Middlemarch

George Eliot (Mary Anne Evans) was a great believer in the power of empathy to move her readers. Back when she was writing in the 19th century, empathy was generally known as ‘sympathy’. She once wrote that ‘The greatest benefit we owe to the artist, whether painter, poet or novelist, is the extension of our sympathies.’ What the novelist does, she believed, is to immerse us in unexpected and unknown lives, whether it is poor farming folk or chimney sweeps struggling to survive in the industrial towns. ‘Art is the nearest thing to life,’ she wrote, ‘it is a mode of amplifying experience and extending our contact with our fellow-men beyond the bounds of our personal lot.’

And that’s what Middlemarch is all about. The thing to remember when reading it, is that it is not just a novel about the idealistic and well-to-do Dorothea Brooke but an attempt to show how the novel can become a vehicle for empathic understanding.

There’s a good summary of the plot available here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middlemarch

Comments

An excellent addition. I

An excellent addition. I remember sympathising with Dorothea and her idealism, and also enjoying how Eliot managed to convey the emotional states of an entire town almost as if Middlemarch itself were a living organism. Eliot was great at allowing her characters to make mistakes (sometimes mild, sometimes catastrophic) and showing how they could be learned from.

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the genius of Eliot

Of al the books that I had to read at school, this one gripped me and transformed my appreciation of literature. Yes we empathise hugely twith Dorothea, but as Sophia says, we find ourselves being drawn into empathy for all the town's characters, whatever their flaws or follies. Eliot had a genius for stepping into the lives of others and convincing the reader to follow her there. 

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5

"we should die on the roar on the other side of silence"

In chapter 20 of Middlemarch, reflecting on Dorothea's disappointment in her marriage - and later, Casaubon's anxiety about his inability to get to writing his masterwork 'The Key to All the Mythologies' George Eliot refers to “[T]hat element of tragedy which lies in the very fact of frequency, has not yet wrought itself into the coarse emotion of mankind; and perhaps our frames could hardly bear much of it. If we had a keen vision and feeling of all ordinary human life, it would be like hearing the grass grow and the squirrel’s heart beat, and we should die of that roar which lies on the other side of silence. As it is, the quickest of us walk about well wadded with stupidity.” This is an ironic statement, as George Eliot is not wadded with stupidity, 'Middlemarch' shows she feels the cares of others, their misunderstandings and dreams. But perhaps it is a roar - which you can only listen to in short bursts.
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Mi personaje favorito en la novela, el padre de Mary

El padre de Mary sabe ser empático, a la vez que fiel a sus valores y al conocimiento de la condición humana. Su conducta es reflejo de entender y comprender cómo las emociones negativas y positivas  operan sobre las personas y provocan una reacción y comportamiento. Creo que es una novela magnífica, un auténtico tratado de empatía. 

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Middlemarch

The character Rosamund has a self centred view until a personal shock forces her to consider how others feel. There is a wonderful image of how a candle casts ts light on a scratched surface in such a way that the scratches appear concentric to the candle and that is Rosamund (rosy world) until she is compelled to see more empathetic ally. Ironically Mr Gove likes this book but he reminds me of Casaubon!

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5
Average: 5 (1 vote)
Author(s): 
George Eliot
Year: 
1874
Book type: 
Country: 
Britain