“we are all of us imaginative in some form or other, for images are the brood of desire; and poor old Featherstone, who laughed much at the way in which others cajoled themselves, did not escape the fellowship of illusion. In writing the programme for his burial he certainly did not make clear to himself that his pleasure in the little drama of which it formed a part was confined to anticipation. In chuckling over the vexations he could inflict by the rigid clutch of his dead hand, he inevitably mingled his consciousness with that livid stagnant presence, and so far as he was preoccupied with a future life, it was with one of gratification inside his coffin. Thus old Featherstone was imaginative, after his fashion. However, the three mourning-coaches were filled according to the written orders of the deceased.”
Despite Featherstone’s mockery of people cajoling themselves, he was in fact indulging in illusion like everyone else. How does the illusion contributed by egocentricism trap Featherstone and every Middlemarchers?
Wealth is tantamount to power, such is especially true in Middlemarch, where one’s status derived entirely from his prosperity. Featherstone is a frantic believer of this ideology, he reckoned wealth gave him the privilege to control any and everything. Such an obsession eventually lead him to seek control over events that would outlast even his life, his funeral. Featherstone foresaw and planned his funeral to even the smallest details. He gave out specific orders and attempted to direct his funeral while still breathing. The man knew full well he wouldn’t be able to experience the grand event himself, nor would he be able to know if the funeral stayed true to his vision. Still, he enjoyed planning it, perhaps nothing could appease him more than the fact that he would still have influence over the livings when he’s buried deep in earth.
His twisted nature became even more evident when he imagined how his relatives would react in the funeral. He imagined Martha and Jane would be cheering “in a tearful manner” and Mrs. Vincy arriving with her handsome crape and presumptuous hopes (Eliot 259). Featherstone is obsessed with the imagination of how everything will happen as he has planned. He therefore sees himself as superior to have everyone fawning him because of his wealth. He mocks how people delude themselves with the hopes they held in inheriting his wealth, and finds it satisfying fooling people around him just like having everyone in the palm of his hand. To Featherstone, he is the manipulator behind this trap that everyone falls into. In reality, he himself is nowhere outside this trap. He thought he got everyone within his palm, but he too was controlled by his insatiable thirst for control.
“We are all of us imaginative in some form or other” (Eliot 259). While Featherstone busied himself with mocking people cajoling themselves, he himself lives in the same self-delusion, nowhere further away from those he deemed inferior. Featherstone is unable to manipulate everyone and everything as he thought he could in reality. As a case in point, he is unable to burn one of his will as he has planned. Furthermore, when it comes to death, he is no one to control the matter. He is in fact not as superior and important as he has always imagined. However, Featherstone’s inability to recognize this reality reflects his lack of self-awareness, he too lives with illusions, the illusion that he is superior and that he is in control of everything. Although he seems to be amused with the planning of his own funeral, this act only shows how he is not able to reconcile his imagination with reality, that he is unable to realize that death is an end for him. His pursuit of manipulation leads him into an illusion that ends up harming and ruining him. Despite all the money and lands that made him feel superior, he owns nothing more. No one is sorry about his death while Mr. Vincy even celebrates about it. The reality is that his life is unimportant to anyone, everyone cares only about his money. No matter how superior he thinks he is, these illusions will always surrender to reality.
“Poor old Featherstone”, quoted from the text, suggests that Eliot pities Featherstone for never being able to get out of the illusion. Featherstone’s indulgence into illusions is contributed by his egocentricism. His self-centeredness blinds him, resulting in the inescapable tragedy of illusion. Egocentricism is not only seen in Featherstone, but also in other Middlemarchers. For example, Dorothea. Her fantasy in marrying Casaubon and her self-centeredness blind her. She falls into the illusion that a married life could expand her worldview. However, these illusions have destroying effects on Dorothea when she finds out that her marriage is not like what she has expected. Illusion contributed by egocentricism traps Featherstone and every Middlemarchers, Dorothea, Lydgate, and even Rosamond. It is an inescapable tragedy for everyone in the novel.