Reception and Skepticism of Science in George Eliot: In Focus of Lydgate's Portrait in Middlemarch (2)

The purpose of the present paper is to keep track on the process of Lydgate's moral decline in Middlemarch. His idealism as a medical doctor is observed to be inadequate in rescuing himself from his ruined marriage. His bitter conflict with Rosamond, his wife, is seen to be partly due to her self-absorption, and partly due to his unquestioning reliance on his professional capability. Eliot's penetrating insight into the causes of their marital unhappiness is in focus upon relevant textual analyses. The author's artistic use of a family of metaphors is seen as carefully planned to be organically integrated into the fictional structure. This is, in our view, the secret of success in producing a rich echo of resonance in her style. Thus the story of the protagonist's pride, suffering, and incomplete redemption is traced from a stylistic viewpoint.