A Feminist Perspective Of The Marriage Tragedies In Middlemarch

George Eliot is a gifted woman writer of the19thcentury. She produced manyremarkable novels. Of these novels, Middlemarch is considered as her finestachievement. As a woman writer, her consciousness of women has drawn theattention of many feminist critics. However, there has been no consensus on Eliot’sawareness of women. Some criticized the heroines in Eliot’s works saying that theyare docile and not as courageous as Eliot in her real life. While others think that Eliothas her unique awareness of women. In this study, it is pointed out that Eliot’s uniqueawareness of women is conveyed by depicting the real situation of women and theirmarginal place in the society. Based on the previous studies as well as Eliot’s uniqueawareness of women, the study aims at analyzing the three tragic marriages inMiddlemarch, that is, the marriage of Dorothea and that of Rosamond. The thesis isprimarily divided into three chapters:Chapter One analyzes Dorothea’s first marriage. Her first marriage is a failure.Her St. Theresa’s ideal is disillusioned. The failure is caused by her economical status,her idealistic illusion of marriage for knowledge, her conventional view on marriage,and her husband Casaubon’s dominance. Dorothea’s limitations and deficiencies cannot be neglected.Chapter Two analyzes Rosamond’s tragedy. Rosamond is an irony. Her marriageis the victim of a false ideology. Her tragic marriage is caused by her false moralvalues as well as her husband’s conventional view on marriage.Chapter Three analyzes the tragic marriages in terms of the return of womanhood.Though some critics think that Dorothea’s second marriage is based on love, thepresent author believes that it is also a tragic marriage. Dorothea gives up her ideal,and renounces her fortune. Her duty is to attend her husband and the children. Shebecoms “the angel of the house”.