Eliot's descriptions of Dorothea often sneak in suggestions like this one that there's a lot more going on under the surface. Great — so Dorothea isn't just a beautiful and elegant woman: she's got hidden depths.
Then why do descriptions of her so often compare her to works of art, which are, by definition, all surface and no depth? When Dorothea is visiting Rome with Mr.
Casaubon on their honeymoon, Will Ladislaw and his artist friend, Naumann, see her in the Vatican among a lot of famous classical statues 2. Dorothea is simply dressed in gray as usual , and is frozen in thought when the men first see her — she looks like one of the statues.
This is strange: why would the narrator want us to associate her with statues, which are made out of stone and have no "mental life" of their own? There are a few possible reasons. First, maybe it's because Eliot doesn't want us to get carried away with thinking of Dorothea as a real person. She is, after all, just a fictional character in a book, created by Eliot, just as the statues at the Vatican were created by sculptors. Another possible reason is that Eliot wants to show us how other characters, like Naumann, see Dorothea.
Naumann doesn't care about anything except for the surface. Naumann is immediately attracted to Dorothea as a piece of art. He wants to capture her beauty on canvas, and starts planning a way to persuade her husband, Mr. Casaubon, to commission a portrait of his young wife. He has no thought of Dorothea's "mental life," as the narrator describes it, but only thinks of her "form" and the way it is "animated by Christian sentiment" 2.
Naumann thinks of Dorothea as an ideal, rather than as a real person. Will Ladislaw, however, can't stand the thought of trying to capture something as complex as Dorothea in a painting: "As if a woman were a mere coloured superficies! Will realizes that there are hidden depths to Dorothea — and to all women — that can't be captured in a painting or a statue that depicts only the surface.
Naumann isn't exactly a character to be trusted. He cares more about his art than anything else, so his impression of Dorothea as simply a piece of art should be taken with a grain of salt. We, like Will Ladislaw, know better. But even the narrator occasionally associates Dorothea with works of art. For example, in a chapter describing Dorothea at a dinner party, the narrator says, "Sometimes when Dorothea was in company, there seemed to be as complete an air of repose about her as if she had been a picture of Santa Barbara" 1.
When Dorothea is calm, she looks like a picture of a saint. What could that imply? Pictures of saints are meant to be revered — they are objects of devotion.
They also represent an ideal, rather than a reality. So even the narrator, it seems, occasionally falls into the trap of thinking of Dorothea as an ideal art object — one that should be worshipped, even — rather than as a real person.
This brings up another important aspect to Dorothea's character — her spirituality and religious fervor. It's no accident that so many characters associate her with angels, saints, or the Virgin Mary. Even the narrator occasionally does it, as we saw in the passage above about the "picture of Santa Barbara. Farebrother says that she "has a heart large enough for the Virgin Mary" 8.
And of course there's the Prelude and Finale chapters, in which Dorothea is compared to Saint Theresa, a medieval saint who yearned to do great work in the world, but had to settle for less than she had originally dreamed because of the practical realities of her everyday life See the "What's Up with the Epigraph?
Dorothea is even associated with the divine or the sacred through her name: in Greek, Dorothea means "gift of the gods. But Eliot wants to reassure us that Dorothea's intense spirituality is only "one aspect" of her nature, which, overall, is "ardent, theoretic, and intellectua[l]" 1.
Dorothea Brooke tends to wear simple, modest clothes, which make her look even more beautiful. If Dorothea marries and has a son, her son will inherit Mr. As such After Dorothea comes home from the school she has set up in Middlemarch, Celia asks if they Upset, Celia says that she is embarrassed to wear the jewelry if Dorothea refuses to do so. However, Dorothea then begins to admire the ornaments, trying to justify Book 1, Chapter 2.
Sir James says he knows Dorothea likes horse-riding and that he would love to lend her an elegant horse he owns Brooke returns to discussing politics, and Dorothea says that she wishes he would let her organize his documents.
Casaubon admiringly comments that Book 1, Chapter 3. Afterward, Casaubon looks at Mr. Before going, he tells Dorothea he has been feeling lonely. He then leaves for his home, Lowick Manor, which is Dorothea adds that she thinks Celia would like the puppy, but Sir James only responds by It is increasingly clear that he is deliberately coming to see Dorothea , who is thrilled to spend time with him.
During their conversations, the only thing that Book 1, Chapter 4. Dorothea insists that she must abandon the cottages and be rude to Sir James from now Book 1, Chapter 5. It is comically stiff and convoluted, devoid of any romance or affection whatsoever.
