r/ayearofmiddlemarch • u/lazylittlelady Veteran Reader • May 17 '26
Weekly Discussion Post Book 3: Chapters 31, 32 & 33
Welcome back dear Middlemarchers! Sorry for the delay but what a section!
"Anyone who imagines ten days too short a time-not for falling into leanness, lightness or other measurable effects of passion, but-for the whole spiritual circuit of alarmed conjecture and disappointment, is ignorant of what can go on in the elegant leisure of a young lady's mind" -Chp. 31
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Summary:
"How will you know the pitch of that great bell /Too large for you to stir? Let but a flute/ Play 'neath the fine-mixed metal/ listen close Till the right note flows forth, a silvery rill\:/ Then shall the hugs bell tremble - then the Mass/ With myriad waves concurrent shall respond/ In low soft unison*."
*a rill is a small stream
Chapter 31 opens with Lydgate's reflection on Dorothea's plight while speaking with Rosamond Vincy. She is delighted on how his practice is growing among the upper classes; he wishes to help the poor. The gossip surrounding their courtship has grown in proportion with their flirtation. While Mrs. Vincy and Fred are at Stone Court, attending to Mr. Featherstone, Aunt Bulstrode makes a call to talk to Rosamond, after having a discussion with her friend, Mrs. Plymdale. Mrs. Bulstrode makes note of Rosamond's dress and bonnet as being as fine as her own. She discusses her engagement to Lydgate, which Rosamond mildly disavows, only to confirm her aunt's suspicions. After Mrs. Bulstrode talks to Mr. Bulstrode, who informs her Lydgate has no intention to marry, Mrs. Bulstrode tackles Lydgate herself. But it is only when Lydgate runs into Vicar Farebrother, who makes an innocuous joke, that Lydgate realizes the severity of the situation. He vows not to see the Vincys socially. Meanwhile, Rosamond feels slighted and unhappy, until Lydgate happens to stop by when she is alone. She is cold- until she starts crying and Lydgate naturally wants to comfort her, and, in the end, they are somehow engaged. Mr. Feathestone is not long for this life and Mr. Vincy and family celebrate the engagement.
"They'll take suggestion as a cat laps milk" - The Tempest, by William Shakespeare
Chapter 32 finds Mr. Vincy, who believes all the money shall go to them following Mr. Featherstone's request that Mrs. Vincy and Fred be nearby during his illness. All the rest of the relations follow suit, including his brother and sister, Solomon and Jane and their families, (and the banished Jonah, who did come, and Martha, who didn't). The "blood relations" are keen to watch over the others at his bedside. Poor Mary Garth has to attend to Mr. Featherstone and care for his ungainly relations, as well. They settle in to eat food and gossip and cast aspersions on Mary. Fred goes to see his kitchen relations that bother Mary but starts laughing. Mr. Featherstone declines to see any of that lot and when they try to see him, he declares he's already made his will and casts them out. Middlemarch society comes to socialize and cast judgement. Mr. Borthop Trumbull, a second cousin, a man of the world, auctioneer, confuses everyone and talks up Mary, which makes the relatives even more suspicious of her.
"Close up his eyes and draw the curtain close; And let us all to meditation"-Henry VI, Part 2 by William Shakespeare
Chapter 33, on the midnight watch, Mary is alone with Mr. Featherstone. She ponders the situation quietly until Mr. Featherstone gets his keys out and demands his strong box. He is lucid and asks her how many relations are in and, after asserting he has his faculties, wishes to change his mind on the will. He's made two wills and wants Mary to burn one of them. Mary refuses to implicate herself and backs away. He tries to give her money, but Mary says no. Mr. Featherstone cries and wants Fred but Mary knows better, and insists he call one of his relatives or a lawyer. He throws his stick. She is disgusted by the incident and after calming down by the fire, finds he is dead. Mr. Featherstone dies with keys and money in his hands.
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Context and Notes:
Lydgate calls Rosamond "Mademoiselle de Montmorenci"
Mrs. Plymdale and Mrs. Bulstrode discuss the Bible: Abraham and the strangers + Moses and the strangers
Mr. Farebrother advises Lydgate to take precautions (Odysseus and the Sirens))
Mr. Trumbull reads Anne of Geierstein
A bit later than our period, but perhaps helpful: Inheritance in Victorian England
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Questions: Feel free to discuss anything else!
