Rue Reads The Classics

Chapter Five! OMG, what does the old dude's letter read? Let me paraphrase:

My dear Miss Brooke
do u like me? circle yes/no
- Edward Casaubon

Okay, seriously, he says a lot of other things: how he feels it's fate that they crossed paths, that they're perfectly suited for each other, that he's so impressed by how NOT LIKE OTHER GIRLS she is. There's a little warning sign, at least that's how I interpret it -- he vaguely mentions he has things in his past that might shame or embitter her. But he waits anxiously for her reply and hopes she'll consent to be his bride, because after a lifetime of assuming he'd never marry, it's gonna be hard to go back to that solitude now that he's had a taste of hope.

Naturally Dorothea reacts to this letter with her expected elegance and self-control by falling to her knees, sobbing wildly and languishing in bed until dinner. Then she immediately writes a reply, because the concept of playing hard to get or looking before leaping is for preps and sluts. It takes her three tries to write her small note, not because she doesn't know what to say but because it must be PAINSTAKINGLY PERFECT PENMANSHIP. Her letter is way shorter than Casaubon's and is actually sort of adorable:

"My dear Mr. Casaubon -- I am very grateful to you for loving me, and thinking me worthy to be your wife. I can look forward to no better happiness that that which would be one with yours. If I said more, it would only be the same thing written out at a greater length, for I cannot now dwell on any other thought than that I be through life, yours devotedly,

Dorothea Brooke"​

Y'all, she's so earnest and to the point and even though I make fun of her, I am fond of our Puritan Enoby Way. She goes down to her uncle's study to give him the letter, and he tries one more time to get her to consider Sir James. She reacts with such fierce revulsion that even Mr. Brooke is taken aback, so she quickly admits that it's nice the baronet likes cottages. Still, not gonna marry him, and Mr. Brooke relents, even though he's sure a certain Mrs. Cadwallader will be upset at him. I think she's one of the older ladies in Middlemarch who wanted Dorothea to marry Sir James.

So Celia still has no idea about the soon-to-be nuptials, but she gets a clue the next day when Mr. Brooke offhandly mentions the Reverend will be coming over for dinner again and Dorothea is overtaken by one of her rare blushes and the obvious light of love pouring out of her. And Celia is GROSSED OUT. She absolutely cannot wrap her brain around why her sister wants to marry Reverend Two Moles -- she feels "a sort of shame mingled with a sense of the ludicrous" at the very idea. But maybe it's not too late to show Dorothea the error of her ways! So up she goes to the sitting room to join Dorothea, who rather than scribbling or writing with her usual passion is staring dreamily off into nothing.

She offhandedly asks Dorothea if anyone else is coming for dinner aside from Casaubon, and when Dorothea answers that she doesn't think so, Celia says she hopes someone will come just to drown out the sound of Casaubon's eating. I mean, look at the way he slurps up his soup. What an asshole! And he always blinks before he talks, who even DOES that? Dorothea warns her to stop her stupid words coming from her garbage mouth but Celia pushes forward until Dorothea comes right out to say she and Casaubon are going to get married.

Celia immediately goes pale and teary-eyed -- too late after all, then. She apologizes and hopes that Dorothea will be happy and Dorothea's anger subsides at the sight of her little sister's tears, but she's still stinging. Despite her naivety and passion, Dorothea's not a stupid woman: she knows the match looks odd from the outside, and there's no one outside of Tipton who would be sympathetic with her choice.

But that's fine, because when Casaubon comes for dinner, they have their own little moment alone where he passionately holds her hand and with all the awkwardness of a 47 year old virgin confesses how much she means to him. And she's so ecstatic and, as always, unflinching and unyielding in her feelings, her ardor. She's so eager to learn from him -- ah, but she catches herself, quickly adding that she doesn't want to trouble him. He kisses her brow, delighted by her passion, charmed by her openness. But here's an interesting bit which I'm sure is foreshadowing:

"It was this that made Dorothea so childlike, and, according to some judges, so stupid, with all her reputed cleverness: as, for example, in the present case of throwing herself, metaphorically speaking, at Mr. Casaubon's feet, and kissing his unfashionable shoe-ties as if he were a Protestant Pope. She was not in the least teaching Mr. Casaubon to ask if he were good enough for her, but merely asking herself anxiously how she could be good enough for Mr. Casaubon."
​

It's decided by the time he leaves the next day that the wedding will be in six weeks, because why wait? He's got a nice mansion and a good bit of land and he ain't getting any younger.

