The main focus of Middlemarch is on the lives of people in a fictional Midlands town from 1829 onwards, the years preceding the 1832 Reform Act.
The narrative can be regarded as being composed of four plots, each with differing degrees of focus. the careers of Tertius Lydgate, Fred Vincy's courtship of Mary Garth, and Nicholas Bulstrode's scandal, as well as the lives of Dorothea Brooke. Lydgate and Dorothea are the two main narratives. Each plot is ongoing even if Bulstrode concentrates on the later chapters.
As a ward of her uncle, Mr. Brooke, 19-year-old Dorothea Brooke lives with her younger sister Celia. Although her uncle dissuades her, Dorothea is a very devout young woman who enjoys renovating the properties owned by the tenant farmers.
Sir James Chettam, a man of Dorothea's age, is courting her, but she is unaware of him. Instead, she finds herself captivated by the 45-year-old learned Rev. Edward Casaubon. Dorothea accepts Casaubon's marriage proposal despite her sister's concerns. Chettam is advised to concentrate on Celia because she has expressed interest in him.
Fred and Rosamond are the two eldest children of the mayor of Middlemarch's town. Because he never finished college, Fred is generally regarded as a failure and a slacker, but he is content because he is the presumed heir of his affluent but unpleasant childless uncle Mr. Featherstone.
Featherstone's niece via marriage, Mary Garth, is kept as a companion; despite being thought to as plain, Fred is in love with her and wants to marry her.
When Dorothea and Casaubon learn that their husband is not interested in including her in his intellectual endeavors and has no real plans to publish his copious notes, which was her primary motivation for getting married to him, they experience their first marital conflict while on their honeymoon in Rome. She
Fred is unable to make his payments due to his growing debt. He now asks Mary's father, Mr. Garth, to co-sign the obligation and tells him that he must cancel it. Mary's money is lost, as well as the money Mrs. Garth placed away from four years of her income for her youngest son's education.
Mary is advised by Mr. Garth to never marry Fred.
Dr. Tertius Lydgate, a recently hired doctor in Middlemarch, cures Fred when he becomes ill. Lydgate holds up-to-date ideas on healthcare and cleanliness, and he believes that doctors should only recommend medication, not actually give it to patients.
This is offensive to many residents of the community, who condemn it. Despite Farebrother, Lydgate's friend, having concerns about Bulstrode's genuineness, he nonetheless decides to join.
Rosamond Vincy, who is intelligent and attractive but shallow and self-centered, is another person Lydgate gets to know. She chooses to wed Lydgate, who comes from a wealthy family, in an effort to find a compatible mate, and she takes advantage of Fred's condition to get to know him better.
When he learns that the neighborhood believes they are virtually engaged, Lydgate withdraws from Rosamond since he initially sees their relationship as little more than flirtation. But after seeing her a final time, he violates his promise and proposes to her.
At about the same time, Casaubon leaves Rome and returns, but he dies of a heart attack. Lydgate explains to Dorothea that it is challenging to foresee Casaubon's condition as he takes care of him.
While Fred recovers, Mr. Featherstone falls ill. He confesses to having drafted two wills and asks Mary to help him rob one of them as he lies dying. She declines, stating that she is unable to join the business, and Featherstone dies with both wills intact. The £10,000 that should have gone to Fred Vincy instead went to Joshua Rigg, who is the father of Featherstone's son who is not his own child.
Table of Contents
BOOK I. MISS BROOKE. Prelude and Chapters 1-12
BOOK II. OLD AND YOUNG. Chapters 13-22
BOOK III. WAITING FOR DEATH. Chapters 23 - 33
BOOK IV. THREE LOVE PROBLEMS. Chapters 34 - 42
BOOK V. THE DEAD HAND. Chapters 43 - 53
BOOK VI. THE WIDOW AND THE WIFE. Chapters 54 - 62
BOOK VII. TWO TEMPTATIONS. Chapters 63 - 71
BOOK VIII. SUNSET AND SUNRISE. Chapters 72 - 86 + Finale
Casaubon, who is ill, had begun to question Dorothea's consideration for Ladislaw. He makes an attempt to persuade Dorothea to "avoid doing what I should deprecate, and push yourself to achieve what I should wish," if he were to die. He dies before she can reply because she is hesitant to agree. It
Ladislaw and Dorothea's relationship is awkwardly suspected by many people because of the peculiar nature of the condition. Ladislaw has a crush on Dorothea, but he keeps it a secret so he won't ruin her reputation or take away her inheritance. She is conscious of her romantic feelings for him, but she has to control them.
He still lives in Middlemarch and is employed by Mr. Brooke, who is starting a campaign to run for politics as a Reformer, as the newspaper editor.
As a result of his attempts to placate Rosamond, Lydgate quickly finds himself in significant debt, and he is forced to call Bulstrode for help. He is aided in this quest by his relationship with Camden Farebrother. While it happens, Fred
The son that the widow's daughter gave birth to is revealed to be Ladislaw. When Bulstrode discovers their link, he is stricken with guilt and makes a generous offer to Ladislaw, which the latter rejects because it is tainted.
In order to avoid being revealed as a hypocrite in front of everyone, Bulstrode hurries up the death of the terminally ill Raffles while lending a sizeable sum of money to Lydgate, whom Bulstrode had previously refused to assist in getting out of debt.
Quotes
“For pain must enter into its glorified life of memory before it can turn into compassion.”
“Sane people did what their neighbors did, so that if any lunatics were at large, one might know and avoid them.”
However, word of Bulstrode's atrocities had already spread. As knowledge of the loan spreads and he is charged with plotting with Bulstrode, Lydgate becomes embroiled in Bulstrode's disgrace. Only Dorothea and Farebrother are still hopeful about him, although
In the "Finale," the eventual outcomes of the main protagonists are described. There are three sons born to Fred and Mary. Lydgate has a successful practice outside of Middlemarch and earns a respectable livelihood, but he never finds happiness and dies at the age of 50, leaving behind Rosamond and his four children.
When the doctor dies, Rosamond marries a wealthy man. While Ladislaw pursues a career in public reform, Dorothea appreciates her responsibilities as a wife and mother to their two children. Arthur Brooke's estate ultimately belongs to their son.
