Middlemarch – Book 2 – Old and Young

Middlemarch is a fascinating must-read classic! If you’re not already in love with it by now, here are five tips on how to read it and how to manage your expectations of it.

This is the second article in a series about Middlemarch, discussing each book individually. The first article is about Book 1: Miss Brooke.

Middlemarch starts strong, in a Jane Austen style, full of funny remarks and compelling characters. The second book, however, starts to unravel married life and the local affairs of Middlemarchers.

🎧 Before we start, put on some music! Listen to Haydn’s canzonets, Mozart’s “Voi, che sapete,” or “Batti, batti” – very fashionable at the time (Rosamond Vincy knew how to play them all)! 🎧

Book 2 – Old and Young – The Plot

We knew little about Mr. Bulstrode, but Middlemarch’s second book starts with him at the center of attention. He is presented as a respectable banker, reluctant to put his credibility and reputation in line even for his family. He finally does vouch for his nephew, Fred Vincy, only at the insistence of his wife, Harriet.

After many years in town, Mr. Bulstrode is still viewed as a newcomer. That is why he is happy to make the acquaintance of Doctor Tertius Lydgate, a newcomer himself.

In fact, Mr Bulstrode is quick to promise Lydgate the possibility to conduct his research at the community hospital he’s founding. His magnanimous heart only suggests that Lydgate supports Mr Tyke as a chaplain in return. Mr Tyke’s character is beyond reproach, so that shouldn’t have been a problem, but for Lydgate’s budding friendship with the current chaplain, Mr. Farebrother. His moral dilemma is thoroughly analysed and a great way to understand Lydgate’s nature.

With the help of his uncle Bulstrode, Fred can appease Mr. Featherstone, his other uncle, and even obtain a gift of 100 pounds – more than he should have needed, less than he wanted. In his own words, Fred recognises: “[…] I am idle and extravagant. Well, I am not fit to be a poor man. I should not have made a bad fellow if I had been rich.”

Fred’s struggle isn’t only about money. He also seems to be in love with Mary Garth and his declarations to her match his overall recklessness.

Luckily for her, Mary shows a lot more sense and character. She not only will not make such outrageous promises, but she also asks Fred to stop talking to her like they are meant to be together until he essentially becomes worthy of her: “My father would think it a disgrace to me if I accepted a man who got into debt, and would not work!”.

We’ll see more about their situation later, but, in the meantime, we find out more about Dr. Lydgate. His love of medicine is vivid, his discipline for study is enviable and his ambition for discovery and reform in his field drove his entire behavior. This is why his dilemma about voting the way Mr Bulstrode suggested is ultimately resolved to not hinder his goals.

Many things would be easier to Lydgate if it should turn out that Mr. Bulstrode was generally justifiable.

“Middlemarch”, by George Eliot

However, all his aspirations take a back-sit when he falls in love. The one to catch his eye is Rosamond Vincy, Fred Vincy’s sister. She, as well, is eager to talk more with him, as the shiny, new, good-looking, single and smart man in town.

Rev. Camden Farebrother comes from a poor family, but the lack of money doesn’t stop his sister, Miss Noble, from being generous with the little she has.

One must be poor to know the luxury of giving!

“Middlemarch”, by George Eliot

The conversations between Camden and Lydgate reveal more and more of their respective characters. While Lydgate is passionate about his work, Rev. Farebrother is 10 years older and confesses to searching for more of a balance between profession and hobbies. Along with his little vices, his candour offers the perfect excuse for Lydgate’s vote.

The actual voting is an opportunity to understand small-town politics and the way of thinking of the times. It didn’t seem at all different than what we can see today.

In the meantime, Mrs. Casaubon, born Dorothea Brooke, is on her honeymoon in Rome, trying to get to know her husband, but mostly ending up alone. Of course, Mr. Casaubon is always too busy with his important research and though he regrets leaving his wife to visit museums alone, he simply needs to work.

However, fortune has it that Mrs. Casaubon meets Ladislaw, Mr. Casaubon’s poor and young cousin. He was hanging out with a friend (Naumann) who happened to be a painter and they were both delighted to get to know her. Of course, that is not so simple in those times, especially since Mr. Casaubon is disturbed by their appearance and suddenly not so busy anymore.

The two devise plans to make both Casaubons sit to take their portraits. That gives Ladislaw enough time to talk to Dorothea and try to understand her reasons for marrying his boring cousin.

