History, reform and optimism in Middlemarch | Analysing George Eliot | Claire Fenby
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- čas přidán 4. 08. 2024
- My first impressions of #Middlemarch by George Eliot (Chapters 1-14) - On Middlemarch as a historical novel, the aim of the narrator and unfulfilled optimism. Watch part two: • Spirited young woman! ...
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Part two! Watch now: czcams.com/video/V4lXBNvkyNQ/video.html
Definitely enjoying it so far, and enjoying being on the Discord and getting to chat about it. I think what I'm most enjoying is that insight into the characters and how their perceptions of themselves do not always match up with who they actually are, for example Dorothea says she wants to live this ascetic, idealistic life but you see glimpses of how that is not actually true to her real character. It's a kind of character insight that's very relevant to today, you can compare it to today's conversations around people on social media trying to curate a perfect aesthetic or a brand/"expectations vs reality", which is not actually real to someone's lived experience.
It was so much fun listening to your commentary about the Middlemarch.
I can’t wait for the upcoming videos.
The narrator is the best part of Middlemarch and I agree, not one favorite character yet they all are all so human.
Wow! I I hadn’t thought about your point on optimism being critiqued in Middlemarch! Specifically I think the form of optimism that is damaging in this novel is optimism based on what a person projects onto a person or situation without getting to know facts. Mr. Brooke never really knows what’s going on, he just jumps on bandwagons; Dorothea doesn’t really get to know Casaubon, she just projects an ideal onto him which turns out to be faulty; Sir James does the same thing with her which is why he thinks he has a chance with her at all. Some of the characters in the central romantic relationships coming up (I won’t spoil them! ) exemplify not having illusions about their potential partners and how ignoring or not ignoring the facts impacts them and potentially others around them.
I can’t wait to hear more of your thoughts as you continue reading! 😃
Niccce! I read it maybe two years ago. George Eliot is !!!!!!!!
I feel very different about the narrator, to me they are very loving towards the characters and the world in general. They see all of our weaknesses and ambivalence and never pass any condemning judgement. To me it was this loving and well meaning witnessing.
I love how you talk about the big theme of disappointment. I can't consolidate my perception with it going against optimism per se, but I would say something like too high or too rigidly fixed expectations.
Interestingly the disappointment also doesn't feel sad to me but more sobering, just a kind of relief about being disillusioned. So I can actually still go on being enthusiastic. But I do admittedly have a tendency to not acknowledge negativity, and also have a habit of getting overexcited and enthusiastic about difficult emotions. So yay! enthusiasm for disappointment!
Wow Claire, this was amazing. I have been trudging through this and letting things pass me by. Your points were really insightful and I think I'm going to enjoy reading the rest of the novel much more now. Thank you!
On the marriage plot, have you read Tenant of Wildfell Hall? There's a whole host of unhappy marriages to dive into there!
Thank you so much for organising this readalong! Otherwise I think Middlemarch would've waited another couple of years on my shelf, which would've been a real pity. I'm enjoying the novel very much and I've been reading it surprisingly fast. I think the characters are fantastic and I really love the dialogue (especially between Rosamond and Fred): I think there's a different kind of realness to it than in any other Victorian novel I've read. I'm enjoying the humour and the narrator as well, being a fan of Anthony Trollope I don't at all mind 3rd person narrators who are very present and almost feel like characters themselves.
I 100% agree with you about the realness! I also love the dialogue especially with Fred and Mary as well as Rosamund. I've only ever read The Warden but wasn't that fussed - shall I read more? What would you recommend?
@@Claire_Fenby The Warden isn't the best, although I thought it was a pleasant enough read. My favourites are The Way We Live Now, which is quite long but very entertaining (and a good read if you're interested in reading about London vs. the countryside), and Doctor Thorne, which is the 3rd book of the Barsetshire series. You can definitely read it though without having read Barchester Towers. :) Great story, great characters.
A really interesting analysis Claire! It's a pleasure to come back to the themes and the characters of this book through your video, I read Middlemarch 3 years ago but I still have vivid memories of it. I'm fascinated by the aspect of the optimism and his relationship with human frailty, I hope you'll develop it further in the next videos because it becomes more and more central in my opinion.
I appreciated the narrative voice, the ability of being a distinctive narrator without judging too much.
:) :)
Thank you! In my next I discuss Dorothea, energy and vocation so along the same lines but in a different direction. It's been a lot of fun to read and analyse so I'm glad you enjoyed it.
I've fallen behind on the readalong 😅 I hadn't even started and then I watched your video and it motivated me to read it and now I am loving it. I am catching up really fast so I am almost on schedule. Can't wait for the next video. Thank you so much for doing this!
Amazing!! My part two is now live :)
What a wonderful video, Claire! As I’ve been reading Middlemarch and discussing on Discord, my thoughts have been going one way. This video, though, has given me so much more to digest, as well as to provide me with things to look out for as I continue along in Middlemarch. Thank you for this truly thought provoking take!!
