#Middlemarch13 – Vol. III and IV

Back for another installment of the Middlemarch readalong!  This week, we read through Volumes III and IV of George Eliot’s masterpiece.

Volume III – Waiting for Death

Volume III focuses on the health woes of two old dudes: Mr. Casaubon and another member of the country gentry, Mr. Peter Featherstone.  When Volume III opens, Mr. Casaubon suffers an attack of some sort; it’s unclear which, but it’s either a heart attack or a stroke.  Dorothea is beside herself, and Mr. Lydgate is called in to consult on the case.  Lydgate immediately recommends that Casaubon dial back the hours he spends in the library, and of course, that suggestion doesn’t go over well with Casaubon.  He withdraws further from Dorothea, who continues frustrated in her earnest wish to be helpful.  (Dorothea does get some good news in this volume: Sir James Chettam is going to be her brother-in-law after all!  Yay for a James-and-Celia marriage!)  Dorothea and Casaubon’s marriage is going from bad to worse when Will Ladislaw reappears as a guest of Dorothea’s Uncle Brooke.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the locality, old grump Peter Featherstone is dying.  Featherstone is uncle to Fred and Rosamond Vincy and the popular supposition around Middlemarch is that Fred Vincy will inherit Featherstone’s estate and title, along with a good wad of money.  Fred himself believes this, and Featherstone has never disabused him of this notion, despite Fred’s (possible – he denies it and it’s never proven) use of his expectations as Featherstone’s heir to obtain loans for his gambling. Fred has had to borrow money from Caleb Garth, a local business man who hasn’t been entirely successful, and after a disaster with a horse, finds himself unable to pay Caleb back.  This is doubly uncomfortable because not only are the Garths old friends of the Vincy family, but Fred would very much like to marry Caleb’s daughter Mary.

Meanwhile, Rosamond continues to scheme for the purpose of winning Lydgate’s affections.  The town matrons start to put two and two together, and Rosamond’s Aunt Bulstrode rather forcibly reprimands her for throwing herself at Lydgate, and also gives her some tough love on the unsuitability of such a match (even if the intended groom actually wanted it).  Aunt Bulstrode’s efforts have the opposite effect of what she hoped, because Lydgate, who at first was induced to avoid the Vincys’ house, stops by one day (not realizing that Rosamond is alone in the house) and she’s so prettily distressed that, quite without intending to, he leaves the house an engaged man.

Featherstone dies at the last, in the presence of his employee Mary Garth.  With his dying breaths, he tells Mary that he has two wills, and he wants her to destroy one of them.  Mary, concerned about imputations being drawn against her if she agrees, refuses to do so.  The consequence is that when the wills are read, quite a few parties – including Fred Vincy – are left in a state of limbo and disappointment.  Meanwhile, the biggest bombshell from the will reading: Featherstone had an illegitimate son, and it is he who will inherit the land and title, although not the lion’s share of Featherstone’s riches.  Drama!

Volume IV – Three Love Problems

While Middlemarch is in upheaval over Mr. Featherstone’s will, several of the country gentry gather to discuss another problem: one of their own and his political ambitions.  Mr. Brooke is known to have reforming ideas and has recently purchased a newspaper and installed Will Ladislaw as editor.  Now, it seems, Mr. Brooke intends to run for office.  Sir James, the Cadwalladers, and Mr. Farebrother scheme to dissuade Mr. Brooke from standing for election.  Among the objections: Mr. Brooke’s seeming hypocrisy, preaching reform while his tenants live miserably.  Sir James decides to enlist Dorothea to help talk her uncle off the ledge – but even Dorothea isn’t successful.

Will is becoming more and more entranced by Dorothea, who for her part is starting to like the guy better and better.  He reports that Uncle Brooke has offered him a job; Dorothea passes the information along to Casaubon, who sends Will a pompous letter telling him that if he accepts the job he will no longer be welcome in the Casaubons’ home.  Will thumbs his nose and the old windbag (yeah!) and takes the job anyway.  Will isn’t the only one with a new job: Caleb Garth gets the good news that he is wanted as the manager of Sir James and Mr. Brooke’s estates (he had once managed Mr. Brooke’s estate, years before, but had been fired) and he can now afford the financial hit he took in lending Fred Vincy money.  Mary Garth, for her part, no longer has to look for another job… so it looks like she’ll be around for Fred to continue to pine after.

Money is causing problems elsewhere, too.  Mr. Vincy is beginning to regret his hasty blessing of the union of Rosamond and Lydgate, but Rosamond is making plans to take on and furnish a big house.  The wedding expenses are getting out of control, and Mr. Vincy – the mayor of Middlemarch, as it happens – is not as flush as he once was.  There are some good jokes at Rosamond’s expense – particularly Mary Garth’s remark that Rosamond would not be able to get married unless she had a round dozen handkerchiefs, “because then there would only be eleven.”  Lydgate has totally come around to the idea of marriage and wants to give his intended bride everything she wants, but methinks he doesn’t quite realize what an expensive proposition that will be.  Meanwhile, the new owner of Stone Court, Joshua Rigg Featherstone, is considering selling the property to Mr. Bulstrode when he receives a visit from his abusive stepfather who, unbeknownst to Joshua, takes away one of Mr. Bulstrode’s letters with him.

Book IV closes with Casaubon summoning Lydgate for a consultation.  He wants to know the truth about the attack he suffered back in Book III, and Lydgate reluctantly confirms that Casaubon has heart disease.  He might live another fifteen years or longer, or he might drop dead at any second.  Casaubon is distressed for two reasons: one, he fears he will never be able to finish his life’s work, The Key to All Mythologies, and two, he is convinced that once he’s gone, Will will lose no time in marrying Dorothea (now Casaubon’s heiress as well).  Such a marriage, according to Casaubon, would be “fatal” to Dorothea, although he never quite explains why.  (Team Will!)  Dorothea has already proven herself susceptible to Will’s words; after learning of his grandmother’s unjust disinheritance, she begs Casaubon to make Will his heir instead of herself.  Casaubon is jealous and pulls away further from his young wife, causing her to resent him even more.  Still, she’s not ready to give up on the marriage, and the book ends with her waiting up for her husband and sweetly holding his hand.

Thoughts Thus Far

In the first two volumes of Middlemarch, I was enjoying the story but was still getting into it.  There are a lot of characters to keep straight and it was a bit of a challenge to map out everyone’s relations to one another.  By Volume III, though, I had a handle on the main players and the overarching plot, and now I’m completely captivated.  George Eliot has created a whole world here.  There is texture and drama and one person’s life is connected to another in a myriad of ways, not all of which are apparent on the surface – just like reality.  I can sink into this story and not see or hear a thing for hours while I read, and that’s just what I love – a book that captures my imagination completely and immerses me in its universe.  I can’t believe my luck, that I’m only halfway through this reading experience!

One thing, though, that I think would have helped me enjoy this experience even more, would have been if I was better acquainted with the social and political issues of the era.  1830s England is not a place I know well.  I read the Introduction before beginning the book, but all it really taught me was that I was going to miss out on a lot of references that would have been clear as day to George Eliot’s contemporaries.  Reform, the economy, the “Catholic Question” – all these historical issues are at play in the characters’ lives throughout Middlemarch, and if I understood the history better, I know I’d get more out of the book.  I’m already anticipating a re-read, after I’ve had the chance to better acquaint myself with the overarching issues that drive Eliot’s story and inform this world.

Stay tuned, because Vols. V and VI are on deck for next Monday!

Are you reading along with Middlemarch?  Enjoying it as much as I am?  Have any information that might enlighten me about the socioeconomic and political references that are going clear over my head?