Mr. Bulstrode As A “Late-Comer” To Middlemarch

Look at this narrative from Mrs. Bulstrode on her husband’s supposed origin:

“Mr. Bulstrode’s narrative occasionally gave of his early bent towards religion, his inclination to be a preacher, and his association with missionary and philanthropic efforts. She believed in him as an excellent man whose piety carried a peculiar eminence in belonging to a layman, whose influence had turned her own mind toward seriousness, and whose share of perishable good had been the means of raising her own position.” (613)

 

Cromer, UK

Image of Cromer from the beach

2. In Chapter XLIX, Margaret and her Aunt Shaw take a vacation to Cromer. At that location, Margaret finds a curative, meditative place that starts to bring her out of a stupor. The seaside atmosphere gave her a place to construct her thoughts, and she seemed to become more self-conscious of who she was because of it.

Mexico

2. Mexico was mentioned inside Chapter XXX by Frederick Hale as he was recounting some of his adventures there while he was in the navy.

3. Mexico is a country in North America and the third largest in Latin America. In the 19th century before Gaskell wrote North and South, Britain was the first European great power to acknowledge Mexico's independence.

Hampshire and New Forest

New Forest is part of the district, south of the fictional town Helstone in North and South. In the novel, New Forest is the place where Margaret and her brother, Frederick, had spent many days playing through the park. Hampshire itself is the largest county in southwest England, where the port Southampton (another setting within the novel) sits. Hampshire has 15 national parks, including New Forest, meaning the county isn't just known for Southampton's port trades, but also its nature and old trails that weave through the county.

South Hampton (Southampton)

In North and South, Southampton is one of the places that is mentioned but never visited, unless you count the time Mr. Hale had gone to get the papers from the town. Margaret and the others seem to know that Southampton is a wealthy town, comparing its buildings to the fancy ones in London. The characters we see from Southampton are the Gormons (through mention) and the reporter who questioned Dixon. In reality, Southhampton is an extremely large trading port town southeast of London.

Oxford, UK

Oxford is a place that is just alluded to in North and South. It's where Mr. Hale went to school and where his old friend from school, Mr. Bell, lives. This place sort of represents Mr. Bell, who is the one who suggests to Mr. Hale that he and his family should move to Milton in the first place. 

Bulstrode's inner turmoil and Eliot's "Imagined community"

Passage: "Night and day, without interruption save of brief sleep which only wove retrospect and fear into a fantastic present, he felt the scenes of his earlier life coming between him and everything else, as obstinately as when we look through the window from a lighted room, the objects we turn our backs on are still before us, instead of the grass and the trees. The successive events inward and outward were there in one view: though each might be dwelt on in turn, the rest still kept their hold in the consciousness."

Wales

Wales was mentioned in north and south when Mr Hale arrived to Melton and he was rethinking his choice by saying" I wish I had gone into some country place in Wales.". Elizabeth traveled around the world and one of the country's she went to was Wales.

Oxford

Oxford is a city in south central England, located in Oxfordshire. It hosts Oxford University, which is the oldest university in England. Several notable literary alumni include W. H. Auden, Lewis Carroll, Arthur Hugh Clough, John Donne, T. S. Eliot, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Aldous Huxley, C. S. Lewis, Percy Sysshe Shelley, J. R. R. Tolkien, and Oscar Wilde. The city’s main industries are the steel and manufactured motor vehicles. As of 2001, its population was 132,248.

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