The background of The Mill on the Floss is the Victorian society that is steeped with values of money, pride and prejudice. Women, in such a society with such low values have been considered simply as ornaments that were supposedly, as depicted clearly by the Dodson sisters in the Mill on the Floss, narrow minded, snobbish, materialistic and uncompromising.
George Eliot herself has been living in this Victorian society, and has been successful in depicting very clearly the sufferings and pains of an individual female who is not born to live according to such low values; a rebellious woman that is not able to come along with the conventionalities of the Victorian society and so is to be crushed by the holders of such empty ideals. George Eliot as great as dickens in her description of the utter loneliness of childhood. Maggie Tulliver, as we see her first as a nine year old girl, has been an antitype of a Victorian female.
As a little girl, Maggie steeps her self in books much beyond her age, The History of Devil, and Pilgrim’s Progress are examples of these early studies. In the Victorian society, women who are supposed to be the ornamental objects of a man-oriented society do not need much reading. They are supposed to stay at home and do embroidery and keep in fashion, rather than go to the real world and learn or study as Victorian men do. She is also very clever unlike the other Victorian women who seem to be foolish and easily tricked as her Aunt Glegg is when Bob Jakin easily persuades her to buy his useless objets.
The Essay on Amy Lowells Patterns Victorian Society
... outside, the speaker in Amy Lowell's "Patterns" acts the way Victorian society expects of her. However, on the inside, she expresses her ... the speaker's life. The speaker is constantly bombarded by what Victorian society expects of her. Her "stiff, brocaded gown" serves as a ... is also a pattern. It confines the woman, blending her into the rest of society, as patterns do. The speaker says that ...
Eliot presents Maggie’s great enthusiasm for learning and studying. Maggie Tulliver is the protagonist of The Mill on the Floss. When the novel begins, Maggie is a clever and impetuous child. Eliot presents Maggie as more imaginative and interesting than the rest of her family and, sympathetically, in need of love. Maggie’s closest tie is to her brother Tom, and she seeks—and constantly feels denied—his approval and acceptance. she contains—the depth of feeling and hunger for love that make her a tragic character.
Maggie’s tragedy originates in her internal competing impulses. There is the unvarnished realism in the depiction of the relation between Tom and Maggie. Maggie makes Tom’s love the sole object of her early life but Tom being a boy,and being not very emlotional by nature,he has several other interests and regards . Maggie’s intense love for him as something of an encumbrance. He is not always unlfind to her,but his kindness is demonstrative as well as niggardly. for him his dog Yap is more interesting companion. aggie suffers mainly because of the extraordinainess and uncommom of her nature. she is to senstive and her need for love is too great to be easily satisfied. tom treats her more or less as any brother of thi period would have treated his sister,but that is not sfficient for her. she loves him intensily,and dances round and round when she learns that he is coming home. It hearts her that he does not take immediate of her when he comes. Yet Maggie’s passionate preoccupations also cause pain for others, as when she forgets to feed Tom’s rabbits, which leads to their death.
Maggie will remember her childhood fondly and with longing, yet these years are depicted as painful ones. Maggie’s mother and aunts continually express disapproval with Maggie’s rash behavior, uncanny intelligence, and unnaturally dark skin, hair, and eyes. Yet it is only Tom’s opinion for which Maggie cares, and his inability to show her unconditional love, along with his embarrassment at her impetuosity, often plunges Maggie into the utter despair particular to immaturity.
Maggie is clever and enjoys books, the richness of intelligent conversation, and music,but her family’s downfall lends her a quieter, troubled side that tends toward self- abnegation. With her dark skin, dark hair, and dark eyes, Maggie is often associated with the Tulliver side of the family, and, specifically her father’s sister, Mrs. Moss. Mr. Tulliver was very determined about the tom’s studies and tom was send to a clergyman named Mr. stelling at a fee of 100 pound a year for more education.
The Essay on Of Human Bondage Philips Life
Family, love, and friendships are a few of the many colorful threads that are taken and woven into a tapestry of life. Every person one meets on the way will influence the patterns of that tapestry. Every incident, be it tragic or cheerful, will guide the shuttle to take on new directions. With this in mind, William Somerset Maughams autobiographical novel Of Human Bondage offers the reader a ...
Tom’s knowledge is practical: “He knew all about worms, and fish, and those things; and what birds were mischievous, and how padlocks opened, and which way the handles of the gates were to be lifted. ” This knowledge is tangible and natural—it brings Tom in closer association to the world around him. Meanwhile, Maggie’s knowledge is slightly more complicated. Other characters refer to it as “uncanny,” and her imagination and love of books are often depicted as a way for her to escape the world around her or to rise above it—”The world outside the books was not a happy one, Maggie felt. Part of the tragedy of Maggie and Tom Tulliver is that Tom received the education that Maggie should have had. Instead of Maggie blossoming, Tom is trapped. When Tom must make a living in the world, he discovers that his bookish education will win him nothing: Mr. Deane tells Tom, “The world isn’t made of pen, ink, and paper, and if you’re to get on in the world, young man, you must know what the world’s made of. ” Maggie longs for a richness of life that is unavailable to her.
Philip Wakem is perhaps the most intelligent and perceptive character of The Mill on the Floss. He first appears as a relief to Maggie’s young life—he is one of the few people to have an accurate sense of, and appreciation for, her intelligence, and Philip remains the only character who fully appreciates this side of Maggie. Philip himself is well read, cultured, and an accomplished sketcher. Like Maggie, he suffers from a lack of love in his life. His attraction to Maggie is, in part, a response to her seemingly bottomless capacity for love.
Philip’s gentleness, small stature, and sensitivity of feelings cause people to describe him as “womanly,” and he is implicitly not considered as a passionate attachment for Maggie. It is Philip who urges Maggie to give up her unnatural self-denial. He recognizes her need for tranquility but assures her that this is not the way to reach it. Through the remainder of the novel, Philip seems to implicitly offer Maggie the tranquility that she seeks—we imagine that Maggie’s life with Philip would be calm, happy, and intellectually fulfilling.
The Term Paper on Changing Places – How Zapp Morris And Philip Swallow's Life Changed
1 Morris Zapp 1.1 Morris Zapp at the beginning of ‘Changing places’ At the beginning of the novel Morris Zapp is extremely self-confident even arrogant, sarcastic, vain and feels superior when it comes to his work. He has a certain killer instinct that allows him to get what he wants and is a highly successful Professor at the Euphoric State University, whose career began very early as he already ...
