Middlemarch: Annotated Bibliography

---. "The Text of the Novel: A Study of the Proof." Middlemarch: Critical Approaches to the Novel. Ed. Barbara Hardy. New York: Oxford University Press, 1967. 38-62.

This essay appears within a collection of studies of Middlemarch and takes a narrower look at the texts of the novel. Beaty discusses the changes specifically between the original manuscript and the final 1874 edition. He points out inconsistencies by copying parts of the texts and then offers useful insight into why Eliot made such revisions.

Haight, Gordon S. George Eliot: A Biography. New York: Oxford University Press, 1968.

Few Eliot scholars fail to mention this authoritative biography of George Eliot's life and work. Haight looks at Eliot's life and weaves relatives and acquaintances into accounts of her writing and growing fame.

Martin, Carol A. George Eliot's Serial Fiction. Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 1994.

Martin continues the work of Jerome Beaty but concentrates on the unique qualities of writing for serialization. She examines how Eliot write for this form and how readers and critics responded to publication, especially in terms of the new kind serialization used for Middlemarch.

---. "Revising Middlemarch." Victorian Periodicals Review. 25 (1992): 72- 78.

This essay specifically recounts the reasons behind Eliot's decision to rearrange the chronology of the Books of Middlemarch. The eight-Book bimonthly serial publication posed problems for readers forced to wait so long between parts, and Martin looks at Eliot's relationships with Lewes and Blackwood as they prepared the half-volumes for distribution.

Millet, Stanton. "The Union of 'Miss Brooke' and 'Middlemarch': A Study of the Manuscript." JEGP. 79 (1980):32-57.

Millet takes issue with Jerome Beaty in this critical essay on the text of Middlemarch. He has done his own research on Eliot's manuscript and posits new arguments for the chronology of changes she made in the early integration of two different ideas for two separate novels. He uses many of Beaty's arguments but takes them further and offers explanations for examples Beaty wondered about.

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Critical Reception 1871-1880
Contemporary reactions to the publication of George Eliot's Middlemarch. Alphabetical by journal name. Publication information is included since many journals from the period had similar names.

The Academy, London: Williams and Norgate, 14 Henrietta Street, Covent Garden. Vol. 4, Jan. 1, 1873. pp. 1-4.

Nothing negative at all about the novel. Middlemarch is the greatest of Eliot's works, and "has scarcely a superior and very few equals in the whole wide range of English fiction." It marks an epoch in literature since it deals with inner life.

Athenaeum, London: pub. by John Francis at the Office, 20 Wellington Street, Strand.
Mar. 30, 1872. p 393.

Plot summary of Book III with commentary upon the characters (Brooke is "the most good-natured of all unwise men.") Middlemarch is too obviously being adapted to the serial form, which we hate. "The action does not absorb us," we are interested in the actors.

Plot summary of Book IV and extensive quoting from the novel. The novel was written as a complete whole thus far, not serially, and the serial form is bad for it. Predicts Joshua Rigg will "play a prominent part in Middlemarch."

Plot summary of Book V and comment once again that the serial form is bad.

Middlemarch is melancholy. We don't think Dorothea should have married Ladislaw, but we don't know what else she should have done. Eliot seems to advocate Comtism, but this works only for the women in the story. Suspects the characters are real people. Middlemarch is Eliot's most powerful, but the style is too "laboured" and the public won't like it.

Atlantic Monthly, Boston: James R. Osgood and Company.
Vol. 31, April 1873. p. 490.

Highly ambivalent: "These rambling suggestions seem only worth making that we may take them all back in the end." George Eliot is an inspired critic of life, and Middlemarch perhaps should be judged by a new standard, because it is great but not in the traditional sense by which critics judge greatness. The inability of the critic to judge George Eliot's works.

Review of the prominent literary works from Greek romance to the novel, with the aim of establishing a "systematic meditation" for criticism and determine principals by which the novel should be guided. Of Middlemarch: It is overwrought, with minor characters given too much detail and the author giving us too much commentary. Expresses admiration for Eliot while admitting she limits the "range and power of the novel."

