A study of characterisation in the novels of George Eliot

157.
and Esther or Gwendolen. Both of the latter in varying degrees show aspects
of egoism which mark their kinship with Rosamond Vincy. Janet's sisterhood,
on the other hand, contains such characters as Maggie Tulliver and'
Romola and Dorothea Brooke who have "early emerged from moral stupidity"
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and have a strong capacity for sympathy. Janet, like them, is morally
aware. Her drinting is obviously a weakness but :Lt is shoi'm to be very
much a response to a destructive situation.
Apart from these two provisos there are fundamental similarities
between the Janet/Mr Tryan relationship and the others, so that we can
detect a pattern. George Eliot is emphasising the very personal one-to- ) Q "
one quality of such a relationship. Only within such a framework, when
the mentor fieure is obeying what Paul Tillich has called the "law of
listening love, II 7 is the pupil [lble to resrJond to the atmosphere of
trust and openness and talk freely. The empathy manifested by the mentor
takes two forms: the acceptance of the individual worth of the pupil
and at the same time a recognition of that pupilts potential. for grm'~h.
The first creates the atmosphere of trust; the second, by presenting an
image of what the pupil is able to become, offers a goal or direction
towards which she can strive. Any falling short of this goal produces a
feeling of shame. This is very clear in the scene in Janet t s l1epentance"
when. Janet accidentally comes across a bottle ot: brandy at a time when
she is feeling lonely and very vulnerable. Her violent reaction in hurling
it to the ground and rushing out to walk the long distance to see
1~ Tr,yan marks the final stage in her cure. Previously, in her selfloathing,
she could find no sense of her ovm personal worth '''lhich
would motivate her to fight against her addiction. Now the thought of
!III' Tryan and what he. expects of her, her recognition that he will be
bitterly disappointed if she succumbs to temptation give her the nec-
8ssary strength of mind. His actual presence even is not required.