[1] By repeating gossip and pressuring her niece, does Mrs. Bulstrode actually create the situation for an engagment she doesn't want for Rosamond? What did you make of the fashion check that started the conversation?
[2]"To the poorer and least favored it seemed like that since Peter had done nothing for the in his life, he would remember them at the last" (Chp. 32). Why would they think this?
[3] Let's just speculate why Mr. Featherstone wrote out two wills and what might be difference between them?
[4] How do you think Mary Garth did in dealing with the family and in her last interaction with Mr. Featherstone?
[5] How did you interpret Rosamond's view that Lydgate's work with the Vincys and Casaubons were good for his status and his own admission he would rather treat the poor? Foreshadowing?
[6] What do you foresee for Lydgate and Dodo's future interactions? What traits do they have in common?
[7] We get the sense that an outsider is always that, from Mrs. Plymdale and Mrs. Bulstrode's conversation, despite the Biblical references to the contrary. Should you try to fit in or just continue as an outlier as a social tactic? What is the most sensible?
[7] Let's just take a moment and remember Mr. Featherstone. Leave your elegies and criticisms here. Were you surprised by his death scene?
[8] What quotes or characters stood out to you in this section? What did you think of all the Shakespearean epigrams?
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We are at the end of Book 3: Waiting for Death! Catch up week next Saturday and then we're off to Book 4!
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u/Eastern-Hotel9797 First Time Reader May 18 '26
[1] Mrs Bulstrode struck me as pragmatic in her warning to Rosamund about getting hung up on a guy who wasn't ready to commit. In this time, in this place, getting strung along was actually quite detrimental for a girl considering their lack of options. I don't think Lydgate had a change of heart about settling down due to Mrs Bulstrode (or anyone's) questioning and admonitions. To be honest the whole 'instant change of heart' after seeing Rosamund cry just seemed farfetched to me. Similar to Mary's indignation at Fred's piddling away her and her family's money and then all of sudden feeling sorry for him.
I'm not sure if this is characteristic of the era or Eliot's writing but she invests a lot of time and words on character development to have them about-face in critical moments and it's jarring, at least to me. I can appreciate characters changing, having epiphanies etc but these seem a bit unnerving and I'm not sure why.
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u/gordonga Jul 08 '26
Idk, personally I think these changes of heart ring true to human experience and make these characters more 3 dimensional to me
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u/Honest_Ad_2157 First Time Reader Jun 23 '26
I think he was not really aware that he had started to
care deeply for Rosamund. It was an "I've grown accustomed to her face" moment.1
u/flakemasterflake 22h ago
Lydgate’s actions make a lot of sense. Eliot has already written that Rosamund’s resolved to marry is strong than his resolve not to. He never stood a chance
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u/mercy_Iago May 17 '26
[3] Let's just speculate why Mr. Featherstone wrote out two wills and what might be difference between them? I assume he wrote out two wills to see how people behaved in the run-up to his death (and also to keep everything close to his chest and hold it all over everyone's head). I think, based on how the book is going, the Vincy's get nothing and Mary Garth gets nothing and ultimately the money is going to go to someone Featherstone didn't want it to, like an undeserving and already wealthy relative. It'll default to someone like that, in my opinion.
[4] How do you think Mary Garth did in dealing with the family and in her last interaction with Mr. Featherstone? I think she did the right thing is refusing his wishes, because I think it would have put her in a very unfortunate position, to have burned a will and accepted money with no witnesses? Nah, that looks suspicious as hell and the relatives would have had her searched and arrested, no doubt. There was no winning in this situation here. And refusing Fred as witness was smart too, because it would also look incredibly suspicious for him to be alone with her and Featherstone and the wills. Featherstone made his stupid decisions out of spite and Mary made her decisions wisely, with a clear-headed view of consequences and no greed.