Blackwood's Magazine, American Ed. New York: Leonard Scott Publishing Company. "Middlemarch." Vol. 112, Dec. 1872. pp. 727-745.

Extensive plot summary and quoting from the novel, and nothing negative to say about Middlemarch. We are completely sympathetic with all the characters because of Eliot's powerful and able character analysis. The "most perfect" of her novels.

Catholic World, New York: Catholic publication House, 9 Warren Street. "The Stories of Two Worlds: Middlemarch and Fleurance." Vol. 17, Sept. 1873. pp. 775-792.

Comparison of Middlemarch and Fleurange in which Fleurange emerges as the far better novel. Middlemarch is the production of its age - a misguided age putting its trust in science rather than religion. Eliot does not know what constitutes a saint, thus her saint fails. Saints are not self-made, but called by God. The opposition Dorothea, who "never knew what real faith was," meets, is comparatively "puny."

Contemporary Review, London: Strahan and Company, Limited. Vol. 29, Feb. 1877. pp. 348-369.

Comparison of Daniel Deronda and its predecessor, Middlemarch. The former is ideal, the latter critical and realistic in a "background of ugliness." Daniel Deronda uplifts, while Lydgate's failure "impoverishes the spirit as the failure of light at morning."

Edinburgh Review or Critical Journal, American Ed. New York: Leonard Scott Publishing Company. Vol. 137, Jan. 1873. pp. 126-135.

Strangely, the only review of Middlemarch to refer to the author as "he." Written, according to the Wellesley Index to Victorian Periodicals, by Richard Monckton Milnes. Quotes extensively from the novel and endorses the serial form, partly for sustaining so much interest. It is a novelty that the marriages occur near the beginning, rather than ending happily ever after. Her style is extremely concentrated.

Fortnightly Review, n.s. London: Chapman and Hall, 193 Piccadilly. Vol. 13, Jan. 19, 1873. pp. 142-147.

Eliot is on the brink of a new era, describing the "old" world of experience by way of the "new" style of reflection, a style that mirrors scientific inquiry. She has a "medical habit" of examining her characters that is not altogether neutral. Suggestion that the new elements of her story preclude a judgment of "bad art" - her new style need new criteria for judgment.

The Galaxy, New York: Sheldon & Company. Vol. 15, Mar. 1873. pp. 424-428.

Middlemarch is both the "strongest" and "weakest" of English novels, both redundant and charming. Her being female affects her characterization of Ladislaw, but we are pleasantly surprised by the manliness of Lydgate. To "relish its inner essence we must ... be an American." Middlemarch sets a limit to the bounds of the novel.

International Review, New York: A.S. Barnes and Co. Vol. 7, July 1879. pp. 17-32.

A tribute to Eliot's genius a social reformer, concentrating on Romola, Daniel Deronda, and Middlemarch. Sympathy for Dorothea, a woman with a healthy, active min, whose thoughts Cassaubon attempts to limit. Will is not worthy of her affections, as so often happens in reality, but we imagine her leading a tender and generous life rather than "narrowing into the ordinary reflected household light."

Nation, New York: E.L. Godkin & Co., Proprietors.
Vol. 16, Jan. 23, 1873. pp. 60-62.

The "influence of mind upon mind" is constant and perfectly depicted. Though Dorothea's life is a failure, we close the book feeling she has found happiness, if not greatness. The only people who really do well are selfish or common, making us believe that common people have a good chance of happiness, which depends on adaptation of character.

The parts are "more striking than the whole." Her success in painting the town makes her unable to subordinate any of them to focus on one character. Dislike of Will is due to unsatisfactory artistic portrayal. Eliot's witty sayings get in the way of her portrayal of the characters. It is too much of an effort, and therefor not her best work.

North American Review, Boston: James R. Osgood and Company. Vol. 116, April 1873. pp. 432-440.

