Progress To Truth And Virtue: An Interpretation Of Fate In Middlemarch

George Eliot's design of pessimistic endings for her characters, especially for her female characters, has been the common concern of George Eliot study. Middlemarch, Eliot's masterpiece, is a penetrating analysis of the life of an English provincial town. With its complex and intertwined plot design, the novel reveals George Eliot's deep thinking and profound understanding of people's life in the 19th century English society. The story is told through the lives of Dorothea Brooke and Tertius Lydgate. As Dorothea changes from an ardent girl of social ambitions into a common wife and mother character, Lydgate degenerates from an ambitious young doctor into a secular doctor rushing for material satisfaction. Fate for both of them seems tragic and melancholy, rendering the novel's pessimistic tone.This thesis believes that George Eliot's particular design of fate has something to do with her epistemological and ethical views. Chapter One analyzes the theme of fate in Middlemarch and discusses the ambivalence of George Eliot's concept of fate. Chapter Two interprets the theme of fate from the aspect of Eliot's epistemological views. Here, we analyze three forms of epistemological failures accounting for different individual's the tragic end. Chapter Three interprets Dorothea and Lydgate's life endings from the aspect of Eliot's ethical views, i.e., her philosophical commitment to sympathy and self-renunciation. Although Middlemarch has not an all cheering tone, George Eliot's concept of fate is not simply of mere pessimistic determinism; it is also of optimistic faith in social progress. The ambivalence of Eliot's concept of fate is closely related with her views of and commitment to truth and virtue.