A study of characterisation in the novels of George Eliot

247.
with his dogs 101),. and we are told that he would make an excellent gov-
102
ernor of a colony, .... and that he expects .toassert his own will in his
marriage. He has also had a passionate affair with another man's wife,
which has produced several children, and although his feeling t~lards her
has died down he still maintains contact with her and supports her financially.
He is bored and obnoxious, but because Gwendolen hates him
this does not make him evil. Gwendolen has not fulfilled her side of the
marriage contract. She has married him without love, which he knows full
well, and has no understanding of the duties she has undertaken as a
wife. What makes us accept Gwendolents conception of him is the general
disapproval meted out to him by means of the encoded messages. He is not
left to stand on his own merits or demerits and we are not allowed a
free assessment of him. It is not that George Eliot appeals to our better
judgement in order that we may judge him more kindly than we feel disposed
to do. And Gwendolen's growth does not require her to see her husband
compassionately as Dorothea's does. This is one of the reasons why
Mr Casaubon is treated so generously and the pathos of his situation
is brought to our attention. George Eliot pontificates against Grandcourt
and leaves us with a picture of unmitigated evil. Gwendolen fears
Grandcourt i but even more, she fears her own violent instincts which are
strongly aroused now that, after a lifetime of p~tty tyranny over her
mother and sisters, she is trapped by a stronger will than her own. This
does not automatically make Grandcourt vicious. Intransigence often
calls forth murderous rage. Lydgate could easily have taken Rosamond's
white throat and throttled her and Gwendolen has to throwaway the key
of the box which contains the stiletto knife. But the murderous rage
belongs to the person who feels it. The one who has inspired it may be
innocuous. In the case of Tito and Grandcourt, I feel that we are asked
to accept rather too much on hearsay. The master illusionist is dis-