We are introduced to Dorothea Brooke, a twenty year old
woman with a sister named Celia. They live with their uncle who is their
guardian, Mr. Brooke. Dorothea has a temperament that drives her with an
obsession for religiosity. She dresses plainly. “Dorothea knew many passages of
Pascal’s Pensées and of Jeremy Taylor by heart.” Her concern is
for the poor. She is an idealist. “Her mind was theoretic.”
I’m keeping a list of words from
the novel that I need to look up. So far, here are some.
cygnet: a young swan
coquetry: flirtatious
frippery: fancy
glutinously: like glue, sticky
The society’s attitude toward women in the 1800s is clearly
noted in Eliot’s writings. On page 5 we read: “Women were expected to have weak
opinions.” As I write this we are getting close to the day we vote for a new
President. Donald Trump’s attitude toward women has been a revealing issue
during the debates. Perhaps a strong woman like Hillary Clinton has stirred up
a certain amount of fear in a good number of white males in our country. The
inability to empathize or understand to any degree the patriarchal climate that
still reigns in the U.S. is showing itself on social media every day. It is
hard to give up power.
Enter the Reverend Edward Casaubon. Fifty years old. “A man
of profound learning.” He has wealth and comes from a respectable line of
ancestry. He is working on a large book about mythology and religious
traditions.
Celia thinks her sister Dorothea
is too obsessed with religion. Celia thinks to herself,
Notions and scruples were like
spilt needles, making one afraid of treading, or sitting down, or even eating. (17)
Dorothea thinks that ecclesiastical forms and articles of
belief are not as important as “that spiritual religion, that submergence of
self in communion with Divine perfection.” (21)
I would like to know more about Eliot’s religious background
and her thoughts on theology. She seems to have a good understanding of the
mystical element in religion.