 

It occurred to me as I read the next chapter that I'm gonna have to summarize or talk about this book a lot faster. There are so many chapters in this book, my dudes. I'll be here all year at this rate. Also it's way more satisfying to devour a bunch of chapters in one sitting.

SO I'll be posting thoughts more sporadically unless something super big comes along. For this book, anyway.

 

So I kinda just got swept up in reading the book? Lemme just fill you guys in a bit. A lot more characters were introduced! Let's talk about them.

There's Mrs. Cadwallader, previously briefly mentioned by Mr. Brooke like she was the fucking boogie man and now I know why: not only is she a handsome woman with opinions, she's got POLITICAL opinions, and never holds back giving them to Mr. Brooke. She's the Rector's wife, but comes from a line of Dukes, and I'm sure you guys are aware of the shift in power that came to England when titled gentry started to lose money and common merchants got richer. As such, her whole family was poor as shit and she's known about town, quite fondly, as a skinflint and a gossip with her hands in so many pies. She's got irons in EVERY fire, my dudes, and it was her idea to try and set Dorothea up with Sir James.

After a bit of verbal sparring in the library about Whigs and the Tories (Brooke is an Independent and as a magistrate, Middlemarch is sort of eyeing him for tacitly endorsing the idea of not letting Catholics suffer), the news finally comes out: Dorothea is marrying Casaubon and has firmly rejected Sir James! And one of the other big things about Mrs. Cadwallader is that she doesn't like when her plans go awry -- she's the kind of woman who arranges things for other people and then takes credit for their success, and goddamn it, Dorothea and Sir James was going to be one of her GREAT WORKS. And since she knows Mr. Brooke won't bother actually letting Sir James know, what with his busy schedule of talking about himself and being afraid of women, she takes it upon herself to give the poor boy the bad news.

A little more info about Sir James Chettam. I was so sure he was going to be an awful, spoiled, Male Privileged fuck, but he's actually an okay dude? I mean, yeah, he's definitely still the product of an easy life where he's used to getting what he wants, but to his credit, he doesn't go on an incel fedora rage when he learns Dorothea isn't as into him as he thought. He's a little heartbroken, of course, because he really liked Dorothea! But mostly he assumes Casaubon did some dry old man magic to seduce Dorothea or something because EW ICKY GROSS, WHY HIM. Mrs. Cadwallader comforts him but also slips in a little "but that Celia, gosh, she's SO nice and I think she like-likes you" and Sir James, being the sort who doesn't want to chase after someone who doesn't like him, is like OH REALLY

But he's still super worried about Dorothea and since he and everyone else in Middlemarch knows damn well Mr. Brooke won't stop this train from crashing, he goes riding off to Mr. Cadwallader to see if he can convince Mr. Brooke that this is terrible. Now, the Rector is just a straight up nice man -- he's got a sweet smile and a kind word for everyone, and has the magical ability of soothing any ruffled feathers and basically being an anti-drama presence. He is essentially the complete opposite of his wife. And even though Sir James and him are closer friends than any land owner and clergyman have a right to be, and even though Sir James brings out all his best arguments like "Casaubon has no passion" and "His legs are like SUPER old and not as pretty as mine", Mr. Cadwallader is unmoved. Dorothea likes Casaubon and Casaubon isn't a bad man, just old, IT'S ALL FINE.

At some point, The Brookes arrive at Casaubon's estate, Lowick, for a tour of Dorothea's future home. It's not terrible, but it's sort of bleak, as one would expect from a scholarly shut in old bachelor, and while Celia is continually bewildered that this is the sort of life her sister apparently wants, Dorothea's a bit let down it isn't MORE bleak. The curate, Mr. Tucker, lets them know happily that all the nearby villagers and parishioners are well taken care off and that's just such a bummer to Dorothea, who wanted to be a sort of martyred savior to the poor. Other people being happy? UGH.

