A study of characterisation in the novels of George Eliot

203.
Aesthetic Ba1ance.~
If we examine the potentially tragic character of JIr Caaa.uboD in
lliddlemarch we can see that by a skilful. control of focus George El.iot
offers usa great deal more than the caricature of a pedantic scholar.
The various reports ofJlrCasaubon that accumulate in the early chapters
of the book, reveal that we are being presented with a picture of him
in diverse reflecting mirrors. The different comments made about him'
by Dorothea, Celia, 'Mrs Cadwallader, and Sir James Chettam superficially
describe him, but in fact, tell us far more about them and their prejudices.
The first exchange between the two sisters offers us a choice
of attitudes towards 'Mr Casaubon.
,~ ,-~thet"b;'girls were intha~-X"oOlJ al()l1eJ'~"~l'!iO\V.*
ugly J4r Casaubon isl' I
"Celia! He is one of the most distinguished-looking men I ever
saw.;-g~ is remarkably like the portrait of' Locke. He has the same
",deep eye-sockets." .
''Had \ Locke those two white mo:).es with hairs on them?"
"OhlI daresay: when people of a certain sort looked at him; It
sai:d·,Darothea, walking away a little.
''AIr Casaubon is so sallow. It 1
This conversation is typical of other representations ot Yr Casaubon,
whose physical attributes appear to arouse intense disgust. He 'has excessively
thin calves, a generally grey and desiccated appearance, and
he scrapes his spoon on his plate when he is eating soup which particularly
offends Celia. Mrs Cadwallader is wittily scathing about his lack
of vitality. This reinforces pur impression that the Vicar's wife enjoys
her reputation of being direct and outspoken, even somewhat eccentric,
but our impression of Hr Casaubon's arid style ot speaking and writing.
lends credence to her view. "'Somebody put a drbp @' his blO~ under
a magnifying glass, t It she retorts in answer to a disgusted remark from
Sir James Chettam, uland it was all semicolons and parentheses. tll
2