Middlemarch (BBC, 1994)

I watched the 1994 BBC production of Middlemarch on DVD. (My library didn't have it, but was able to borrow it from another library through interlibrary loan.) Middlemarch was wonderful, and it captured the spirit of the novel. I did think that the story suffered from being compressed into six hours or so.  Although it is clear that Ladislaw and Dorothea love each other by the end of the series, they met so infrequently that I felt I couldn't see that their behavior was sufficiently motivated. I recall that when I read the novel I felt that Ladislaw and Dorothea had some sophomoric conversations. That's absent here. I'm not sure that it matters: that sense of wistfulness and compromise about the end of Lydgate and Dorothea's stories has been preserved.

Dorothea and Ladislaw, from a 1910 edition of the novel by Jenkins Publishing

On the other hand, the performances of Casaubon (Patrick Malahide) and Rosamund Vincy (Trevyn McDowell) were so fine that I felt that they really enhanced my understanding of the issues in the novel. Perhaps the actors were kinder to these characters than George Eliot was - I'm not sure, because it's been years since I read the novel. Almost certainly I have changed since I read the novel.

There's only one "special feature" on the DVD. It's a "Reader's Guide to Middlemarch," and I loved it. David Lodge, Howard Jacobson, A.S. Byatt and Clare Tomalin, Kate Flint, screenwriter Andrew Davies, as well as some members of the George Eliot Fellowship, talk about the novel in a very thoughtful way. The ladies and gentleman of the George Eliot Fellowship have some things to say which I think student readers will find helpful: Eliot's portrait is realistic, not romantic, and reflects our real lives (and gives us an opportunity to recognize ourselves); Eliot's realism includes writing about the real jobs that people have; Eliot not only offers realistic portraits but tremendous psychological insight into why people behave the way that they do.

Mary Garth and Fred Vincy, from the same edition

Rosamund and Tertius Lydgate, from the same edition

Davies' enthusiasm is charming and infectious, opining that watching the TV series will inspire viewers to read the book: he says that he hopes viewers will become "George Eliot buffs." Kate Flint tells a wonderful story about being on a bus, reading Middlemarch, coming upon the passage in Middlemarch where Dorothea realizes that her husband has emotional needs just as she has, and suddenly realizing that all the people on the bus sitting around her all had emotional needs too. Terry Eagleton explains that the novel is set in a time of political tumult, in which the reform bill of 1832 promised reform of the parliamentary electoral system and to extend the franchise to people in cities, reducing the influence of the aristocracy and the landed class. Howard Jacobson warns against reading the novel for its romance and promises that if he sees a woman reading the novel in a vacuous way on a train, he will seize the novel and throw it from the train. Since reading novels in a vacuous way is the only way I ever do it, I am quite grateful for the many miles between us. In Mr. Jacobson's defense, being a caretaker of culture is a dirty job, but somebody's gotta do it.

I think that the "Reader's Guide" provides excellent answers to the question, "Why is Middlemarch important?" and I think students will find its discussion enlightening and helpful.