Thank you so much - I've loved reading and analysing it so far. Still got a lot to read but really enjoying it. How are you finding it?
Claire Fenby I am enjoying Middlemarch so much more this second time around. This novel really requires time and focus unlike many others I’ve read. In a way reading Middlemarch is a metaphor for life: take things slowly and savor each moment, even the boring ones ;). I truly do appreciate your analysis. I studied Philosophy & Religion in college but really wish I had also studied Literature. Your videos are like mini literature courses that open my mind to so many more ways of looking at the novels I love.
Very great discussion... you have a nice way of describing the plot and the aspects that you enjoyed.
Glad you liked it! My part two is now live :)
I read Middlemarch in April and I loved it so much!! Really enjoyed hearing your thoughts!💕
It's so good!! Hope you're well Claire x
loved this! thank you!
So glad! Just uploaded part two in case you're interested :)
I can hear Elliot’s voice while I read, I find that very enjoyable. Dorothea is my favourite character so far. I also enjoy the historical aspect and being transported back to another England.
I’m looking forward to the next section of the novel. 📚😁
I enjoyed hearing your opinion of the novel so far Claire! Very insightful.
Thank you so much Jasmine! Yes, I love Dorothea too. My next video is now live in case it hasn't popped up in your sub feed :)
Claire Fenby oh great 😀☀️ I’m going to check it out!
Seeing your analysis/everyone's comments is really adding to my understanding of the novel! On unfulfilled optimism: I have been grappling with this theme in the novel, and it seems like Eliot is saying that these characters' idealism, though they feel they're doing so for the common good, is actually really self-centered and driven by wanting to be better themselves and so that other people view them in a positive light. That essentially, human ambition is inherently selfish and leads to suffering. So when Dorothea says that she wants to make the cottages better, she's not doing so because she wants the tenants' lives to be better, but it's because she wants the tenants/people in Middlemarch to view her as the Saint Theresa that Eliot talks about in the prologue. Since it's so early in the novel, I'm trying to figure out what solution Eliot proposes to this: is it that we need to be less self-focused? Is it that there is no way to not be self-focused? I almost wonder, like you, if everyone will end up crying at the end too, with the message of the book being "life sucks and then you die, deal with it and find the beauty along the way," with Eliot purposely leaving the reader feeling just as unfulfilled as the characters (which would be so genius that I would be fulfilled? what an amazing novel)...
Also, does anyone have any good resources for learning about the history of this time (particularly in regard to the Reform Acts and the Catholic question)?
I completely agree! I'm now half way through and I'm definitely seeing the bildungsroman nature of the narrative with Dorothea moving from self-focus to a bit more selfless so like you I'm interested to see how it develops in the novel. I discuss it briefly in my new video but would like to delve a bit further. RE the reform acts etc I would honestly suggest wikipedia - often turned to it during my MA haha
Thanks for the critique Claire. I especially appreciate the narrator aspect as this was confusing me.
Even though I have no interest in reading this (I read Silas Marner during my undergrad and hated it), I’m still enthralled by your thoughts on it!
Haha I love this Charr!!
I'm so thankful that you're sharing your thoughts and talking us through the book. The human experience is as much a hot mess then, as it is now. The narrator is intelligent and insightful, but I feel also a touch judgmental and condescending at times. But not in a bad way? I can't wait to see how the characters evolve over time.
Thank you Leila! Yes, 100% a hot mess haha
Thank you for covering the Reform Acts in such a layman way.
The Catholic question? May I ask a question? What is the Catholic Question?
KDBooks Haha thanks! Love me some reform. The Catholic Q is about catholic emancipation - It allowed Roman Catholics to be MPs for instance
Claire Fenby right! I probably need to figure out who is a Roman Catholic now don’t I 😂 I didn’t realise this read along came with HOMEWORK!!! 🤣 🤣
Am I enjoying Middlemarch? Kinda 😅 I’m not versed in British Classic Novels or really any Victorian Novels (I tend to avoid them 🙊) so the writing style and the tropes of these novels jar with me. That being said Eliot’s writing style is enjoyable and am loving the pessimistic narrator over the optimistic characters.
The narrator for me is the grounding force of everyone’s idealistic nature. It’s that mature voice saying “okay, let’s assess the situation”, which wins me over each and every time.
My major concern is that as I don’t really know the history I am going to miss out on some themes, satire or criticism that Eliot is purposefully doing. It’s one reason why I’ve joined in with #middlemarchalong as I want to see people discuss those and help me understand 😃
Can you explain “fictive reader” please and the way you used it. Thx
The novel addresses a reader e.g ‘dear reader’ and an intended audience, playing with the author and writer dynamic. Fictive because it doesn’t know who we are if that makes sense 📖
Claire Fenby gotcha, thanks. Are you familiar with the theory of symptomatic interpretation? How would you explain it?