George Eliot's Determinism--Middlemarch: A Case Study

George Eliot (1819-1880) is a famous Victorian woman writer known for her seriousness and philosophical-mindedness. Her determinism is largely influenced by such great philosophers as August Comte, Ludwig Feuerbach, Bebedictus Spinoza, Herbert Spencer. It provides pervading moral and philosophical themes in her works. Her major deterministic concerns include notions of social organism and human interdependence, awareness of universal egoism in human nature, rejection of any heroic tragedy in human existence, insistence of the importance of moral growth, abjuration of dramatic chances and coincidence in art and real life, and an optimistic view towards the reconciliation between positivistic determinism and moral responsibility.To fully understand and appreciate her positivistic determinism, a case study of her masterpiece Middlemarch (1872) is conducted here. Three main characters: Dorothea Brooke, Tertius Lydgate and Rosamond Vincy, are analyzed in detail from the aspects of determinism. From their sample studies, we further observe Eliot's deterministic views on human existence, social interactions, as well as human moral development, none of which is exempt from the causal laws of the deterministic universe.The thesis is of made up of five parts. Chapter One provides a brief introduction to the thesis. Chapter Two and Three are given to an introduction to the formation and content of George Eliot's determinism. Chapter Four is a case study of three major characters in Middlemarch. And Chapter Five concludes the thesis with a further comment on George Eliot's determinism.