Middlemarch

CHAPITRE XV.

Middlemarch anticipates comfortably absorbing Lydgate into its social fabric, assuming they can readily understand and incorporate this new arrival into their established community without deeper investigation into his actual character and experiences.

Lydgate’s Early Promise

At seven-and-twenty, Lydgate possesses generous resolution toward beneficent action and intellectually engaging ideas that make life compelling beyond fashionable social rituals. His eight hundred pounds after purchasing his practice would not sustain expensive pursuits, placing him at a promising yet uncertain starting point where his career’s trajectory remains subject to the complex probabilities of circumstance and inward balance.

Character in the Making

Character itself is a process and unfolding—Lydgate remains in the making as both a Middlemarch doctor and potential immortal discoverer, with virtues and faults equally capable of expansion or contraction. The narrative acknowledges that close knowledge of his character would still leave the risk of his trajectory unpredictable, given the ongoing nature of personal development.

Faults of Arrogant Conceit

Lydgate’s conceit manifests as arrogant rather than simpering or impertinent, massive in its claims and benevolently contemptuous. He would extend considerable effort for those he deemed foolish, pitying them while feeling certain they held no power over him. His faults bear the stamp of physical distinction—a fine baritone voice, well-fitting clothes, and an air of inbred distinction in ordinary gestures—all marked by kindred traits.

Spots of Commonness

Despite intellectual distinction, Lydgate’s spots of commonness appear in the complexion of his prejudices, which failed to penetrate his feeling and judgment regarding furniture, women, or the desire to have others recognize his superior birth. Even as he did not consciously consider furniture, whatever thoughts he harbored risked descending into vulgarity about his furnishings not matching his aspirations.

The Paris Theatre

While studying in Paris, Lydgate—occupied with galvanic experiments—sought relaxation at the theatre of the Porte Saint Martin, drawn repeatedly to a melodrama not by its authorship but by an actress whose role involved stabbing her lover. He felt attraction to this woman as one loves someone never expected to speak to, finding in her presence an escape without prejudice to his scientific work.

Madame Laure

The actress was Provencale with dark eyes, a Greek profile, and rounded majestic form carrying matronly sweetness even in youth, her voice a soft cooing. Recently arrived in Paris and bearing a virtuous reputation, she performed with her husband as her lover. Her acting was “no better than it should be,” yet the public remained satisfied, and Lydgate’s only relaxation became watching her.

The Murder Admission

When the actress actually stabbed her husband during the staged killing, Lydgate impulsively climbed onto the stage, discovering a contusion on her head and lifting her gently. He vehemently championed her innocence when Paris buzzed with speculation about murder, his previous remote passion evolving into personal devotion. After her release, he sought her obsessively and found her performing successfully at Avignon. When he proposed marriage, Laure revealed: “My foot really slipped,” then slowly confessed “I meant to do it.” She explained her husband wearied her with his fondness and insistence on Parisian life, and the notion came to her during the play. Lydgate stood mute, seeing his first adoration among stupid criminals. She declared she liked no husbands and would never take another.

Return to Galvanism

Three days afterward, Lydgate resumed his galvanic experiments in Paris chambers, believing illusions had ended. His abundant kindness and belief in human improvement preserved him from hardening effects, yet he now trusted his experienced judgment and would adopt a strictly scientific view of women, entertaining only expectations justified beforehand.

Middlemarch’s Assumptions

No one in Middlemarch possessed any notion of Lydgate’s actual past, and the respectable townsfolk proved no more inclined than most mortals toward exactness in understanding how life had shaped a new acquaintance. Young virgins and gray-bearded men alike rushed to conjecture how Lydgate might serve their purposes, content with vague knowledge. Middlemarch counted on swallowing him comfortably and assimilating him to its own purposes.