As they wander the grounds, they come across a handsome young man named Will Ladislaw, a second cousin or something to Casaubon, and apparently he likes to draw and does NOT like Dorothea, especially not after she eagerly talks about how art's a waste of time, just to really drive home to her fiance that she's PURE and WHOLESOME and BORING, I PROMISE. As the party moves on to leave Will to his drawing (and cackling to himself??), Casaubon explains that the boy has no interest in the clergy, or even any real scholarly pursuits. What he wants to do is draw, can you people just let him LIVE? He gets sent to Europe or something, who cares, he's gone for now, it's PARTY TIME.

 

So an engagement party of sorts is to be arranged, but right before, there's actually trouble in paradise! See, Casaubon and Dorothea are going to honeymoon at Rome because of course they are, and Casaubon expresses how much he wishes Dorothea would bring her sister along so he can really just get all up in the Vatican's books. Nothing says romantic newlyweds like LEAVE ME ALONE, IT'S ANCIENT ROMAN MANUSCRIPT TIME. Dorothea is annoyed with him for the first time, telling him he must've greatly misunderstood her character if he thinks she'd at all try to get in the way of him and his learning. But then of course she immediately backs down, uncertain and full of self-doubt, telling herself that of course Casaubon, a man so far above her, will love her less than she loves him.

The party is just Middle Aged Man Central. First there's the newly elected mayor of Middlemarch, a manufacturer named Mr. Vincy. With him is his brother-in-law, Mr. Bulstrode, a wealthy banker and *gasp* a METHODIST. Also sort of a dick, tbh. There's also Mr. Standish, a lawyer, and Mr. Chichely, described as a middle aged bachelor and...egg...like. Hmm. Anyway, the latter three stand around rating the women because Bros Gonna Bro I guess, and it's agreed among everyone that Miss Brooke is a Fine Woman but goddamn she's too intense. And Celia is better, but man, Rosamund Vincy. Now there's a woman, all pretty and blonde and swan-like. She, of course, was not invited, because she's just the daughter of a merchant, but the merchant himself can be invited. Okay.

Among the women is, naturally, Mrs. Cadwallader, but also Dowager Lady Chettam who I...think? Is Sir James'....grandmother? Aunt? Man, I don't know. What I do know is she is SUPER into illnesses and ailments, and is sort of a hollistic hipster when it comes to healthcare. So naturally she's delighted by the presence of one Mrs. Renfrew, the Colonel's widow (who is the colonel? we just don't know), who has some sort of vague mono-like illness that no doctor can seem to fix. The ladies discuss possible cures and diagnoses, Mrs. Cadwallader can't help but throw some more shade at Casaubon behind his back and everyone agrees it's a weird match and Dorothea's going to regret it. And then Lady Chettam goes back to talking about health problems because she's obsessed and the topic of the new doctor in town comes up.

Tertius Lydgate is the doctor that's taken over for one Mr. Hicks. He is young and not bad looking, and has "the medical accomplishment of looking perfectly grave whatever nonsense was talked to him, and his dark, steady eyes gave him impressiveness as a listener." He's of good birth, but poor, and has a sort of elegance and refinement to him that greatly pleases Lady Chettam, along with his grave nodding when she starts rambling about morgellons or whatever. He also has a lot of revolutionary ideas, about "ventilation and diet" apparently. God forbid! He's already left the party, and though he also thinks Miss Brooke is a fine enough girl, she's a "little too earnest" and anyway, he has his heart boner pointed squarely to, who else, Rosamund Vincy.

Rosamund, though from low birth (her mother is the daughter of an INNKEEPER for fuck's sake), has all the grace and feminine charms of much more to-do women and she knows it. At her finishing school, she was "the flower" of the students, and she's always trying to get her mother to act less "coarse." She's already had an eye out for Lydgate, it seems, and is really jonesing for her dad to invite the handsome young doctor, but that has yet to happen.

