This view of marriage runs through most of the book, with both Dorothea and Lydgate experiencing failed marriages. A woman must lean to put up with little things. Vincy says in conversation with Rosamond, “Oh, my dear, you must allow for young men. Eliot’s writing comments on the internalized misogyny of her time. In Middlemarch, George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans) examines life in the fictional Midlands town of Middlemarch, focusing on various characters and their intersecting narratives in order to examine women’s role in society, the place of religion, contemporary politics, and more. Although the first reviews were mixed, it is now widely regarded as her best work and one of the greatest novels in English. Eliot began writing the two pieces that would eventually form Middlemarch during the years 1869–70 and completed the novel in 1871. In addition, the work incorporates contemporary medical science and examines the deeply reactionary mindset found within a settled community facing the prospect of unwelcome change.

Although containing comical elements, Middlemarch is a work of realism that refers to many historical events: the 1832 Reform Act, the beginnings of the railways, the death of King George IV, and the succession of his brother, the Duke of Clarence (the future King William IV). Significant themes include the status of women, the nature of marriage, idealism, self-interest, religion, hypocrisy, political reform, and education. The novel is set in the fictitious Midlands town of Middlemarch during 1829–32, and it comprises several distinct (though intersecting) stories and a large cast of characters. Middlemarch, A Study of Provincial Life is a novel by English author George Eliot, first published in eight instalments (volumes) during 1871–2.

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