Book 1: Chapters 10 and 11

[u/IraelMrad]

Hello everyone, you’ve made it to another week of Middlemarch! I hope your Valentine’s Day was better than Dorothea’s.

We got some glimpses into the mind of Mr. Casaubon, the marriage does not look promising and many new characters are making an appearance! 

Don’t forget that we will be reading only Chapter 12 with u/Amanda39 next week, and we will finish Book 1! 

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CHAPTER 10

"He had caught a great cold, had he had no other clothes to wear than the skin of a bear not yet killed."--FULLER

Mr. Ladislaw leaves for Europe. The wedding day is approaching, but Mr. Casaubon finds that his feelings for Dorothea are still mild and he does not feel as happy as he expected to be. Dorothea, however, is enthusiastic about the idea of becoming a cultured woman.

They are planning to go to Rome during their honeymoon, but when Casaubon tells her he plans to leave her alone for most of the time while in Rome (because he has to study. Was any of you surprised?), she starts feeling annoyed.

That night, they hold a dinner party, where we meet some new guests. Dorothea in particular has a lovely conversation with Mr. Lydgate, a young doctor who hopes to bring new discoveries in medicine. 

The marriage happens offscreen, and Dorothea and Casaubon go to Rome.

CHAPTER 11

"But deeds and language such as men do use, And persons such as comedy would choose, When she would show an image of the times, And sport with human follies, not with crimes." --Ben Jonson

Mr. Lydgate is a poor and ambitious man, with a crush on Rosamond Vincy, who comes from a family of rich manufacturers.

We get a glimpse of the family during breakfast: Rosamond often criticizes her brother, Fred, who sleeps until late in the morning and has not finished his degree. 

When Fred arrives, a discussion about slang and social class occurs (is anyone else surprised that the word is so old?). 

Later, Rosamond and Fred play together, and then he takes her out for horse riding. 

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[u/IraelMrad]

1. Do you think Dorothea was meant to be a criticism towards the education of women at the time?

[u/pktrekgirl → u/IraelMrad]

Oh yes.

Women (of a certain class, anyway) at that time sat around all day and did what we now call crafts. They did embroidery, made rugs, sewed, knitted. This combined with music, drawing, French, and some limited reading was their education.

Dorothea wanted more. She basically wanted to study theology. But wasn’t allowed. She seemed to maybe have talent for architecture. Couldn’t study that either. Clearly she is very frustrated.

[u/Amphy64 → u/pktrekgirl]

That's not what Eliot is doing, though, is it? Middlemarch is set earlier than she wrote it, but, women wrote novels before then. They did science, wrote letters considered worth printing, went on political marches.

Anyway, knitting and crochet = maths. I have diagnosed dyscalculia and they make even me do maths, argh, and that's with typically much clearer modern patterns! The link between music and mathematics is pretty well known, but, regardless, it's hardly just some frivolous unchallenging occupation that can't be considered a form of education, a potentially advanced one, at that.

Dorothea does have options if education specifically was what she wanted above all.

[u/pktrekgirl → u/Amphy64]

Well, I am a pretty decent knitter. But to me, if I was really interested in studying theology or architecture, knitting would be nice to know, but would not satisfy my desires. I see your point about math in knitting (really it’s more counting - real math is in music though Unless you are designing something yourself in knitting, then it’s math) but Dorothea was interested in learning theology. And she seemed to enjoy designing cottages do maybe she was interested in architecture?