1. Would the author agree that Maggie dies just as she is reaching a crucial stage in her development? 2. In what ways does the author use irony, and what is her purpose in using it? 3. Compare the decision which Maggie makes in giving up Stephen to Dr. Kenn’s […]
Read more Study Help Essay QuestionsCritical Essay Direct Address and Authorial Comment
The author makes extensive use of direct address to comment on the action or on characters, either in her own voice or in that of the narrator. This is a technique which is little used in present-day fiction. It has been almost entirely supplanted by Henry James’s concept of the […]
Read more Critical Essay Direct Address and Authorial CommentGeorge Eliot Biography
George Eliot was the pseudonym of Mary Ann (later Marian) Evans. She was born in Warwickshire, England, in 1819, the third child of Robert Evans and his second wife, Christina. Her father managed an estate. She and her sister attended several boarding schools for girls. Miss Lewis, the principal of […]
Read more George Eliot BiographyCharacter Analysis Philip Wakem
He is drawn in more intricate detail than are Stephen and Lucy; he is treated almost as fully as Maggie and Tom. He is perhaps more complex than either of those two. From the first Philip is seen to be talented, kind-hearted, and sensitive. He draws well without lessons; although […]
Read more Character Analysis Philip WakemCharacter Analysis Lucy Deane
She is in most ways a contrast to Maggie. As a child she is all the things Maggie is not: she is quiet, well-behaved, neat, and not over-intelligent. She is “pretty little pink-and-white Lucy,” and this remains the basis of her adult character. However, as an adult Lucy takes on […]
Read more Character Analysis Lucy DeaneCharacter Analysis Stephen Guest
He is alone among the major characters in being essentially described, rather than shown to be what the author wishes him to be. By description he is handsome, witty, and a powerful personality. However, he appears as a bit of a fop, a fine young gentleman who will be of […]
Read more Character Analysis Stephen GuestCharacter Analysis The Dodson Sisters
Mrs. Glegg, Mrs. Pullet, Mrs. Deane, and Mrs. Tulliver are recognizably members of the same family, even without their own constant reminders of that fact. All of them give allegiance to the same code for living, a code based on respect for property and strict maintenance of tradition. But each […]
Read more Character Analysis The Dodson SistersCharacter Analysis Tom Tulliver
On his first appearance, he already presents most of the characteristics he will have as a man. That is not to say that Tom does not change: he changes greatly as he matures. But the man is readily visible in the boy. As a boy Tom is already strict with […]
Read more Character Analysis Tom TulliverCharacter Analysis Maggie Tulliver
She is in most ways the opposite of Tom. She is her father’s daughter, and she has inherited his warm feeling for other people and his impetuosity. But she has none of his masculine self-assurance. As a child Maggie is highly intelligent, but likely to be forgetful. She acts rashly […]
Read more Character Analysis Maggie TulliverSummary and Analysis Book 7: The Final Rescue: Conclusion
Summary The fifth year after the flood, little trace of its desolation is visible. The autumn is “rich in golden corn-stacks”; the wharves and warehouses are busy again. But scars of the flood are still to be seen, and “uptorn trees are not rooted again.” The mill has been rebuilt. […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Book 7: The Final Rescue: Conclusion