Submitted by Jessica Valdez on
By Chin Cheuk Yue Chloe
“But Dorothea was strangely quiet—not immediately indignant as she had been on a like occasion in Rome. And the cause lay deep. She was no longer struggling against the perception of facts, but adjusting herself to their clearest perception; and now when she looked steadily at her husband’s failure, still more at his possible consciousness of failure, she seemed to be looking along the one tract where duty became tenderness.”
(Chapter 37)
What does the serial novel, Middlemarch, do to change the readers’ feelings towards characters like Dorothea and how does that affect readers’ reading experiences of the serial novel?
The resistance of closure and the open-ended quality of marriage in Middlemarch provide an extended experience of reading about Dorothea serially (over the course of months, even a year), which allows readers to witness the gradual growth of Dorothea. Because of that, readers are more capable of attaching themselves and empathizing with the character. Ultimately, Dorothea’s development merges with readers’ actual lives and this escalates the reading experience of the serial novel, making it an appealing story to readers.
Robyn R. Warhol argues that “marriage in serial novels is not at all a permanent condition” (87). Indeed, Middlemarch features Dorothea and Mr. Casaubon’s marriage before the end of first volume. Instead of using their marriage as the closure of the story, the marriage in fact, allows the disillusionment and growth of Dorothea. With the building up of her honeymoon at Rome and Mr. Casaubon’s sudden deterioration in health , Dorothea stops seeing Mr. Casaubon as this scholarly and superior figure who can fulfil her intellectual need. Instead, she is able to adjust her perspective and sees Mr. Casaubon as who he truly is – a failed intellectual who is weak. Sympathizing with the failure of Mr. Casaubon’s work and his deteriorating health, Dorothea develops a sense of compassion towards him and thus she is able to care for Mr. Casaubon (despite his unlikable personality.)
As a serial novel, Eliot’s prolonged depictions of Dorothea’s actions and growth give her a more complete character development, which allows readers to resonate and attach themselves to the heroine. A close read of the diction from the excerpt reveals Dorothea’s gradual growth. Contrasting to words like “indignant” and “struggling” which show Dorothea’s strong and negative emotions during and after the Rome trip, terminology like “tenderness” and “steadily” underlines her calmness and compassion after realizing Mr. Casaubon’s plights. The shift in the tone of languages echoes with a transformation of Dorothea’s personality: She changes from an assertive and somewhat self-absorbed teenager to a compassionated and more conscious young lady. In addition, the depictions of Dorothea looking “steadily at” Mr. Casaubon’s failure and “looking along the one tract where duty became tenderness” stress on the heroine’s abilities to look at things, absorb the information and response accordingly. This contrasts with Dorothea’s past behaviors of impulsively accepting Mr. Casaubon’s proposal, misconceiving him as an experienced scholar who can fulfil her own intellectual and vocational needs. In fact, it also reveals that Dorothea has transformed from a somewhat self-centered and naïve teenager to a more mature and selfless young lady as she makes effort in caring for and helping Mr. Casaubon.
The gradual change of Dorothea’s personality in the prolonged bildungsroman echoes with Warhol’s argument of the ongoing novel brining about an open-endedness of diegetic time which gives rise to characters’ development. Consequently, it leads to readers caring about the characters’ plights (87). Indeed, the transformation of Dorothea from a somewhat self-centered and selfish teenager who lives within her fantasy bubble of marrying Mr. Casaubon would fulfil her intellectual and vocational needs to a compassionated, mature and selfless young lady who is able to sympathize for her weak husband attracts readers to attach themselves more with the character. In addition, with Dorothea making effort in turning herself into a rather submissive female so as to submit herself the weak man, readers feel for Dorothea as with her plight of being a young and beautiful wife in a non-loving marriage. The attachment and empathy of Dorothea attracts readers to continue reading the serial novel.
All in all, the resistance of closure and the open-ended quality of marriage in Middlemarch give rise to a more well-rounded character development of Dorothea, which allows readers to attach themselves to the heroine and thus making the serial novel an appealing read.