Review the book named middlemarch - Essay Example

Featherstone as he was not much satisfied with her. To attend and serve a person who was always impulsive to you was what Mary was doing. She has always been polite to him and has never been harsh to him in return. She was sitting in silence and was reflecting on the events that happened that day when suddenly Mr. Featherstone woke up from his sleep and called Ms. Gray to his bedside. He gave her the keys of the safe and asked her to take out his will. Ms. Gray was ordered by Mr. Featherstone to burn the second will so that only his first will is considered to be valid.

She was afraid to act on his orders as there was no one in the room to witness her act. She refused to act on his orders even when she was offered a bribe on it. She felt that Mr. Featherstone isn’t in the right mind and stays firm. Mr. Featherstone went to sleep and he was dead by the next morning. Analysis: Ms. Gray was a very sweet, humble and straightforward kind of person. She had a good understanding and knowledge about human nature with a good sense of humor. But these qualities of her cant be judged by her daily activities.

She seemed very simple and plain throughout the novel which contradicts to what she actually is from inside. This made her characters suspicious to few people. She was believed to be very prudent as she felt that many people will be disappointed by Mr. Featherstone's will. The nervous tone of Mr. . Eliot gave her less opportunity to show the strength of her personality however, when it appears, her character is shown as the strongest character in the whole novel. Her strong character is beautifully portrayed in the death scene of Mr.

Featherstone. Ms. Gray proved to the reader that intellect and wisdom are not enough for a woman to surpass the situational problems faced by females. Ms. Gray’s decision secured her but did not help her to get freedom. Ms. Gray’s refusal to burn Mr. Featherstone's will showed an act of self-protection as well as ethical and moral strength. The speakers of Eliot’s novels deconstruct masculine authority which is replaced by feminine narrative power which actually has no inspirational base.

A face of such feminine insight is Ms. Gray’s detached and sardonic wisdom. Ms. Gray’s Character is somewhat closest to Marian Evans. 2. Application of Act Utilitarianism: We need to look upon all the alternatives that can be considered while taking this decision. If I would be Ms. Gray’s position I would have acted according to Mr. Featherstone’s orders and would have burned the will on his demand as he was on his death bed and this act could have given him some satisfaction and happiness and would have made him felt better.

He would have appreciated the efforts. The other option that I had was that I would have consulted someone else or would have arranged some witness in the presence of whom I could have helped Mr. Featherstone on his demands. Thirdly I would have talked to Mr. Featherstone on some other alternative than just to burn the will. I would have done that instead of just declining his request straightforwardly which lowered his morale to an extend that took his life. Furthermore I