Middlemarch

Featherstone Queries Fred on His Library

Featherstone Queries Fred on His Library Featherstone asks Fred to read out the titles of the books on his scanty shelves—Josephus, Culpepper, Klopstock’s “Messiah,” and volumes of the “Gentleman’s Magazine.” He then asks why Fred brought more books for “missy.”

Featherstone Forbids Rosamond Independent Reading

Featherstone Forbids Rosamond Independent Reading Featherstone captiously forbids Fred from bringing Rosamond any more books, saying she already has the newspaper to read aloud. Fred, who has received this order before and secretly disobeyed it, intends to disobey it again.

Rosamond and Mary Contrast Their Appearances

Rosamond and Mary Contrast Their Appearances At the toilet-table, Rosamond adjusts her hat, veil, and hair while Mary stands beside her. The narrator contrasts Rosamond’s delicate blond beauty with Mary’s plainer, darker, more honest appearance—Mary herself jokes that she is “a brown patch” beside Rosamond, though Rosamond’s compliment hides an edge.

Mary and Rosamond Discuss Fred’s Conduct

Mary and Rosamond Discuss Fred’s Conduct Mary cautiously brings up Mrs. Waule’s report that Fred is “very unsteady,” hoping Rosamond will say something to ease her uneasiness. Rosamond calls Fred “horrid” for being idle and resisting orders. The conversation grows heated as they push each other’s buttons without resolution.

Debate Over Fred’s Suitability for the Clergy

Debate Over Fred’s Suitability for the Clergy Mary bluntly argues that Fred is not fit to be a clergyman and would be a hypocrite if he were ordained. Rosamond, citing piety, filial duty, and the expense of his education, insists he ought to be one. Mary, nettled by Rosamond’s insinuations about marriage prospects, declares she would not marry Fred if he asked her.

Mary Describes Lydgate to Rosamond

Mary Describes Lydgate to Rosamond Rosamond, fishing for information, asks Mary what sort of man Mr. Lydgate is. Mary gives a sardonic inventory of his appearance—heavy eyebrows, dark eyes, cambric handkerchief—and notes that she cannot like people who speak to her without seeing her. Rosamond is delighted to hear he is haughty.

Rosamond Performs for Featherstone

Rosamond Performs for Featherstone Featherstone asks Rosamond to sing. She obliges first with “Home, sweet home” (which she detests) and then with his second favorite, “Flow on, thou shining river,” giving the sentimental songs the polish he expects from a well-bred girl.

Lydgate Arrives and Meets Rosamond

Lydgate Arrives and Meets Rosamond Lydgate arrives while Rosamond is still there. Featherstone ostentatiously introduces her as his niece, pointedly ignoring Mary. Lydgate observes her graceful composure as she handles the old man’s lack of taste, and notices a kind good-nature directed toward Mary. He fetches her whip before she can reach it, and their eyes meet in what the narrator calls a sudden divine clearance of haze.

Rosamond’s Immediate Attraction to Lydgate

Rosamond’s Immediate Attraction to Lydgate Lydgate turns a little paler, and Rosamond blushes deeply. Their mutual look strikes Rosamond as the awakening of love; she judges it natural that Lydgate, an ideal stranger of good family and talent, should fall for her at first sight. She is anxious to leave, yet held by the moment.

Rosamond Fantasizes About a Future with Lydgate

Rosamond Fantasizes About a Future with Lydgate On the ride home, Rosamond’s detailed imagination constructs the whole of her wedded life: a house in Middlemarch, visits to Lydgate’s high-bred distant relatives, and refinements she will appropriate. The fantasy has nothing financial or sordid about it, only the social elevations romance demands.

Fred’s Anxieties Over Featherstone’s Ultimatum

Fred’s Anxieties Over Featherstone’s Ultimatum Fred’s mind runs on Featherstone’s demand. He sees no way to evade it without worsening his father’s temper and his family’s standing with the Bulstrodes; yet he hates begging Bulstrode for a certificate and hates having bragged of expectations from a miser. The whole scrape is miserably small, and he sinks into a streak of misanthropic bitterness about being a Middlemarch manufacturer with no particular inheritance.

CHAPITRE XII.

This chapter centers on Fred Vincy’s reaction to the will controversy and his decision-making process about how to handle the situation. It follows his internal reflections on his uncle Featherstone’s motives and his subsequent conversation with Rosamond, which leads him to conclude that he should confide in his father about the entire affair.