonstrated with him in indignant thought and told him that he was unjust. One little act of hers may perhaps be smiled at as superstitious. The "Synoptical Tabulation for the use of Mrs Casaubon", she carefully enclosed and sealed, writing within the envelope, / I could not use it. Do you not see now that I could not submit my soul to yours, by working hopelessly at what I have no belief in? -- Dorothea. / Then she deposited the paper in her own desk.” (Chapter 54 )
What did you think of this scene, of her final action to Casaubon, and of her reasons for returning home?

3) In Chapter 55  , Mrs. Cadwaller encourages Dorothea to remarry quickly so she can get out of having to wear mourning for a year. Dorothea states that she is perfectly fine being unmarried, and James finishes the chapter thinking: "Sir James made no remark. To his secret feeling, there was something repulsive in a woman's second marriage, and no match would prevent him from feeling it a sort of desecration for Dorothea. He was aware that the world would regard such a sentiment as preposterous, especially in relation to a woman of one-and-twenty; the practice of "the world" being to treat of a young widow's second marriage as certain and probably near, and to smile with meaning if the widow acts accordingly. But if Dorothea did choose to espouse her solitude, he felt that the resolution would well become her."
What do you think of Mrs. Cadwaller’s suggestion, and of Dorothea’s certainty she will not marry again? What do you think of James’ opinion about second marriages? Do you feel that this is a reflection of the St. Theresa motif that Eliot brought up in the Prelude?

4) Chapter 56 has a humorous discussion of what will happen when the railroad tracks are laid and the railroad comes.
Did this scene cause you to contemplate how much of an impact this was to Middlemarch and to society in general?

5) Later in Chapter 56, Mr. and Mrs. Garth discuss Fred and his decision to give up the clergyhood (is that the word?) for Mary.
What did you think of their exchange, and do you think that Mr. Garth made the right decision?

6) In a particularly sad episode, in Chapter 58 we learn that Rosamond’s baby arrived too early. Blame is placed squarely upon her decision to go riding with Lydgate’s richer and titled cousin.
What did you think of this blame, and of her actions with Lydgate’s cousin?

7) Lydgate tells Rosamond of their financial situation later in the same chapter. What did you think of Rosamond’s reaction to his disclosure?

8) Chapter 59  opens: "NEWS is often dispersed as thoughtlessly and effectively as that pollen which the bees carry off (having no idea how powdery they are) when they are buzzing in search of their particular nectar. This fine comparison has reference to Fred Vincy, who on that evening at Lowick Parsonage heard a lively discussion among the ladies on the news which their old servant had got from Tantripp concerning Mr Casaubon's strange mention of Mr Ladislaw in a codicil to his will made not long before his death."
What did you think of the comparison between bees distributing pollen and the distribution of news in Middlemarch? What do you also think about Fred and the others in the town and their thoughts on the codicil?

9)In Chapter 61 we get more backstory of Bulstrode and his secret. What did you think of it, and his relationship to Ladislaw?

10) Anything I’ve missed?