A study of characterisation in the novels of George Eliot

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mid-nineteenth century in order to revio.'ll the simi18~dties
between theql.
The terms in which writers such a.s Com~',
Spencer, Darwin, and Lewes
present their recognition of the importmt interdependence of organism
and medium, despite numerous biological examples in ~e Origin £[ Species,
are inevitably abstract and generalised.. George Elic ~ t s novels, on the
other hand, take this same recognition, a recognitic', which as Lewes
points out always existed but which wa[; not given stc.c"ficient weight, and
examine it in personalised, individual terms.
it is the case that
"there is no private life which has not been determi~led by a wide:,:" public
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life, II then, George Eliot asks, what happens wheL a passionate, sensHive
girl like Maggie Tulliver is placed in a narr·)w 'and rejecting
environment? what happens when a character like Lydg!lte has to contend
with an environment like :Middlemarch "which co\'x1ted on swallowing
Lydgate and assimilating him very comfcrtablylt? 65::':1e novels, !h~ Mill
.2!!. the Floss and Middlemarch, provide answers to th~.:,e questions.'
It is important to remember, however, toot in ac: