Narrative Voice in Middlemarch - Literature review Example

Middlemarch is a novel of epic proportions as it is seen through the eyes of a woman rather than a man. In other words, rather than following the heroic and sometimes highly exaggerated struggles of a single character as he strives to save his world from certain destruction of some sort, Eliot presents her epic as a struggle by a variety of people to survive in a world in which not all elements of the game are knowable or controllable. Although the novel opens with an introduction to Dorothea Brooke and her sister Celia, this does not necessarily mean these are the main characters of the story. As the novel progresses, the reader is introduced to a host of other characters, all of whom the narrator is able to know to a more intimate degree than the typical omniscient point of view, which tends to focus on the thoughts and activities of a single character. These other characters comprise the majority of the upper echelons of the Middlemarch community, a rural village well removed from the bustle of the big cities that were then springing up in response to industrialization. Thus, Eliot’s epic is an epic in terms of the numbers of characters it encompasses as well as the numerous dreams and disappointments that make up their lives. This comprehensive depiction of the complexity of provincial life and the confusion this causes at the individual level serves to help illustrate the ways in which society served to confine women within a tight conception of what she ‘should’ be in order to be of greatest enjoyment to men. In Middlemarch, Eliot combines narrative technique and character development to illustrate how the ‘notion commonly entertained among men that an instructed woman, capable of having opinions, is likely to prove an unpracticable yoke-fellow’ served to constrain women within a narrow ideal and limit their pursuits. The narrative technique employed in the novel provides a realistic means of viewing the characters that eliminates the self-delusion under which the characters operate and provides a glimpse of how society as a whole serves to define the ‘proper’ activities for women. This approach provides the reader with a more succinct understanding of the characters’ motives and desires while also aiding the understanding of how these motives and desires serve to hide reality from the characters. For instance, in one of the descriptions offered regarding the community, the narrator says, “In the prosaic neighborhood of Middlemarch, May was not always warm and sunny, and on this particular morning a chill wind was blowing the blossoms from the surrounding gardens on to the green mounds of Lowick churchyard” (Eliot, 1992: 292). This approach completely avoids the popular approach to literature and the picturesque during this era and serves as an example of how desires serve to warp perception. “While the narrator calls this a ‘prosaic neighborhood’ which alludes to romantic ideals common in Victorian fiction by women writers, this narrative beauty is offset by the reality that everything was not always ‘warm and sunny’ thus indicating that life for the characters, unlike the ‘prosaic’ settings of other novels does not depict warm happy days or even the promise of romance – it is chilly and the blossoms fall victim to unforgiving winds” (Narrative Voice, 2007). Through the use of this nature imagery, the narrator is able to illustrate the exterior beauty that is seen within the characters dreams and aspirations as they are symbolized by the typical considerations of spring. At the same time, she brings attention to the ‘invisible’ forces of reality and self-delusions through the imagery of the ‘unforgiving winds.’ “While it might have been simple and conventional for this unorthodox narrator to relate a tale of marital bliss, the narrator first offers a sentence akin to traditional Victorian romances and immediately negates it” (Narrative Voice, 2007). This narrative style, in which the essence of the question is contained within the very imagery, evokes a call for a return to the realities, rather than the fantasies, of a natural state. Victorian ideals of the ‘proper’ woman were founded on four core principles – those of piety, purity, submissiveness and domesticity. The hierarchy of these four core values was delineated by Barbara Welter in the 1960s in their order of social importance. “Young men looking for a mate were cautioned to search first for piety, for if that were there, all else would follow” (Welter, 1966: 152). Because religion didn’t take women away from her proper place within the home like so many other societies or movements did, piety was considered a safe avenue for a woman to pursue. “She would be another, better Eve, working in cooperation with the Redeemer, bringing the world back from its revolt and sin. The world would be reclaimed for God through her suffering” (Welter, 1966: 152). Next to piety, purity was necessary in order to access the power inherent in the cult. “Without [purity] she was, in fact, no woman at all, but a member of some lower order … To contemplate the loss of purity brought tears; to be guilty of such a crime … brought madness or death” (Welter, 1966: 154). However, this power was expected to be relinquished upon the wedding night as the woman traded in her purity, setting up a paradox that proved difficult to explain away. “Woman must preserve her virtue until marriage and marriage was necessary for her happiness. Yet, marriage was, literally, an end to innocence. She was told not to question this dilemma, but simply to accept it” (Welter, 1966: 158). Therefore, submission became a defining aspect of the feminine, also placing her squarely by her own fireside first as daughter and sister, later as wife and mother, bringing in the fourth dimension of domesticity. “If she chose to listen to other voices than those of her proper mentors, sought other rooms than those of her home, she lost both her happiness and her power” (Welter, 1966: 173). All of these concepts come into play as Eliot illustrates the problem in reconciling the ideals of womanhood with the realities of their nature. While the imagery and narration style establish the concepts of societal conceptions of female position, the characters themselves illustrate how women who were educated and desirous of an equitable relationship with her husband were thought to be threatening while women who were willing to fit themselves within the proper mold were considered the perfect marriage material for a young man. Dorothea Brooke can be seen as an example of the unmarriageable woman. She is all about the deeper meaning, the greater connection and all that makes the sublime something transcendent from the real. Although she attempts to remain grounded through a connection with the real, by defining her desires as much as possible in socially acceptable terms, she is incapable of completely pulling this off. While dividing her mother’s jewelry with Celia, the deep color of the emeralds appeals to her aesthetic sense, but her sense of duty and decorum prevent her from being able to contemplate wearing the bracelet and ring in public. While she longs desperately for higher learning simply for its own sake, she is incapable of admitting this desire as a wish she has for herself, but must couch it in terms of being properly useful as wife to a scholarly husband. These interests are not appropriately feminine for Dorothea to attract a suitable husband quickly and easily. In hopes of becoming an intellectual part of a great work, she marries a man she feels will meet her requirements, but she is sadly disappointed as he disregards her abilities and cuts her out of his intellectual disaster. Despite her attempts to adhere to socially acceptable roles and interests of women, Dorothea can’t help but pursue the desires of her heart for learning and equitable respect. Rosamund Vincy, on the other hand, is trained at an expensive finishing school to be perfectly suited for life as the proper wife and hostess for an important man. She is intended to be little more than a useful ornament and has very few aspirations beyond fulfilling this role. While Dorotha Brooks’ education has been geared toward higher purposes and deeper thoughts, Rosamund’s has been full of trivialities and how to attract the ‘right’ sort of man. Toward this end, she sets her sights on Dr. Lydgate because of his exotic training which she imagines will make him a very interesting and well-to-do man someday. However, upon acquiring her aims, she finds this life to be empty, brittle and stale. This is partly the result of her lack of education and interest sufficient to make her a proper match for Lydgate and partly the result of Lydgate’s knowledge gained as a result of his training. While she tends to blame Lydgate for their failed relationship because of his refusal to leave Middlemarch and his unwillingness to appeal to his wealthier relatives, the reality is that her position as what would today be referred to as a ‘trophy wife’ prevents her from being able to assist her husband in attaining the wealth and prosperity of her dreams. Had she been capable of bringing her own social contacts to bear in his favor through appropriately feminine means, things may have turned out differently for this couple. Neither of these women are able to find happiness and fulfillment as they expected because of their inability to completely immerse themselves within the proper cultural frame. Dorothea sought a greater knowledge than that typically allotted to young women, having a frame of mind perfect for the exploration of philosophical investigation and more intellectual investigation. However, in the society in which she lived, this type of education was considered threatening and Dorothea remained limited through much of her life by those around her who insisted that she remain locked into the feminine ideal of the mindless helpmeet keeping the house clean and looking after the proper maintenance of her man. Rosamund is also not able to find happiness and fulfillment in her marriage because she, too, has not managed to situate herself within the cultural context for which she is most suited. She has been educated and raised to uphold the typical feminine ideals as they were defined by the Victorian culture in which she lived, but happened to marry a man with more forward-thinking ideals of his own. Lydgate is ready to move forward into the next phase of society, working to help his fellow man and content living within his means until his wife begins to insist upon keeping up appearances and entering the sort of society she has always envisioned for herself. In both cases, the desires of the individual are able to overshadow their perception of the reality they are faced with, emphasized through the imagery and narrative styles of the author, and they become constrained by their education and marriage as they are either expected to fall into line with the traditional view or hoped to rise above the constraints of their past. References Eliot, George. (1992). Middlemarch. New York: Bantam Books. “Narrative Voice in Middlemarch.” (2007). Article Myriad. Available 28 January 2008 from Welter, Barbara. (1966). “The Cult of True Womanhood: 1820-1860.” American Quarterly. Vol. 18, N. 2, P. 1. Read More