Middlemarch - Characters

Characters

None of the characters in Middlemarch are intentionally humorous in his or her diction, although Mary Garth employs great wit. Yet the voice of the narrator comes across as wry and humorous in many places.

Flashes of humour and poignancy are also added, as in Shakespeare, by the brief introduction of unlettered labourers, speaking in dialect, as minor characters.

• Dorothea Brooke — An intelligent, wealthy young woman who aspires to do great work. Spurning signs of wealth in the form of jewels or fancy clothes, she embarks upon projects such as redesigning cottages for the tenants of her miserly, careless uncle. She can seldom get anyone to take her ideas seriously and she decides to marry the Reverend Edward Casaubon, many decades her senior, in order to help him with the writing of his great research. The marriage is quickly revealed to be a mistake, as Casaubon does not take her seriously and resents her. She finds in the Reverend's first cousin once removed, Will Ladislaw, a kindred spirit and the two become friends. After Casaubon's death, when their mutual attraction might blossom it is almost renounced because of various complications, including the provision in Casaubon's will that, if Dorothea were to marry Ladislaw, she would be disinherited. Eventually, however, they do marry and move to London.
• Tertius Lydgate — An idealistic, proud, passionate, and talented-but-naïve young doctor of good birth but small financial means, he hopes to make great advancements in medicine through his research and the charity hospital in Middlemarch. He ends up entangled with Rosamond Vincy and they marry unhappily. His pride and attempts to show that he is not answerable to any man end up backfiring and he eventually leaves town. He quickly falls out of love with his wife and ends up sacrificing all of his high ideals in order to make a living that will please Rosamond.
• Rev. Edward Casaubon — A pedantic, selfish, middle-aged to elderly clergyman who is obsessed with finishing his scholarly research, to the exclusion of other people and things. He marries Dorothea Brooke, leading to a loveless marriage. His unfinished book The Key to All Mythologies is intended as a monument to the tradition of Christian syncretism. However, we later learn that his life's work is useless as he does not read German and is therefore behind on current studies. We also learn he is aware of this but has put too much time into his research to admit it to anyone else.
• Mary Garth — The practical, plain, and kind daughter of Caleb and Susan Garth, she works as Mr. Featherstone's nurse. She and Fred Vincy were childhood sweethearts, but she refuses to allow him to woo her until he shows himself willing and able to live seriously, practically, and sincerely.
• Mr. Arthur Brooke — The often befuddled and none-too-clever uncle of Dorothea and Celia Brooke. He has a reputation for being the worst landlord in the county, but tries to stand for parliament on a Reform platform.
• Celia Brooke — Dorothea's younger sister is also a great beauty, but attractive in a far more sensual way. She does not share Dorothea's idealism and asceticism, and is only too happy to marry the rejected Sir James Chettam.
• Sir James Chettam — A neighbouring landowner, Sir James is in love with Dorothea and tries to ingratiate himself to her by helping her with her plans to improve conditions for the tenants. When she marries Casaubon, he marries Celia Brooke instead.
• Rosamond Vincy — Vain, beautiful, and shallow, Rosamond has a high opinion of her own charms and a low opinion of Middlemarch society. She marries Tertius Lydgate because she believes that he will raise her social standing and keep her comfortable and carefree. When her husband encounters financial difficulties, she thwarts his efforts to economise, unable to bear the idea of losing status in Middlemarch society.
• Fred Vincy — Rosamond's brother. He has loved Mary Garth since they were children. His family is hoping that he will find a secure life and advance his class standing by becoming a clergyman, but he knows that Mary will not marry him if he does become one. Brought up with expectations from his uncle Mr. Featherstone, he has a tendency to be spendthrift and irresponsible. He later finds a profession at which he can be successful and which Mary will respect by studying under Mary's father.
• Will Ladislaw — A young cousin of Mr. Casaubon, he has no property because his grandmother married a poor Polish musician and was disinherited. He is a man of great verve, idealism and talent but of no fixed profession. He comes to love Dorothea, but cannot marry her without her losing Mr. Casaubon's property.
• Mr. Humphrey Cadwallader and Mrs. Eleanor Cadwallader — Neighbours of the Brookes. Mr. Cadwallader is a Rector. Mrs. Cadwallader is a pragmatic and talkative woman who comments on local affairs with wry cynicism. She disapproves of Dorothea's marriage and Mr. Brooke's parliamentary endeavours.
• Mr. Walter Vincy and Mrs. Lucy Vincy — A respectable manufacturing family. They wish their children to advance socially, and are disappointed by both Rosamond's and Fred's marriages.
• Mr. Caleb Garth — Mary Garth's father. He is a kind, honest, and generous businessman who is a surveyor and land agent involved in farm management. He is fond of Fred and eventually takes him under his wing.
• Mr. Camden Farebrother — A poor but clever vicar and amateur naturalist. He is a friend of Lydgate and Fred Vincy, and loves Mary Garth.
• Nicholas Bulstrode — Wealthy banker married to Mr. Vincy's sister, Harriet. He is a pious Methodist who tries to impose his beliefs in Middlemarch society; however, he also has a sordid past which he is desperate to hide. His religion, consisting of "broken metaphor and bad logic," consistently favours his personal desires, but is devoid of sympathy for others. He is an unhappy man who has longed for years to be better than he is, who has clad his selfish passions in severe robes.
• Mr. Peter Featherstone — Old landlord of Stone Court, a self-made man who married Caleb Garth's sister and later took Mr. Vincy's sister as his second wife when his first wife died.
• Mr. Hawley — Foul-mouthed businessman and enemy of Bulstrode.
• Mr. Mawmsey — Grocer.
• Dr. Sprague — Middlemarch doctor.
• Mr. Tyke — Clergyman favoured by Bulstrode.
• Rigg Featherstone — Illegitimate son of Featherstone's who appears at the reading of Featherstone's will and is given his fortune instead of Fred. He is also related to John Raffles who comes into town to visit Rigg but instead reveals Bulstrode's past. His appearance in the novel is crucial to the plot.
• John Raffles — Raffles is a braggart and a bully, a humorous scoundrel in the tradition of Sir John Falstaff. But unlike Shakespeare's fat knight, Raffles is a genuinely an evil man with a jolly exterior. He holds the key to Bulstrode's dark past and Lydgate's future. Bulstrode believes his secret will be safe with Raffles' demise.