The full title of the English novel is Middlemarch: A Study of Provincial Life. One can get a full view of this particular village through the interwoven stories of many characters. There are so many characters in the novel it can be easy to lose track. Eliot includes examples from all strata of society; the clergy, landed gentry, laborers, tradesmen. As if this were not enough, Eliot also uses her characters to introduce and discuss issues relevant to Victorian England. Religion, the Reform Laws and other political debates of the Victorian Age, marriage, and feminism all play a role in the novel.
Eliot is fabulous with creating portraits of particular types of people, especially upper class people, clergy, and women. The dialogue between her characters can sometimes be a bit clunky- Dorothea is so earnest and long-winded! Despite this I cannot help loving Dorothea- her story arc includes her struggles with her own idealism and expectations, her desire to do good, and her disappointments that she takes with grace.
The novel also has that sort of nostalgic vibe when later Victorians look upon early Victorian England; before the smothering industrialization, rapid connections brought about by railroads, and visible poverty. Victorians like to envision a time when the land was green, everyone enjoyed a bumpy carriage ride for a week to get from one part of England to another, and when all the poor people were tied to the land in a harsh tenant/landlord system and most upper class people did not need to see them.