He tells Reading the letter, Dorothea bursts into tears and drops to the floor. She is overwhelmed with happiness that the He tells her that he Hurt, Dorothea tells Celia not to say things like that; when Celia continues, Dorothea angrily tells her Book 1, Chapter 6. Cadwallader mentions Dorothea and Sir James; Mr. Brooke regretfully replies that the marriage will never take place. She then warns him to brace himself for bad news, before telling him Dorothea is engaged to Casaubon.
Cadwallader has been keeping an eye on Dorothea and Celia and chastising Mr. Brooke when necessary. Book 1, Chapter 7.
Dorothea suggests Brooke tells Casaubon that certain subjects are too difficult for women, but Casaubon replies that Dorothea is only learning the Greek alphabet. Brooke says that women do better at dabbling in Book 1, Chapter 8. Book 1, Chapter 9. It is a In the garden, Casaubon tells Dorothea that she will like the nearby village, as the houses there are like the cottages Dorothea says that she has never been able to understand art.
Will thinks that Dorothea must He says he will support Will for a year, and Dorothea says that this is kind of him, adding that people should be patient with one Book 1, Chapter Dorothea , on the other hand, is filled with excitement and optimism about her marriage. The couple That night, a large dinner party is held at Tipton Grange before the wedding.
Dorothea looks modest but serenely beautiful. Guests at the dinner include a banker Bulstrode who is The women then observe that Dorothea is having a lively conversation with Tertius Lydgate about He imagines that marrying someone like Dorothea would be hard work, whereas being married to Rosamond would be a heavenly respite from Book 2, Chapter Naumann says that Two hours later, Dorothea sits in her apartment and weeps while Casaubon remains at the Vatican working.
Dorothea is Dorothea is confused. A brief argument ensues, and both Dorothea and Casaubon are shocked by the anger expressed by the other. Earlier, she had accompanied Will smiles a charming smile, and Dorothea asks if something amuses him. He replies that he is thinking of when they met Seeing that he Casaubon arrives and invites Will to dinner the next day; Will agrees and leaves.
Dorothea apologizes to her husband for her angry words that morning and begins to cry again At dinner the next day, Dorothea is impressed by the charming way Will converses with Casaubon. Casaubon similarly feels proud of Thomas Aquinas, and Casaubon is surprised and thrilled—though not half as thrilled as Dorothea , who feels that this confirms that Casaubon is indeed the great man she imagined.
Will desperately tries to see Dorothea alone before she leaves Rome. He visits her in the middle of the day, when Will is worried that he might have insulted her, but his kind tone ensures that Dorothea is not offended. Book 3, Chapter Dorothea and Casaubon arrive back from their honeymoon to January snow. The morning after their arrival Dorothea runs into Celia and Mr.
Brooke, who greet her enthusiastically. Dorothea and Celia go to The narrator argues that Casaubon cannot be blamed for choosing Dorothea helps Casaubon to the couch. Sir James arrives and Dorothea explains that her husband has Casaubon protests that this will be miserable, and Lydgate commiserates. He tells her that it is possible that Like Dorothea, I possessed high ideals and no great understanding that high ideals and genuine decency are two different things. But Dorothea learns. And if her behavior in marriage is initially dutiful and injured, eventually it becomes something larger—something generous and large-minded.
In a moment of crisis, she comes very near to releasing her built-up outrage toward her husband, but her anger slowly turns to pity for his inadequacies, and the next time she sees him she notices his haggard, defeated face—his health is poor, he has realized his lifetime of work has come to nothing—and is surprised when he speaks to her with gentleness.
This is a true goodness, not a haughty and showy one, and at twenty, while feeling it involved a kind of self-sacrifice I would never accept for myself and why should I, in an age of easy divorce? The mature Dorothea does not deny her passions, but also accepts that they cannot, given the circumstances she herself has chosen, be met.
Nothing in my reading experience until then had shown me such a character, a woman with this degree of both fire and self-control. So Dorothea stayed with me, through my twenties and thirties and into my forties. She reminded me, gently, of the value of holding my tongue when my boiling blood was instructing me not only to speak but to throw some dishes in the bargain.
She was an example of equanimity that comes hard-won, one that made good behavior seem not sappy and sentimental but fed by strength and understanding. At the end of Middlemarch , after Casaubon dies and Dorothea frees herself from some odious provisions in his will, she marries again, this time Will Ladislaw, a vaguely artistic fellow, well educated but not much gainfully employed, who is seen by her family as low-bred.
She gives up her inheritance to do so. This complaining has been going on for nearly years. Not to mention that even George Eliot did have a husband in all but name, her companion of twenty-four years, George Henry Lewes, and helped to care for his children. Will loves and respects Dorothea—her spirit, her mind, her body—and it is suggested that she helps him when he eventually goes into politics as a reformer. It is because, as time passes, even the successful lie in unvisited tombs.
She finds outlets for her need to love and be loved, her capacious intellect, and her drive to improve the common lot.
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