Middlemarch vs Mrs. Dalloway: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: Married women, Triangles, Fiction
Middlemarch
“Miss Brooke had that kind of beauty which seems to be thrown into relief by poor dress.”
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Eliot’s epic of 19th century provincial social life, set in a fictitious Midlands town in the years 1830-32, has several interlocking storylines blended effortlessly together to form a fully coherent narrative. Its main…
Mrs. Dalloway
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Virginia Woolf’s novel chronicles a day in the life of Clarissa Dalloway, a politician’s wife in 1920s London, as she prepares to host a party that evening. The narrative follows Clarissa’s thoughts (and sometimes those…
Side by side
The verdict
- Readers rate Middlemarch highest: Middlemarch 4.1 · Mrs. Dalloway 3.8.
- Mrs. Dalloway is the quickest read — about 4 hours vs 14 for Middlemarch.
- Mrs. Dalloway has the widest readership — 372596 ratings behind its score.
- Mrs. Dalloway reaches further in scholarship and criticism — cited 58 times.
How to choose
Scores by source
| Middlemarch | Mrs. Dalloway | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 4.0 (186364) | 3.8 (372596) |
| Hardcover | 4.2 (226) | 4.0 (1) |
| Google Books | 5.0 (1) | 5.0 (1) |
| Apple Books | 4.5 (9) | 3.5 (99) |
Reception
| Middlemarch | Mrs. Dalloway | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 186364 | 372596 |
| Editions | 329 | 476 |
| Citations | 41 | 58 |
| Film adaptations | 1 | 1 |
| Want to read | 6 | — |
| Written reviews | 1 | — |
| Wikipedia attention | 38735 | 20546 |
| Pages | 795 | 240 |
Questions readers ask
Which is rated higher: Middlemarch or Mrs. Dalloway?
Middlemarch has the higher combined reader rating across sources (Middlemarch 4.1/5, Mrs. Dalloway 3.8/5).
Which is shorter to read: Middlemarch or Mrs. Dalloway?
Mrs. Dalloway is the quickest read. Estimated at 225 words per minute: Mrs. Dalloway (240 pages, ≈ 4 h 27 m); Middlemarch (795 pages, ≈ 14 h 43 m).
Which is harder to read: Middlemarch or Mrs. Dalloway?
Estimated difficulty, based on era, reader shelves and length — Middlemarch: Demanding; Mrs. Dalloway: Challenging.
Have both books been made into films?
Middlemarch: no film adaptation on record; Mrs. Dalloway: 2 film adaptations.