Fred Vincy is Rosamund's brother, who is sort of a layabout snark gremlin who spends beyond his means and trolls his sister and reads NOVELS. I like him a lot, especially because I'm not super fond of Rosamund and it's funny when she looks down on him and he extends metaphorical middle fingers back at her. He's been implying around town that his elderly uncle Mr. Featherstone is pretty much seriously you guys going to leave his estate to Fred when he croaks, which is why you should totally open up a tab for me, I'll pay you back, promise. He also seems to have a bit of a crush on Mary Garth, a kind, practical and plain girl working as a nurse for Mr. Featherstone and a longtime friend of the Vincy children.

 

oh god this is cute i ship everything -crawls back into cabinet-

 

I'm learning that Classic Literature is so much better when viewed through the lens of My Immortal. Truly, Joseph Campbell was mistaken: My Immortal is the actual monomyth.

 

Y'all. I'm not gonna lie, sometimes this book is a QUAGMIRE of words and I'm just sinking. George Eliot takes three pages to say nothing. Paragraphs that are basically the late 19th century version of VH1's REMEMBER THE 90s nostalgia, and I'm like, NO, ELIOT, I DON'T RECALL THE EARLY 1800s! Your references do nothing for me!

And then I recall the original way this book was published was in installments via newspaper journals or whatever, and she was probably paid by the line, and suddenly it aaaalllll makes sense.

Anyway, making sense of some of these chapters is a bit like untangling a ball of ancient christmas lights, so I'm super glad I stopped going chapter by chapter for this thread.

 

So here's what we know about Mr. Featherstone:

• Owns a huge estate in Middlemarch known as Stone Court
• A widower, his first wife being Mary Garth's aunt, the second being Fred and Rosamund's aunt
• Has no legitimate children
• Is super old
  • 

People know Fred is sort of his favorite, and the whole of Middlemarch, including Fred, assumes the old coot will leave Stone Court to him. Hence why Fred can get credit on the unknown future. You know who's not a fan of this? Jane Waule, Featherstone's sister. An unpleasant dry woman who wears enough black to make Dorothea envious, she wants Featherstone's money and she hates the Vincys. God, she just hates them so much. And guess what SHE'S just heard? Why, young Fred is throwing about the old man's name around town like it ain't even a thing, and she squeezes out a tear just to underline how very awful this is. It's so awful, isn't it, brother? So awful it almost makes you want to not leave all your shit to the Vincys, right??

As she's whispering in his ear, Rosamund and Fred come to visit. Rosamund is mostly there to talk to Mary, previously established as being Featherstone's live-in nurse and a long time friend, and because as we all know the gender binary rules of sitting around and fucking TALKING, the girls go away so Featherstone can troll Fred in peace. And boy does he troll him, and the narrative makes sure we know the old fuck is all but getting a boner from how gleeful he is to make Fred squirm. Cashing in on MY name, eh??

Fred denies any wrong doing (he wasn't acting as bad as Mrs. Waule implied, but he ain't innocent either) and Featherstone demands he go to Mr. Bulstrode, his uncle and the man who basically knows everyone's business, and get a signed statement basically saying Fred is innocent and it's just bad rumors.

Here's what you should know about Mr. Bulstrode:

• METHODIST AS FUCK
• Way more hardcore about his idea of moral purity and general sense of self-satisfaction than even Dorothea
• Has only two emotions: disgust and anger

Featherstone knows what kind of dude Bulstrode is and knows damn well the likelihood of Fred getting a character witness from the man is slim to none. What a dick. I LOVE HIM.

Meanwhile, Rosamund and Mary are chattering at a mirror because Rosamund can't go ten minutes without looking at herself. Let me quote this passage about Mary, because it Spoke To Me:

"Her shrewdness had a streak of satiric bitterness continually renewed and never carried utterly out of sight, except by a strong current of gratitude towards those who, instead of telling her she ought to be contented, did something to make her so."​

Mary, unlike any of the young girls we've met so far, has already experienced enough of reality to know it can suck. She doesn't want dreams and the intangible -- honesty and fairness and hardwork are her virtues, and what she values most. She's so completely the opposite of Rosamund that I am currently bewildered at why they're friends at all. In fact, Rosamund makes only the vaguest overtures in interest about Mary's life before trying to manipulate conversation for news about Lydgate, who she assumes has been to Stonecourt to tend to the old man.

