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Name: Jayti R. Thakar.Paper no. 6Subject: Victorian Literature.Assignment Topic: Feminine Aspect in ‘Middlemarch’.Sub Topic: In reference to ‘Womanhood in Victorian Britain’.Roll. No: 34Department Of EnglishM.K. Bhavnagar University.

Feminine Aspect in ‘Middlemarch’- George Eliot

In reference to ‘Womanhood in Victorian Britain’

George Eliot- Originally Mary Ann Evans

• Born- 22 of Nov, 1819• Place of Birth- Chilvers Coton,

England• Occupation- Author and

Journalist• Death- 22 Des, 1880.• Wrote books exploring human

psychology• Her works noted for its realism.• Influenced by Jane Austen.

Womanhood in Victorian Britain

Ideal WomanHer place in two

different spheres Her suggestive

‘Dressing’Her social

functions.

Ideal Woman

Ideal Woman

pious

respectable

Busy, no life of leisure

devotional

Two different spheres

Two Spheres

Private Sphere

For women- at home for household.

Public Sphere

For men- at workplace business, commerce and

Politics.

Dressings of women

•Women’s clothes began to mirror women’s function.

•In 19th century women’s fashion became more sexual.

•By wearing dresses that resembled their furnishing.•Thus, the female body was dressed to emphasize a woman’s separation from the world of work.

Her Social Function

Wife•Being a wife she knows her husband’s need.Mot

her

• Motherhood was woman's highest achievement.

• The childless single woman was a figure to be pitied.

Domestic

Manager

•sexual hierarchy doesn’t allow woman at work sphere.•But, can manage house well.

Middlemarch

Three major couples- around whom the story revolves.

Dorothea Brooke Edward Casaubon

Tertius Lydgate Mar Rosamond Vincy

Mary Garth Fred Vincy

Dorothea Brooke Will Ladislaw

First marries

Maries

Maries

SecondMarries

Major Female Characters.

• Dorothea Brooke.• Mary Garth.• Rosamond Vincy.

Mary Garth

• The practical, plain, and kind daughter of Caleb and Susan Garth, she works as Mr. Featherstone's nurse.

• She and Fred Vincy were childhood sweethearts, but she refuses to allow him to woo him until he shows himself willing and able to live seriously, practically, and sincerely.

Rosamond Vincy

• Is vain, beautiful, and shallow woman. Rosamond has a high opinion of her own charms and a low opinion of Middlemarch society.

• She marries Tertius Lydgate because she believes that he will raise her social standing and keep her comfortable.

• When her husband encounters financial difficulties, she thwarts his efforts to economize, seeing such sacrifices as beneath her and insulting.

• She is unable to bear the idea of losing status in Middlemarch society.

Dorothea Brooke

• Is an intelligent, wealthy woman with great aspirations.

• Dorothea avoids displaying her wealth.

Cont…• She marries the elderly

Reverend Edward Casaubon, with the idealistic idea of helping him with his research project.

Cont…

• However, the marriage was a mistake, as Casaubon does not take her seriously and resents her youth, enthusiasm, and energy.

• Dorothea becomes friends with Casaubon’s relative, Will Ladislaw. Some years after Casaubon's death she falls in love with Will and marries him.

Different matrimonial Concerns

• Money• Social Status• Freedom• Love• To help (from outer perspective)

Why Matrimony is the only thing which can give static life to the Woman?

• She was not independent.

• ‘Intelligent’, though domestic life remains her world.

• She remains fully dependent on first father and then the husband.

Eliot’s concern about ‘What’?

• ‘To help’ was the only purpose of Dorothea to Marry Casaubon?

• Did Eliot try to criticize patriarchal society of her time?

• What is the prime concern of Eliot to portray woman in subjugated way in her novel?

• Why matrimony remains the ‘only fate’ of a ‘Woman’?

Summing up…

Resources

• Biography.com• Sparks note.com• Wikipedia.

Submitted to

• Department of English• M.K. Bhavnagar University

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