At the end one feels a "reverence" for Eliot's comprehensive view of life. But, though Eliot wants us to, we do not feel society is to blame for Dorothea's marriages. She also inadequately portrays Ladislaw, an authorial favorite not justified to the reader. The comparison to Saint Teresa is a bad one: Dorothea "impotently" yearns, while Teresa worked uncomplainingly. It is a remarkable book everyone should read, but probably not the highest work of art. We prophesy a lack of interest in it in the future.

Quarterly Review, London: John Murray, Albemarle Street. Vol. 134, April 1873. pp. 336-369.

Introductory recap of Eliot's earlier works and influences on her. Middlemarch is powerfully skillful in style and imagination of its characters, but has serious flaws. There is no hero or heroine, and we ask "What is the lesson of this book, what its conclusion"? The English novel has probably reached its end with books like this one.

Scribner's Monthly, New York: Scribner and Co. "The Literary and Ethical Quality of George Eliot's Novels." Vol. 8, 1874. pp. 685-703.

George Eliot is among our greatest intellectuals and writers. Recap of works: Adam Bede, Scenes of Clerical life, Romola, Middlemarch. Eliot is not cynical, her work is devoid of contempt. Middlemarch shows too much effort, and a little too learned. "Technically this is, of course, a fault. But what a fault!" The humour is wonderful. Wants a gospel or mention of Jesus in her despairing works.

Saturday Review of Politics, Literature, Science and Art, London: pub. at the Office, Southampton Street, Strand.
Vol. 34, Dec. 7, 1872. pp. 733-734.

Middlemarch is a great didactic novel but unable to escape the limits of setting forth a prominent lesson - it is not relaxing. We wouldn't want the young ladies of England to be like Dorothea, we like Celia much better, and are annoyed with Eliot's dislike of her. That Ladislaw gets Dorothea, while Lydgate is stuck with Rosamond, is really unfair.

Wish to testify to the "skill and power of the author." We are interested in Middlemarch because of its characters: Plot is not Eliot's strong point. She has a general knowledge of human nature and desire to give the reader he best. There is some sense of effort, but "no one can raise an image or can express an idea in fewer words than out author."

Spectator, London: pub. By John Campbell at 1 Wellington Street, Strand.
Vol. 44, Dec. 16, 1871 pp. 1528-29.

Middlemarch is a wealth of humor and insight. Dorothea's attraction to Cassaubon is "hardly adequately accounted for," and strikes us as "unnatural and repellent:" the result of artistic deficiency. There is too much heavy sarcasm in the running commentary, too much like Thackeray.

Very little to excite the reader in book II. Dorothea's woes painted extremely well, but our favorite characters, Mrs. Cadwallader, Mr. Brooke and even Celia appear very little. Still too much satire.

We are offended by Eliot's dislike for perfectly normal, average young girls like Celia. Eliot unfairly attacks her own creations, criticizing them rather than depicting them. Middlemarch is "morbidly intellectual," but a striking work which, when not ruined by Eliot's "acrid banter" is wonderfully accurate and true to life.

The most spiritual and reflecting characters are the least happy. Eliot discourages any hope of light behind the cloud. She takes a harsh jeering tone with those characters she disparages. Yet we all look forward to reading it for her balanced judgment, her insight, and her imagination.

Eliot's moral anatomy, her critical judgment of her own characters, is fantastic and vivid, adding depth and charm to the more minor characters. But in the major ones it shakes the reader's faith in her impartiality, and we find it malicious. Nonetheless, Middlemarch "bids more than fair to be one of the great books of the world."

Supports the serial form of publication. Seeming fear of giving Eliot, as a woman, too much praise. She will "take her stand amongst the stars of the second magnitude." The prologue is the only stilted portion of the prose, and the moral of the "Woman's question" it sets forth is not very well worked out. We are shocked by the lack of religion, especially in Dorothea. It is not Eliot's "completest," but her "freest and greatest work."