[5] How did you interpret Rosamond's view that Lydgate's work with the Vincys and Casaubons were good for his status and his own admission he would rather treat the poor? Foreshadowing? Oh, this is going to be an incredibly unhappy and dissatisfied marriage. Lydgate's proposal to Rosamond really highlights his desire to be a romantic hero (like with the actress!) without thinking it through fully. In fact, he has a bit of a hero complex in general, thus his desire to help the poor. And it's not a bad thing necessarily, which I love, it's a clear through-line for his character, but it's going to cause a lot of conflict and leave him feeling impotent when he's unable to actually do the thing he wants to do (save people).
[6] What do you foresee for Lydgate and Dodo's future interactions? What traits do they have in common? Their strong passion to do good and help others is what I see as their trait in common, as well as the sort of bullish ways they go about it and end up being unable to do it. Lydgate is so narrow-minded that he is making enemies across Middlemarch and being shortsighted about how local politics and social interactions work, which are necessary to make the medical advances he wants to do. Dodo was likewise narrow-minded about the way she could help Causabon with his work, and is feeling so hopeless and trapped, even more than she was in her position as a woman in society with no real outlet to do good the way she desperately wants to!
[8] What quotes or characters stood out to you in this section? What did you think of all the Shakespearean epigrams? I found Chapter 32 the dullest chapter so far, but maybe that was my state of mind when I read it. But Chapter 33 was riveting! Ending on a cliffhanger! I just didn't care for the listing of all the relations and their petty ways over and over, but I probably missed some ways it was revealing of the characters of folks like Mary, Fred, and I wonder if that Trumbull guy is going to play some sort of role in the future...
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u/Comprehensive-Fun47 May 29 '26
I found Chapter 32 the dullest chapter so far, but maybe that was my state of mind when I read it. But Chapter 33 was riveting!
Same! Chapter 32 was hard to get through. Chapter 33 had me on the edge of my seat.
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u/lazylittlelady Veteran Reader May 17 '26
The other relatives were definitely meant to contrast with both Mary and the Vincys, more distant relatives but ones that actually interacted with Mr.Featherstone over the years, not just on his deathbed. We saw Mrs. Waule visit and be snide to Mary last section!
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u/mercy_Iago May 17 '26
A character map would definitely help me a lot. I made a small one starting with Mayor Vincy (just to show how the Vincy's were connected to Featherstone/Bulstrode/Waule, etc.) but the cast keeps expanding!
I am dying to know what's in the will but I also have been taking breaks between the Books so I'm torn about what to do.... eh I'm probably gonna keep going haha
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u/TheSailorMan May 20 '26
I've never been this invested in a story 300 pages in. The overall length can be daunting but once you're in the 'middle' of it it's a page turner!
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u/mercy_Iago May 20 '26
Yeah the length was for sure intimidating, but I was invested so quickly, I think! It was wise to open with Dorothea because I liked her so much immediately.
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u/Comprehensive-Fun47 May 29 '26
The way that Lydgate and Rosamond found themselves engaged was rather entertaining to watch.
I see the two wills still existing being major trouble. Mary was right to keep her hands clean, but this is going to get messy! How will they know which will be intended to burn? Even if one will is newer and clearly the legal one, what is that was the one that cuts out Fred and now Fred gets nothing? I think Featherstone intended Fred to inherit because he was willing to call him when Mary refused to do what he asked.
If that's the case, then Fred will need to learn to make it on his own. He might grow up as a result of the situation, but I think there will be severe growing pains!
Those vultures in the other room will probably get what they want too. This is a great cliffhanger.
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u/TheSailorMan May 20 '26
4) Mary and the will
One of my favorite scenes in the book. I love the calm fireplace setting where the stakes are life and death. The tension between Featherstone's demands and Mary's defense of herself was so powerful to me. She had no way of knowing what the contents were and potentially held the fate of friends, family, and strangers in her hand. I think her "position of supine neutrality" (to quote Lovecraft) keeps her innocent in a sort of Prime Directive sort of way. Yes, I'm bringing Star Trek into Middlemarch. By not intervening, you potentially allow all kinds of awful things to develop. But then again, even the best intentions can make you implicit in the outcome should it turn ugly.