Plot Summary

Dorothea Brooke and her younger sister, Celia, are young women of good birth, who live with their bachelor uncle at Tipton Grange near the town of Middlemarch. So serious is Dorothea's cast of mind that she is reluctant to keep jewelry that she has inherited from her dead mother, and she gives all of it to Celia. Upon reconsideration, however, she keeps two of the nicest pieces, an emerald ring and bracelet set (Chapter 1).

At a dinner party where Edward Casaubon, a middle-aged scholar, and Sir James Chettam both vie for her attention, she is much more attracted to the serious-minded Casaubon (Chapter 2). Casaubon must have an inkling that his chances with Dorothea are good, for the next morning he seeks her out (Chapter 3). Celia, who does not like his complexion or his moles, escapes to other interests.

That afternoon Dorothea, contemplating Casaubon's wisdom, encounters Sir James by chance on a walk. Sir James, in love with Dorothea, mistakes her silence for agreement and supposes she might love him in return (Chapter 4).

When Casaubon makes his proposal of marriage by letter (Chapter 5), Dorothea accepts him at once (Chapter 6) . Mr. Brooke, her uncle, thinks Sir James to be the better match; Dorothea's acceptance merely confirms his bachelor view that women are difficult to understand (Chapter 7). He decides not to interfere in her plans, but Celia feels that the event will be more like a funeral than a marriage, and says so frankly (Chapter 8).

Casaubon takes Dorothea, Celia, and Mr. Brooke to see his home so that Dorothea might order any necessary changes. Dorothea, intending to defer to Casaubon's taste in all things, says she will make no changes in the house. During the visit Dorothea meets Will Ladislaw, Casaubon's second cousin, who seems hardly in sympathy with his elderly cousin's marriage plans (Chapter 9).

While Dorothea and her new husband travel in Italy (Chapter 10), Tertius Lydgate, an ambitious and poor young doctor, meets and falls for pretty Rosamond Vincy. Fred Vincy, Rosamond's brother, indicates that he expects to receive a fine inheritance when his uncle, Mr. Featherstone, dies (Chapter 11). Meanwhile, Fred is pressed by a debt that he is unable to pay (Chapter 12).

Lydgate becomes involved in petty local politics. When the time comes to choose a chaplain for the new hospital of which Lydgate will be the head, the young doctor realizes that it is in his best interest to vote in accordance with Nicholas Bulstrode, an influential banker and founder of the hospital. A clergyman named Tyke receives the office instead of the infinitely more deserving Camden Farebrother.

In Rome, Ladislaw encounters Dorothea and Casaubon . Dorothea has begun to realize (too late) how pompous and incompatible she finds her husband. Seeing her unhappiness, Will first pities and then falls in love with his cousin's wife. Unwilling to live any longer on Casaubon's charity, Will announces his intention to return to England and find some kind of gainful occupation.

When Fred Vincy's note comes due, he tries to sell a horse at a profit but the animal turns out to be vicious. Caleb Garth, who had signed his note, now stands to lose a hundred and ten pounds because Fred is unable to raise the money. Fred falls ill, and Lydgate is summoned to attend him. Lydgate uses his professional calls on Fred to further his suit with Rosamond.

Dorothea and her husband return from Rome to hear of Celia's engagement to Sir James Chettam. Will Ladislaw includes a note to Dorothea in a letter he writes to Casaubon. This attention precipitates a quarrel between the couple, followed by Casaubon's serious illness. Lydgate, attending him, urges him to give up his studies, at least temporarily. Meanwhile, Lydgate confides to Dorothea that Casaubon has a weak heart and must be guarded from all excitement.

Meanwhile all the relatives of old Mr. Featherstone wait impatiently for his death, but he hopes to circumvent their desires by giving his fortune to Mary Garth, beloved of Fred Vincy and daughter of Caleb Garth, the man who signed Fred's promissory note. When she refuses the money, Featherstone falls into a rage and dies soon afterward. When his will is read, everyone learns that he has left nothing to his relatives; most of his money is to go to Joshua Rigg, who is to take the name of Featherstone, and the rest of his fortune is to endow the Featherstone Almshouses for old men.

Plans are made for Rosamond's marriage to Lydgate. Fred is ordered to prepare himself for the ministry, since he has inherited nothing from his uncle. Mr. Brooke goes into politics and enlists Will Ladislaw's help in publishing a liberal paper. Casaubon has come to dislike Ladislaw intensely after his cousin has rejected further financial assistance, and he forbids Will to enter his house.