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Critical Reception 1881-1891
Critical works on Middlemarch from the year of George Eliot's death to 1891. Divided into two sections, books alphabetical by author and articles alphabetical by journal name.

Books
Blind, Mathilde, George Eliot. Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1883.

Blind moves chronologically, drawing on her friendship with Eliot to make personal connections between Eliot's life and her texts. Blind does some critical analysis, yet most of the book concentrates on the biographical context of each of Eliot's works.

Browning, Oscar. Life of George Eliot. London: Walter Scott, Limited, 1892.

Like Mathilde Blind, Browning writes as Eliot's friend, following her artistic progression through a series of personal insights. In spite of the occasional superfluous conjecture, this historical critique is more academic than Blind's.

Cooke, George Willis. George Eliot: A Critical Study. Boston: James R. Osgood and Company, 1883.

Cooke 's "critical study" looks at each of Eliot's works chronologically. He seems to be most interested in Eliot's overall messages and her artistic development. His reading of Middlemarch in particular is fairly bleak; Cooke projects a pessimistic mindset onto Eliot.

Woolson, Abba. George Eliot and her Heroines. New York, Harper and Brothers, 1886.

This book gives an overview of Eliot's literary achievement, then proceeds to discuss her characterization, humor, plot, moral lessons, etc. This is one of the few works that moves thematically rather than novel by novel or biographically. Woolson argues that Eliot offers complex female characters, characters whose situations represent the gender-determined possibilities and impossibilities that may have influenced Eliot's life.

Articles
Dublin Review, London: Burns and Oates
"The Religion of George Eliot" by William Barry, Vol. vi., Mar. 1881. pp. 433-464.

As a member of the clergy, Barry offers a circumspect review of Eliot's achievement. He criticizes her lack of Christian faith, and argues that her resolutions are limited because she cannot conceive of a God. On the positive side, Barry praises her efforts to portray the best of human beliefs underneath the "outward garb" of religion.

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Critical Reception 1892-1996
Critical works on Middlemarch. Chronological.

1892-1924
Very few advances made in Middlemarch criticism during this time period.

1925
Woolf, Virginia. "George Eliot." The Common Reader. New York: Harcourt, Brace, and World, 1925. pp. 166-76.

Praises the author wholeheartedly; calls Middlemarch "one of the few English novels written for grown-up people."

1948
Leavis, F.R. The Great Tradition. London: Chatto & Windus, 1948.

Calls Eliot one of the four great English novelists. Analyzes her novels as they fit into the "great tradition." Says Middlemarch "[represents] her mature genius."

1951
Kettle, Arnold. "George Eliot: Middlemarch." An Introduction to the English Novel: From Defoe to George Eliot. Vol. 1. London: Hutchinson & Co., 1951.

Compares the novel to Austen's Emma. Acknowledges Middlemarch's spaciousness and impressiveness but says that it "is not in any sense a revolutionary work." Points to a "contradiction between the success of the parts and the relative failure of the whole." Failure attributed to her inability to "impose an organic unity on the novel."

Distinguishes the novel from other Victorian novels. Places the novel in the continental tradition. Tries to "show a reason for a refusal to include Middlemarch in the category of social or psychological novels as conceived by the masters." After an analysis of the 4 plots, points to Middlemarch's "lack of structural unity" as its problem.

Shows how Eliot's uses political history accurately and extensively, yet inconspicuously: "the major political events...do not distract the reader from the fiction."

Reprint of James' 1873 essay.

First critic to acknowledge the importance of the web imagery in Eliot's novel.

Provides evidence to suggest that Eliot may have originally intended Will to be Jewish. His character, therefore, looks forward to the main protagonist of Daniel Deronda who late in the book learns of his Jewish origins.

