Middlemarch

The Pressure of Small Social Conditions

Lydgate resents being forced into a choice between two unappealing options, a frustration that clashes with his pre-move plans for independent, purpose-driven action in his new town. He dislikes the prospect of angering the influential banker Mr. Bulstrode by voting against Bulstrode’s preferred candidate Tyke, but also hates the idea of depriving Farebrother of the chaplaincy’s £40 annual salary, which might free the vicar from his need to win money at cards. He also worries that voting for Tyke will look like he is currying favor with Bulstrode to advance his own career, though he insists he cares only about securing a well-run hospital to advance his medical research, not personal advancement. He is confounded by the way petty social constraints have already trapped him, forcing him to compromise his ideals before he has even established himself in Middlemarch.

The Gathering of the Medical Men

On the day of the board meeting, Lydgate arrives late to find most of the directors and medical staff already assembled, with Bulstrode still absent. The mood of the gathered group suggests the outcome of the vote is uncertain, contrary to earlier widespread assumptions that Tyke would win easily, and Lydgate is forced to confront the fact that he must finally make a firm decision on how to vote.

The Doctors of Middlemarch

The two leading physicians in Middlemarch, Dr. Sprague and Dr. Minchin, hold opposing views on the chaplaincy vote despite their shared status as the town’s most established medical authorities. Dr. Sprague is a blunt, rugged, openly non-religious man widely respected for his practical, effective medical skill, who plans to support Farebrother, noting the vicar has insufficient income as it is and has already performed the chaplain’s duties without pay. Dr. Minchin, by contrast, is a polished, mild-mannered man with ties to the church hierarchy, who avoids taking strong religious stances to appeal to all patients regardless of denomination, and is aligned with Bulstrode. Both men conceal their contempt for each other’s medical skill, and both resent Bulstrode’s interference in professional matters, including his patronage of Lydgate, though Minchin has never openly opposed the banker to avoid upsetting Mrs. Bulstrode, who values his care for her chronic health issues.

Professional Resentment Against Bulstrode

The town’s long-established medical practitioners, including surgeons Mr. Wrench and Mr. Toller, resent Bulstrode’s meddling in hospital affairs and his support for Lydgate, an outsider with training in Edinburgh and Paris who rejects the traditional practice of dispensing drugs and is not a graduate of an English university. The established practitioners see Lydgate as a presumptuous upstart who is trying to blur the lines between general practitioners and physicians to advance his own career, and they align themselves against him and Bulstrode by supporting Tyke for the chaplaincy.

The Opening of the Board Meeting

When the meeting formally opens, Dr. Sprague immediately declares his support for Farebrother, arguing the vicar deserves the £40 salary for the unpaid chaplain work he has already performed, and that he is a good, decent man who does not need the extra income badly. Mr. Powderell, a retired ironmonger and board director, pushes back, saying he must vote for Tyke, a “real Gospel preacher,” to follow his conscience, framing the vote as a matter of the spiritual welfare of the town’s poor sick people.

A Heated Debate

The meeting quickly grows contentious when Mr. Hackbutt, a wealthy tanner, accuses Bulstrode of exerting undue influence over the board to push his own agenda, framing support for Tyke as a matter of resisting Bulstrode’s attempts to turn the hospital into a vehicle for his own personal and religious views. Mr. Plymdale, who plans to vote for Tyke, objects to being characterized as a “crawling servile” for supporting the candidate aligned with Bulstrode. Mr. Frank Hawley, the town clerk, bursts in briefly to declare the vote to displace Farebrother a “confounded job,” before the group turns to welcome Dr. Minchin as he arrives, with Hawley immediately trying to recruit him to support Farebrother’s candidacy.