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A review by meganisreading
Middlemarch by George Eliot
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I absolutely loved this book. For me, George Elliot writes with all the style, humour and wit of Dickens, but with characters (especially female characters) who aren’t 2D and based on bad stereotypes. The narrator has such a wonderfully charming voice and lets the characters and their humanity speak for itself. So much of it I have underlined as either witty, intelligent or just beautiful writing. I loved all the characters and, although it is a very slow read, I found that spending so long with the characters helped me to adore them even more.
It obviously isn’t very progressive past the fact that the white middle-class female character are written as well as the men, which is important to note. From the short biography at the beginning of the book, it seems Elliott wasn’t the most progressive even for women’s rights at the time. However her work speak with a really humanist tone all the same - even if lacking in the diversity I would expect from a book written today.
It obviously isn’t very progressive past the fact that the white middle-class female character are written as well as the men, which is important to note. From the short biography at the beginning of the book, it seems Elliott wasn’t the most progressive even for women’s rights at the time. However her work speak with a really humanist tone all the same - even if lacking in the diversity I would expect from a book written today.
Content Warnings
Minor: Racial slurs