Casaubon dies suddenly. A codicil to his will gives Dorothea all of his property so long as she does not marry Will. This strange provision causes Dorothea's friends and relatives some concern because it might appear to the public that she and Will had been indiscreet in some way.

Mr. Brooke, on the advice of his Tory friends, gives up his liberal newspaper and thus cuts off his connection with Ladislaw. Will realizes that Dorothea's family is trying to separate him from Dorothea in some way, but he refuses to be disconcerted about it. He resolves to stay on in Middlemarch until he is ready to leave. When he hears of the codicil to Casaubon's will, he is further determined to remain so that he can eventually disprove any suspicions of the village about him and Dorothea.

Meanwhile, Lydgate and Rosamond have married, and the doctor has gone deeply into debt in order to furnish his house according to Rosamond's tastes. When he finds that his income does not meet his wife's spendthrift habits, he asks her to help him economize. They begin to quarrel, as his practice and popularity decrease.

A disreputable man named Raffles appears in Middlemarch. Raffles knows that Will's grandfather amassed a fortune as a receiver of stolen goods, and that Nicholas Bulstrode, the highly respected banker, was oncethe confidential clerk in Will's grandfather's fencing operation. More than that, Bulstrode's first wife was his employer's widow. The money that Bulstrode inherited at her death should have gone to Ladislaw's mother, but Bulstrode used it to build his own fortune.

Already blackmailed by Raffles, Bulstrode reasons that the scoundrel will tell Ladislaw the whole story. To forestall trouble, he sends for Will and offers him an annuity of five hundred pounds, plus liberal provision in his will. Ladislaw, feeling that his relatives have already tainted his honor, refuses, unwilling to be associated in any way with the unsavory business. Ladislaw decides to leave Middlemarch and go to London, without assurance that Dorothea loves him.

Lydgate drifts deeper into debt. When he wishes to sell what he can and take cheaper lodgings, Rosamond convinces him to hold on, to keep up the pretense of prosperity a little longer. At the same time Bulstrode gives up his interest in the new hospital and withdraws financial support.

Faced at last with the seizure of his goods, Lydgate goes to Bulstrode and asks for a loan. The banker advises him to seek aid from Dorothea and abruptly ends the conversation. But when Raffles, in the last stages of alcoholism, returns to Middlemarch and Lydgate is called to attend him, Bulstrode becomes afraid that the doctor will learn his secret from Raffles' drunken ravings. Bulstrode offers Lydgate a check for a thousand pounds, arriving in time to save Lydgate's goods and reputation. When Raffles dies, Bulstrode feels at peace at last, but it soon becomes common gossip that Bulstrode has given money to Lydgate and that Lydgate attended Raffles in his final illness. Bulstrode and Lydgate are publicly accused of malpractice in Raffles' death. Only Dorothea takes up Lydgate's defense, as the rest of the town busies itself in gossip. Rosamond is anxious to leave Middlemarch to avoid public disgrace. Bulstrode is also anxious to leave town after his secret, which Raffles spilled while drunk in a neighboring village, becomes known. Bulstrode becomes ill, however, and his doctors will not permit him to leave his bed.

Dorothea, sympathetic to Lydgate, determines to give her support to the hospital and tries to convince Rosamond that the only way Lydgate can recover his honor is to remain in Middlemarch. Unfortunately, Dorothea arrives to speak to Rosamond when Will Ladislaw is consoling Rosamond. Afraid that Rosamond is involved with Will, Dorothea leaves abruptly. Angered at the false position that Rosamond has put him in, Ladislaw explains that he has always loved Dorothea, but from a distance. When Dorothea forces herself to return to Lydgate's house on the following morning, Rosamond tells her of Will's declaration. Dorothea realizes she is willing to give up Casaubon's fortune for Ladislaw's affection.

In spite of the protests of her family and friends, they are married several weeks later and go to London to live. Lydgate and Rosamond lived together with better understanding and prospects of a happier future. Fred Vincy becomes engaged to Mary Garth. For a time, Dorothea's family disregards her, but they are finally reconciled after Dorothea's son is born and Ladislaw is elected to Parliament.

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This page last updated 10 May 2000.