Reading of Middlemarch by George Eliot - Essay Example

The mode of realism that Eliot employs and her focus on the issues of gender has affected the way my fiction has been. This is a literacy narrative in as much as it was a shaping influence on my writing and how I read and understood literature. Apart from being the reading of a text, it was also the reading of a culture and age in which that culture was set.

            The prospect of reading arguably the finest British novel ever was a daunting one. Before reading the book, I undertook a study of the Victorian age and looked at the general characteristics of this age. Set in one of the most turbulent eras of England, Eliot can look at the different aspects of Middlemarch as a town and look at the ideas of tradition and progress in an incisive manner. The process of reading the book in itself was an emotionally draining one as the fates of Dorothy Parker and the other characters in the novel seemed to unfold in front of my eyes. The sheer size of the novel and the networks that it created was mind-boggling. Apart from this, it was also interesting to read of how the lives of different members of a society were interconnected and vital for the progress of another one. The process of reading the book also opened up many avenues through which to analyze the position of women even in contemporary society. This was thus, a profoundly unsettling experience. It was also, however, an experience that taught me to value the position of literature in the world. Following the process of reading the book, I was better informed regarding Victorian society and its culture. Apart from this, the intense positivity that comes from the climax of the novel stayed with me beyond the time that I was reading the novel.

            This event remains one that shaped the way I write poetry and prose. I have incorporated elements of the social realist style in my narratives. Also, the focus on women-centric issues is something that I have tried to include in my writing. The methods that Eliot employs to provide a clearer understanding of society continue to inspire me as a writer. The incisiveness with which she analyses the electoral and social changes that took place during the Victorian era is something that I also look for in other writers. Middlemarch has become a work that I look to as part of the larger canon of works that has inspired me to write and read a greater number of works of literature. The importance given to the lower classes in this work also inspires me to always look at the condition of the subaltern in literature. This has greatly shaped the kind of books that I like.

            The event was, in the ultimate analysis, one that shaped the very way in which I looked at and analyzed literature. Literature from then on was not something that merely was read for pleasure. It was intrinsically connected to the society from which it emerged. Eliot’s commitment to social issues was something that has stayed with me and affected my love for literature from postcolonial societies across the world. Her goal of representing the subaltern has led me to a greater commitment to literature of this kind. However, the effect of this great novel was also to make me realize that the work of a novel was not mere analysis but also to move the audience. The fates of the different characters move us to begin with, then encouraging the reader to look at the causes of the fates that they had to endure. Eliot’s portrayal of these causes and their symptoms shall always affect how I perceive literature.