Discussion about this post

User's avatar
Ann Kjellberg's avatar

Small thought. Is it a little fault of Caleb Garth that it does not occur to him to make Mary, who is obviously capable and "like[s] the outside world better," his assistant instead of sending her to teach in York and offering the position to Fred?

Expand full comment
Amanda Ghest's avatar

Fantastic post, thank you Mona. A pleasure to read after getting through Book 6 with some degree of conscious perseverance! All amply rewarded!

Re liking the Vincys, I like the way Rosamond sticks up for herself against Lydgate, who can be a bully (with a disturbing hint of physical violence). However the way in which she risked (not once but twice) and then lost her pregnancy and seems completely unaffected by it seems to put her resistance in a different light. Her parents are well-meaning, the father probably too busy working and enjoying the fruits of his labor and the mother with little more than goose feathers in her head and free rein but in Rosamond it seems they have created the too-perfect mirror of their upwardly mobile dreams, one that does not reflect light so much as suck it in to itself. They - the Vincys and Lydgate - have put too much emphasis on appearances and appearances are beginning to appear deceiving.

I guess this is where gossip comes in, the truth-telling kind as well as other kinds.

It seems that Lydgate however foolishly did believe that hardship would bring he and Rosamond closer together and is surprised and hurt to find it pushing them apart instead.

There is so much going on in Book 6, about appearances and what we say and think about them like the auctioneer trying to sell things by saying they are what they aren't. And it works, he always gets a buyer! I thought the parts about the railway and how lies about it were spread was an exact explanation of what still happens today, only Eliot can be forgiven for not knowing the internet would be the engine used to spread lies faster and to more people than ever before.

There's all kinds of contrivances, deceits and hidden secrets coming to light, whether used with good intentions or not. Arguably the biggest sin (and therefore most forgivable?) seems to be that of self-deceit, such as in Mr. Bulstrode.

I agree I feel the implausibility of a second parting btw Will and Dorothea too and even a second meeting to say goodbye, again! It's explained by Eliot and it does seem like something that would happen but why he stuck around so long is hard to completely understand.

I like Mr. Farebrother a lot better than Fred, I have to say. But I think Mary has always loved Fred, she just has had reasons for not admitting it. It's funny how some of the characters in this book, Fred being one, do seem to be created in a dependent way on the story turning out a certain way. Not totally imbued with free will, but acting under the large sky of Eliot's creation. Which is fine by me!

Expand full comment
86 more comments...

No posts