Chapter 10 -- messages from the universe

Chapter 10

As Casaubon discusses his young cousin’s search for a vocation, the language sounds to me like 21^st century jargon for a kind of New Age spirituality:

Genius, he held, is necessarily intolerant of fetters: on the one hand it must have the utmost play for its spontaneity; on the other, it may confidently await those messages from the universe which summon it to its peculiar work, only placing itself in an attitude of receptivity towards all sublime chances.

Does this language sound familiar? Await the messages from the universe. I hear people today talk about how “the universe” is leading them; or asking “the universe” for help. It’s a substitution for theistic language. So many folk these days have trouble talking about “God” as a Being up there somewhere. Theistic language sounds too childish or like belief in a fantasy. So a more scientific and blurry term is used: universe. I did not know this terminology was used in the 19^th century. Casaubon goes on:

The superadded circumstance which would evolve the genius had not yet come; the universe had not yet beckoned.

An added dimension. “God” is replaced, but like God, the universe “beckons.” So, the call of God is now the call of the universe. Eliot hangs on to a notion of “calling.”

Will [Casaubon’s cousin] saw clearly enough the pitiable instances of long incubation producing no chick, and but for gratitude would have laughed at Casaubon, whose plodding application, rows of note-books, and small taper of learned theory exploring the tossed ruins of the world, seemed to enforce a moral entirely encouraging to Will's generous reliance on the intentions of the universe with regard to himself.

Now the universe has “intentions.” Sounds like “the will of God” rewritten to assuage anti-theistic prejudices. Is this Eliot’s own view? That the universe has “intentions” and “calls” people to their purpose in life?

Two hundred years before Eliot was writing this great novel, the philosophers Leibniz and Spinoza were offering two different concepts of God. Spinoza’s God was Nature itself. All Substance was God, and God was all Substance. We call this view pantheism. This was probably the view that Albert Einstein held too. Leibniz, on the other hand, argued for the more traditional God—a God who has a mind and a will. A God who makes choices; a personal God.

It appears that George Eliot and 21^st century folk are trying to have it their cake and eat it too. “The universe” indicates a non-personal reality—a kind of substitute for a theistic God. Yet, if the universe has intentions for us, some kind of theistic notion slips back in. Make up your mind. Is there an Ultimate Intelligence (Mind) that relates to life, or is life a meaningless roll of the dice? I think those are the only two alternatives.

On page 83 is the a clear mention of the historical context.

For in that part of the country, before Reform had done its notable part in developing the political consciousness, there was a clearer distinction of ranks and a dimmer distinction of parties…

The country is in transition. Reform is taking place. Distinctions and ranks are being broken down. A more democratic spirit is arising. The old feudal class system is eroding.

Chapter 8 -- no passion to hide; chapter 9 -- I must learn new ways

Chapter 8

Sir James Chettam tries to persuade Rector Cadwallader to talk Mr. Brooke into stopping the marriage of Casaubon and Dorothea. But the Rector doesn’t want to interfere. The narrator says, “His conscience was large and easy, like the rest of him: it did only what it could do without any trouble.”

Sir James knows he has lost his case. He decides to accept the situation and simply be friends with Dorothea. The chapter ends by observing that

he was gradually discovering the delight there is in frank kindness and companionship between a man and a woman who have no passion to hide or confess.

Chapter 9

Dorothea goes to the Casaubon house to see where she will be living. She liked the dark book shelves and the subdued colors of the drapes and carpet. But a feeling of sadness comes over her. There will not be much opportunity in this place for her to interact with the needy. She tried to be accepting: “Of course, my notions of usefulness must be narrow. I must learn new ways of helping people.”

They meet Casaubon’s cousin, Will Ladislaw.

Chapter 6 -- Methodistical; chapter 7 -- too taxing for women

Chapter 6

An interesting term on page 52. Mrs. Cadwallader speaking of Dorothea:

I knew there was a great deal of nonsense in her—a flighty sort of Methodistical stuff.

I’ll have to ask my Methodist friends how to understand “Methodistical stuff.”

Sir James Chettam finds out about Dorothea’s engagement to Casaubon and is much pained by the report. This chapter ends with a little lesson in the field of virtue:

We mortals, men and women, devour many a disappointment between breakfast and dinner-time; keep back the tears and look a little pale about the lips, and in answer to inquiries say, “Oh, nothing!” Pride helps us; and pride is not a bad thing when it only urges us to hide our own hurts—not to hurt others.

I’m pondering whether I agree with such a sentiment or not.

Chapter 7

Page 60. Mr. Brooke speaking: “Well, but now, Casaubon, such deep studies classics, mathematics, that kind of thing, are too taxing for a woman—too taxing, you know.” And later: “But there is a lightness about the feminine mind—a touch and go—music, the fine arts, that kind of thing—they should study those up to a certain point, women should.”

The idea of women being inferior to men is an ancient concept. Here is a passage from Plato:

                                              

It is only males who are created directly by the gods and are given souls. Those who live rightly return to the stars, but those who are ‘cowards or [lead unrighteous lives] may with reason be supposed to have changed into the nature of women in the second generation’. This downward progress may continue through successive reincarnations unless reversed. In this situation, obviously it is only men who are complete human beings and can hope for ultimate fulfilment; the best a woman can hope for is to become a man (Timaeus, 90e)

But probably more influential than Plato on this question is Aristotle:

It is the best for all tame animals to be ruled by human beings. For this is how they are kept alive. In the same way, the relationship between the male and the female is by nature such that the male is higher, the female lower, that the male rules and the female is ruled. (Politica, Part V)

But the kind of rule differs; the freeman rules over the slave after another manner from that in which the male rules over the female, or the man over the child…For the slave has no deliberative faculty at all; the woman has, but it is without authority, and the child has, but it is immature…the courage of a man is shown in commanding, of a woman in obeying…as the poet says of women, "Silence is a woman's glory." (Part XIII)

The New Testament writer, St. Paul, may have gotten a bad rap in regard to his opinion of women. Mainline New Testament scholars, along with some Evangelical scholars, consider only seven of the letters attributed to Paul as being authentically authored by him. Those are: Romans, 1 & 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Philippians, 1 Thessalonians, and Philemon. In these epistles women are viewed quite favorably. A woman named Junia is called an apostle. A female named Phoebe is a deacon. Priscilla is a teacher. And the pinnacle of sexual equality is stated in Galatians: In Christ there is no long male and female.

It is in the “inauthentic” Pauline letters that the Aristotelian idea of female inferiority comes into play. In the letters of Ephesians, Colossians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 & 2 Timothy, and Titus. In those letters the “household code” prevalent in the Greco-Roman world is affirmed, and women are told to submit to their husbands. Women are commanded to “learn in silence in full submission” in the church in 1 Timothy. The five Pauline letters that were traditionally thought to be by Paul are now considered to be authored by a later “school of Paul” or disciples of Paul. And there may be scraps of authentic Pauline material found therein.

I bring up Paul in order to say that the Christian Tradition has within its core message a redemptive word on sexual equality. George Eliot was reflecting the culture of her time and place, and was surely intending to put it on display as a way of challenging patriarchy.