On this occasion, Dorothea also realises her husband is not the genius she thought, as his work seems to have already been done by some German writers. And though Mr. Casaubon is amazing at reciting theories and those who hold them, he seems less inclined to share his own theories. Does he even have them? Dorothea is beginning to understand more things about her husband, but she is not, however, willing to actually admit them to herself just yet.

Of course, the contrast between her husband and Ludislaw doesn’t help, even less so, when Ladislaw is trying his best to be “delightfully agreeable” and not offend her or his cousin.

While Dorothea is a perfect lady and would never have, let alone give in to any improper thoughts, as her friendship with Ladislaw blooms (of course, all within the limits of the etiquette rules), Ladislaw finds himself in love. Though he would never dream of acting upon it, he is now determined to stop wasting his life, stop wasting Mr. Casaubon’s money on frivolous activities and finally make something of himself.

Ladislaw decision marks the end of Book 2 of Middlemarch and leaves us hanging on a few weeks until the next book, as, if you remember, Middlemarch is one of the books that appeared in separate volumes during an entire year.

Middlemarch – Book 2 – Characters

Here are, in short, the characters who appear in book 2:

• Fred Vincy – son of the Middlemarch Mayor, Mr. Vincy, in love with Mary Garth;
• Rosamond Vincy – Fred Vincy’s sister;
• Mr. Bulstrode – banker, uncle to Fred Vincy, married to Harriet (Mrs. Bulstrode), brother-in-law to Mr. Vincy;
• Tertius Lydgate – doctor, new in town;
• Camden Farebrother – reverend at St. Botolph’s, the oldest church in Middlemarch;
• Mrs. Farebrother – Camden Farebrother’s mother;
• Miss Noble – Camden Farebrother’s sister;
• Mr Walter Tyke – reverend, Mr. Bulstrode’s proposal as a hospital chaplain;
• Mary Garth – daughter of Mr. Garth, nurse for Mr. Featherstone;
• Peter Featherstone – owner of Stone Court, uncle to Fred Vincy;
• Mr. Chichely – the coroner;
• Dr. Sprague, Dr. Minchin – senior physicians of the town;
• Mr. Wrench and Mr. Toller – medical practitioners;
• Mr. Powderell – retired iron-monger;
• Mr. Hackbutt – “a rich tanner of fluent speech”;
• Mr. Frank Hawley – lawyer and town-clerk;
• Mr. Plymdale – manufacturer;
• Mr. Larcher – the eminent carrier;
• Reverend Edward Thesiger – Rector of St. Peter’s;
• Mr. Brooke – owner of Tipton Grange;
• Will Ladislaw – Mr. Casaubon’s second cousin;
• Dorothea Brooke – now Mrs. Casaubon;
• Adolf Naumann – Will Ladislaw’s German friend.

Middlemarch – Book 2 – My Impressions

This book was an exciting one. I admit my favourite characters remain Dorothea and Casaubon in this book as well. Their “romance” is different and their marriage seems so, so real. I imagine more marriages were, in fact, like theirs during those times only because of the little opportunity people had to get to know each other before the marriage. They remind me of “Pride and Prejudice”‘s Charlotte Lucas and Mr. Collins, with the difference being that Dorothea actually had no idea what she was getting herself into, while Charlotte knew exactly what she was getting.

Nevertheless, seeing Dorothea so innocent, so willing to stick up for her husband, so willing to do whatever it takes to please him, makes her all the more endearing in my eyes.

However, I loved to see other characters develop as well, most of them morally grey, making this book fascinating! Bulstrode wants to appear correct, but we have hints he isn’t. Lydgate is a passionate doctor who doesn’t let friendships stay in the way of his career, even though he is conflicted about the decision. Ladislaw and Fred use their relatives’ money even though they barely stand their relations. The potential is here for anything to happen.

Eliot’s writing is humorous and her observations on life in a small city (seen through the eyes of a newcomer) are as true today as ever:

This was one of the difficulties of moving in good Middlemarch society: it was dangerous to insist on knowledge as a qualification for any salaried office.

“Middlemarch”, by George Eliot

Middlemarch – Book 2 – Conclusions

George Eliot continues to draw us into the Middlemarch Universe. At the end of book 2, we start to get into intrigues and local politics, as well as following up on the Casaubons’ young marriage.

Do you like the book so far? Let’s chat!