Middlemarch

Dorothea’s Expectations

For Dorothea, Casaubon’s discourse on his great book opens entirely new vistas, introducing her to Stoics and Alexandrians whose ideas resemble her own and temporarily quieting her hunger for a comprehensive theory. Her eagerness for learning is not mere vanity or accomplishment; she yearns for knowledge that will inform action, and lacking spiritual directors in this age, she looks to learned men as keepers of the only lamp. Her joyous and grateful expectation remains unbroken throughout these weeks, even if her lover occasionally senses some flatness he cannot trace to her.

Plans for Rome

The mild season encourages the plan of extending the wedding journey to Rome, where Casaubon wishes to examine manuscripts in the Vatican. One morning he regrets to Dorothea that her sister Celia will not be accompanying them, fearing she will endure many lonely hours while he is occupied with research. His phrase “I should feel more at liberty” wounds Dorothea for the first time, and she reproves him sharply before softening and assuring him that Tantripp will be sufficient company. She escapes to dress, ashamed of her irritation and troubled by a sudden sense of distance she cannot quite name.

The Dinner-Party

That evening the Grange holds a large and unusually miscellaneous dinner-party, the last of the formal preliminaries to the wedding. The male guests include the newly elected mayor of Middlemarch, a manufacturer; his brother-in-law, a philanthropic banker; and various professional men. Mrs. Cadwallader remarks that Brooke is beginning to treat the Middlemarchers and confesses she prefers the unpretentious farmers of the tithe-dinner. Dorothea appears in silver-gray, her serene dignity and absence of artifice making her energy of feeling the more striking when stirred.

Observations on Miss Brooke

As the ladies leave the dining-room, the men exchange observations about Miss Brooke. The old lawyer Mr. Standish pronounces her a fine woman with his customary oath; Mr. Bulstrode, who dislikes coarseness, merely bows; and Mr. Chichely declares she is not his style, preferring women with a touch of the coquette and praising instead the mayor’s daughter, Miss Vincy. The exchange reveals the limited masculine vocabularies of desire available in Middlemarch and the easy pleasantries with which middle-aged bachelors console themselves for their celibacy.

Mrs. Renfrew’s Ailment

The feminine company, carefully screened by Lady Chettam and Mrs. Cadwallader, includes Mrs. Renfrew, the colonel’s widow, whose puzzling complaint interests the dowager because it has resisted all the strengthening medicines she herself relies on. Lady Chettam marvels at where the strength of such medicines can possibly go, and Mrs. Cadwallader offers the amateur diagnosis that whatever one takes becomes grist to the mill of one’s particular constitution, strengthening the disease rather than the patient.

CHAPITRE X.

This chapter unfolds at a Middlemarch social gathering, where conversations revolve around medical care for local residents, gossip about Mr. Casaubon and his upcoming marriage to Miss Brooke, the introduction of new surgeon Mr. Lydgate to the town, and debates over innovative medical practices.

A Drying Medicine

This section opens with a conversation between Lady Chettam and Mrs. Cadwallader discussing potential drying treatments for Mrs. Renfrew’s suspected inward dropsy. Mrs. Cadwallader makes a sarcastic aside that Mr. Casaubon, Miss Brooke’s fiancé, is the person who most needs a drying remedy.

The Dried-Up Bridegroom

In this section, Mrs. Cadwallader and Lady Chettam gossip critically about Mr. Casaubon, describing him as dried-up and unhealthy-looking, and Mrs. Cadwallader predicts Miss Brooke will grow to resent him within a year, comparing him to unpleasant, ineffective medicine. Lady Chettam notes Sir James Chettam still speaks highly of Miss Brooke, though Mrs. Cadwallader suspects he favors the more docile Celia.

The New Young Surgeon

This section focuses on the introduction of new surgeon Mr. Lydgate to Middlemarch society. Lady Chettam inquires about his background, learning he is well-connected, trained in Paris, and has innovative ideas for improving medical practice. After meeting him, she is impressed by his serious, refined demeanor and thoughtful, balanced approach to treatment, forming a highly favorable opinion of his medical abilities.