Summary

Dorothea Brooke and her younger sister, Celia, are young women of good birth who live with their bachelor uncle at Tipton Grange near the town of Middlemarch. So serious is Dorothea’s cast of mind that she is reluctant to keep jewelry she had inherited from her dead mother, and she gives all of it to her sister except a ring and a bracelet.

At a dinner party where the middle-aged scholar Edward Casaubon and Sir James Chettam both vie for her attention, she is much more attracted to the serious-minded Casaubon. Casaubon must have had an inkling that his chances with Dorothea were good; for he seeks her out the next morning. Celia, who does not like his complexion or his moles, escapes to other interests.

That afternoon, Dorothea considers the scholar’s wisdom. While she is out walking, she encounters Sir James by chance; he tells her that he is in love with her and, mistaking her silence for agreement, assumes that she loves him in return. When Casaubon makes his proposal of marriage by letter, Dorothea accepts him at once. Mr. Brooke, her uncle, thinks Sir James a much better match; Dorothea’s decision merely confirms his bachelor views that women are difficult to understand. He decides not to interfere in her plans, but Celia feels that the event will be more like a funeral than a marriage and frankly says so.

Casaubon takes Dorothea, Celia, and Mr. Brooke to see his home so that Dorothea might order any necessary changes. Dorothea intends to defer to Casaubon’s tastes in all things and says she will make no changes in the house. During the visit, Dorothea meets Will Ladislaw, Casaubon’s second cousin, who does not seem in sympathy with his elderly cousin’s marriage plans.

While Dorothea and her new husband are traveling in Italy, Tertius Lydgate, an ambitious but poor young doctor, is meeting pretty Rosamond Vincy, to whom he is much attracted. Fred Vincy, Rosamond’s brother, has indicated that he expects to receive a fine inheritance when his uncle, Mr. Featherstone, dies. Meanwhile, Vincy is pressed by a debt he is unable to pay.

Lydgate becomes involved in petty local politics. When the time comes to choose a chaplain for the new hospital of which Lydgate is the head, the young doctor realizes that it is in his best interest to vote in accordance with the wishes of Nicholas Bulstrode, an influential banker and founder of the hospital. A clergyman named Tyke receives the office.

In Rome, Ladislaw encounters Dorothea and her husband. Dorothea has begun to realize how pompous and incompatible she finds Casaubon. Seeing her unhappiness, Ladislaw first pities and then falls in love with his cousin’s wife. Unwilling to live any longer on Casaubon’s charity, Ladislaw announces his intention of returning to England and finding some kind of gainful occupation.

When Fred Vincy’s note comes due, he tries to sell a horse at a profit, but the animal turns out to be vicious. Because of Fred’s inability to raise the money, Caleb Garth, who had signed his note, now stands to lose one hundred and ten pounds. Fred falls ill, and Lydgate is summoned to attend him. Lydgate uses his professional calls to further his suit with Rosamond.

Dorothea and her husband return from Rome in time to hear of Celia’s engagement to Sir James. Will Ladislaw includes a note to Dorothea in a letter he writes to Casaubon. This attention precipitates a quarrel that is followed by Casaubon’s serious illness. Lydgate, who attends him, urges him to give up his studies for the present time. Lydgate confides to Dorothea that Casaubon has a weak heart and must be guarded from all excitement.

Meanwhile, all the relatives of old Mr. Featherstone are waiting impatiently for his death. He hopes to circumvent their desires by giving his fortune to Mary Garth, daughter of the man who had signed Fred Vincy’s note. When she refuses the money, he falls into a rage and dies soon afterward. Upon the reading of his will, everyone learns that he left nothing to...