So Mary talks about the young doctor in very dry, disinterested tones as Rosamund goes all starry-eyed. Mary thinks he's just a dude, and a little conceited. Rosamund is immediately like NUH UH, FRED IS CONCEITED, and Mary is NOT having that. She hates when people talk badly about Fred, because Fred has always been kind to her, and that kindness has translated into love. So Rosamund goes a little further to talk about how Fred is so damn lazy, he won't even become a clergyman like their dad wants, but Mary is like "Good, he'd be an awful clergyman," and Rosamund does her passive aggressive bullshit about how she should never complain about her brother to Mary, Mary always takes HIS side.

Mary gets more angry, Rosamund does that infuriating thing where she just gets calmer and more dismissive while purposefully pushing buttons (implying she had best not tell her mother about how angry Mary gets or else she won't approve of Mary marrying Fred) and Mary just basically says "YEAH WELL TELL YOUR MOM I WOULDN'T MARRY FRED EVEN IF HE ASKED, WHICH HE HASN'T, AND FUCK YOU ANYWAY." But then they sort of make up, i.e. Mary just sighs and goes on with her life, knowing well and truly what sort of girl Rosamund is, and they go back downstairs. Featherstone convinces Rosamund to sing a bit for him, and while she does, but who should appear? Why, it's Lydgate!

They have a sort of meet cute, with Lydgate charmed by Rosamund and Rosamund absolutely convinced he's totally in love with her, because why wouldn't he be, and oh yeah, I guess she likes him too. Fred and Rosamund then leave, riding back home with thoughts of the future in their heads.

AND THAT IS THE END OF BOOK ONE YOU GUYS

 

BTW you know what's great music to listen to while you read this?

 

wow literally nothing happened in book one

 

113 PAGES OF CHARACTER ESTABLISHMENT

 

Dorothea Dark'ness Dementia Raven Way got married to an old priest! That happened!

 

They have STILL NOT ACTUALLY MARRIED YET actually

 

A summary of book one:

• Dorothea Brooke is super religious and not like other girls and has fallen in love with the human version of a piece of parchment
  
• Her sister Celia likes Sir James and now that Sir James has been rejected by Dorothea, he's into Celia in return
• Their uncle is a sexist bachelor who is probably going to make a lot of people mad by supporting the Whigs
• A well-to-do manufacturer named Vincy is about to become mayor
• His daughter Rosamund is the Prettiest Girl in the Whole World and is thirsty for the town's new young doctor, Lydgate
• His son Fred has been cashing bets on the future promise that he's going to inherit his rich old uncle's estate
• Now Fred has to prove to his rich old uncle that he hasn't been doing that by getting a character statement from another uncle, long time killjoy and professional asshole, Bulstrode
• Fred is in love with his plain, non-genteel childhood friend Mary Garth, who is working as his rich old uncle's nurse
• Mary Garth is in love with Fred but is being tsundere about it
• The human version of a piece of parchment, Casaubon, is slated to marry Dorothea soon
• He's not really as excited or passionate about marriage as he thought he would be

ANY QUESTIONS?

 

this is so much fun, but i'm glad I'm not reading it myself, i'd keep getting sidetracked

 

And this, friends, is why I don't like 19th century realism!

(I respect it a lot, I just don't usually enjoy reading it)

 

sense and sensibility and sea monsters was pretty good...but yeh (i think that was set at an earlier time tho pf)

 

Thread cancelled, sorry. RL shit going on and I'm withdrawing from the forum once I'm done with the anniversary art trade. Not sure when I'll be back, soooo....

 

Sorry to hear that; I was enjoying following along. I hope your RL stuff gets sorted as smoothly as possible.