Shows how "an awareness of 'the undertones of thought' in Middlemarch leads to a realisation of unity through analogy." Dorothea's quest, the central action of the novel, is "to find a principle that will unify fragmentariness"; through her (and through the other characters whose similar quests are linked to Dorothea's by analogy) we find this unifying principle "in the nature of one's relations with one's fellow human beings."

Levine calls it "[t]he most influential early full-scale critical study of George Eliot's art in the revival of critical interest in her work at mid-century" (Levine 17). Hardy analyzes very closely the formal aspects of Eliot's novels. Book organized not by novel, but by formal characteristics. Therefore, Middlemarch is analyzed not by itself but in relation to Eliot's other works.

Contributed to critical study of formal achievements of George Eliot's novels. More analysis of the "complex of elements" in Middlemarch. Analyzes the web imagery.

Stresses Middlemarch's "wholeness" and "the perfect organic quality of its parts." Looks at the "complexity, the multiple and overlapping patterns" and "the underlying unity." Notes the novel's originality: "George Eliot's redefinition [of the relationship between the individual and society] results in...the paradox of individualism: that a greater concern with the individual, leads to a greater concern with everything outside him."

Close reading of the novel. He says that it "centers upon a history...of a single human decision," that of Dorothea's decision to marry Will at the end of the novel. Analyzes Eliot's "argument" and her "defense of this decision."

Detailed analysis of the Dorothea plot "in order to scrutinize [Middlemarch's] workmanship more fully."

Levine calls this book "one of the major documents in the revival of critical interest in George Eliot" (p. 18).

Aimed at college/university student. Discusses the "ambiguities of tone" of the novel, emphasizing how "irony and compassion are used together more consistently than critics have noted."

"Middlemarch has often been praised as a great realistic novel and, more latterly, as a triumph of unified organization, but both its realism and its unity are flawed." Isolates the novel's "sexual theme," calling it "an important and neglected part of the novel." Criticizes earlier attempts to find "unity" in the novel, preferring instead to look for "completeness." She announces that the "demand for unity and the demand for truth should be inseparable." "Middlemarch would be a satisfactory unity if the asexual presentation of Dorothea's relation with Will were matched by a similar omission in the presentation of her relation with Casaubon."

Discusses Eliot's extension of historical realism to take in the "mythopoeic aspect of history." Swann claims that the defining characteristic of this "symbolic realism" is an ability to create a higher unity in which all parts fit into an overarching structure without sacrificing attention to the particulars of lived experience.

Includes five essays that deal with the role of knowledge, passion and myth in Middlemarch. Essays by David Carroll and Barbara Hardy are especially insightful.

Contrasts Middlemarch with Adam Bede in their use of language and dialect. Analyzes the connections between the finely discriminating narrator's voice and the rich voices of characters.

Makes a large claim for Middlemarch's place in the development of European historical consciousness. Analyzes the mutually constitutive relationship between public and private realms, the life of history and the life of the individual.

Considers the tension between Eliot's desire for transcendence, for a world beyond the impermanence of this one, and her desire for the real. Because Eliot refuses to abandon the empirical stance of realism or her quest for something more than realism, her novel never resolves itself, never opts for the easy answer.

Dorothea's aestheticist and puritanical impulses at the start of the novel are refined as she "undergoes an education in the language of art."

Examines the composition history of the novel and the ways in which the two stories combined with one another during that process.

Shows Eliot's ambivalence about gender issues, viewing her thoughts in light of Mill's "On the Subjection of Women." Lydgate and Casaubon are figures that show the problems of marriage and the need to change marriage customs as they existed at the time the novel was written.

Attempts to be an exhaustive introduction to the novel, covering textual and publication history, George Eliot's biography, and critical reception as well as providing basic analyses of plot and character. Argues that attempts to unify the novel within a single frame do a disservice to its diverse themes.

Bloom's introduction is not very interesting, but he has managed to bring together a diverse group of critics who represent the best of different traditions of Eliot criticism.

A slim volume that attempts to bring multiple critical perspectives to bear on the novel in insightful close readings of particular scenes and characters.