When does Middlemarch take place?
How does the story of St Theresa tail in with the story of Dorothea?
What's the hidden meaning of Dorothy's pet-name - Dodo? What was the dodo?
How is Dorothea described? What metaphors are used?
Why do you think George Eliot may be somewhat defensive in presenting her heroine? Is she an unusual type for a Victorian novel heroine?
What function is served by the character of Celia? How do her remarks reveal the limits of Dorothea's vision?
Does Dorothea condescend to Celia?
In chapter VI we encounter one of Eliot's favourite scientific metaphors - what does it describe?
How would you describe Eliot's narrator? Obtrusive or self-effacing? What's the point she's making when she is comparing herself with Fielding? What are some complexities and difficulties in interpreting the novel's narrative voice?
How is the process of Lydgate's discovering his scientific vocation described?
Why does Dorothea marry Mr Casaubon?
What does Lydgate hope to discover through his scientific work? Mr Casaubon is working (fruitlessly) on a work called A Key to All Mythologies. Is there any link between them?
Chapter XXVII begins with another famous metaphor of Eliot - the one of the pier-glass. How can it be used to describe the multi-plot novel such as Middlemarch?
Two eminent feminist critics Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar described Will Ladislaw as “Eliot's radically anti-patriarchal attempt to create an image of masculinity attractive to women”. Do you agree? What could be Eliot's aim in creating such a figure?
SPOILER ALERT - What is the novel's probable outcome? Try to guess it without looking it up in Cliff's Notes. Or, preferably, read the whole novel.