THEMATIC AND CULTURAL ANALYSIS OF GEORGE ELIOT’S SELECT NOVELS: A STUDY

Abstract

George Eliot was a famous English poet, journalist and novelist during the Victorian era. Her real name was Mary Ann Evans and her pen name was George Eliot. She has written seven novels, poetry and has done translations. This paper will analyse the thematic and cultural aspects in six of the following novels of George Eliot- Adam Bede, The Mill on the Floss, Silas Marner: The Weaver of Raveloe, Felix Holt, the Radical, Middlemarch, A Study of Provincial Life and Daniel Deronda. George Eliot’s first novel was Adam Bede, which was published in 1859. Adam Bede deals primarily with the story of Hetty Sorrel. She commits child murder. It is a historical novel. Characters include Adam Bede, a carpenter, Hetty Sorrel, the girl that Adam desires to marry, Arthur Donnithorne, Dinah Morris who is a Methodist preacher and also Hetty’s cousin, and others. George Eliot’s second novel was The Mill on the Floss, published in 1860. Maggie Tulliver and Tom Tulliver are siblings. The novel revolves around their lives. Bessy Tulliver and Jeremy Tulliver are their parents. Philip Wakem, Stephen Guest are important characters. The siblings drown towards the ending of the novel. George Eliot's third novel was Silas Marner: The Weaver of Raveloe (1861). It is set in Raveloe, and the protagonist is a weaver. Due to a wrong accusation of theft, he leaves Lantern Yard and settles in Raveloe. He mostly isolates himself from the community. The story deals with the slow integration of Silas Marner back into the community. George Eliot’s fifth novel Felix Holt, the Radical (1866) is set around the time of the Reform Act 1832. Characters include Felix Holt who is a watchmaker, Harold Transome who is a rich landowner, Esther Lyon, Matthew Jeremy, Maurice Christian among others. George Eliot’s sixth novel was Middlemarch, A Study of Provincial Life (1871). Middlemarch is a fictional place. Themes related to politics, religion and marriage are discussed in the novel. Characters include Dorothea Brooke who is an intelligent and rich woman, Tertius Lydgate who is a doctor, Rev. Edward Casaubon who is a clergyman, Mary Garth, Arthur Brooke among others. George Eliot’s seventh novel was Daniel Deronda (1876). The novel speaks about Jewish Zionism. Daniel Deronda, the protagonist was raised by Sir Hugo Mallinger. Characters include Daniel Deronda, Gwendolen Harleth who is a beautiful woman in an unhappy marriage, Mirah Lapidoth who is saved from committing suicide by the protagonist, Maria Alcharisi who is the protagonist’s mother and an opera singer, among other characters. This paper looks at thematic and cultural aspects in the above mentioned novels.