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Mr. Arthur Brooke the uncle is a delightful comic character who has forgotten every book he ever read seemingly but “went into everything very deeply at one time.” Discovering the subtle humor of Eliot has taken me a number of readings. In college where I took a course on middle March and portrait of a lady I was swept up by Dorothea’s idealism and bored by the other characters but now I relish the minor incidents and subplots much more. Thank you for embarking us on this...

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That sounds like me! This is such a nice point, says something about the way we understand character over time.

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Thank you, Ann! “Jane Austenesque” in Mona’s summary also seems spot-on. Mr. Brooke reminds one a bit of Henry Woodhouse in Emma, though the differences are important.

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Ah, that's right--Arthur. Thanks. And that's the name of Celia's child as well.

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