George Eliot's Adam Bede (1859): chps 36-55 & epilogue

"Let us rather be thankful that our sorrow lives in us as an indestructible force, only changing its form, as forces do, and passing from pain into sympathy--the one poor word which includes all our best insight and our best love" (525).

Points of Reflection

1. why does Hetty not go through with her plan to commit suicide (434-35)?

2. is Mr. Irwine, whom the narrator defended in chp 17, the hero of this novel? Consider chps 39-41.

3. does Eliot wish us to blame Arthur and Hetty equally for Hetty's plight? Consider everyone's (including the narrator's) changing opinions of the young man and young woman (438, 456, 459, 460, 463, 464, 467, 468, 469, 474, etc.)

4. at the close of her most famous novel, Middlemarch (1871-72), George Eliot claims that "the growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts; and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been, is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited tombs" (785). Does this high, Wordsworthian estimation of common people who never make it into history books emerge from Adam Bede as well?

5. consider the narrator's voice and perspective. What limitations does Eliot place on the narrator's knowledge? What various methods does the narrator use to convey a character's thoughts or motivation? At what moments does it become difficult to distinguish between the narrator's own perspective and that of a character?

6. what might be Eliot's purpose in explaining so thoroughly Arthur's mindset upon returning home, right up to the point where he reads Irwine's letter (481-87)? Do we plead Arthur's ignorance and forgive him for being in such a good mood?

7. does the return and identification of magistrate Colonel Townley in chp 45, a fellow first seen in chp 1, assist Eliot's narrative in any way?

8. in chp 35, the narrator claims that humankind's religion has so much sorrow in it because "he needs a Suffering God," a comment that seems to suggest that Christianity and its beliefs are a thing created by a needy race. Do the words and actions of Dinah in chp 45 counter this earlier suggestion? Does Dinah's compassion and Hetty's response seem the results of pitiable illusions or vital, real faith?

9. does Adam's changed attitude towards Arthur in chp 48 change our opinion of Arthur?

10. does the following passage resonate with truth? "How is it that the poets have said so many fine things about our first love, so few about our later love? Are their first poems their best? or are not those the best which come from their fuller thought, their larger experience, their deeper-rooted affections?" (540).

11. why does Dinah hesitate for so long in following the inclination of her affections, and what factor finally determines her future course?

12. what tone dominates Book Six?

13. why does Eliot allot so much time to detailed the character and quirks of the Poysers' servants and farm hands (chp 53)?

14. for what various, historical reasons might Eliot have chosen this period (primarily 1799-1801) in which to set her tale?

15. do you agree with Eliot's decision regarding Hetty's status at the novel's end?

16. consider both the limitations and successes of the narrative voice. How well does s/he capture the thoughts and motivations of the novel's characters? Passages to consider: 197 (bottom), 215 (bottom), 482 (bottom).

"Found" (1854)
Dante Gabriel Rossetti

Paul Marchbanks
marchban@email.unc.edu