George Eliot, born as Mary Ann Evans in 1819, grew up in England, quickly learning about the Victorian culture around her despite the country’s increasing growth of industrialism. Eliot did exceptionally well at the boarding schools she attended as a child. Her road to success was being paved. At the age of seventeen her mother …
“…the past becomes dreamy because its symbols have all vanished, and the present too is dreamy because it is linked with no memories.”– Eliot in chapter 1, describing Silas’s withdrawal from society. “…like the weaving and satisfaction of hunger, subsisting quite aloof from the life of belief and love from which he had been cut …
Silas Marner, written by George Eliot in 1861, attempts to prove that love of others is ultimately more fulfilling than love of money. This theme shows throughout the book, though the manner in which it is revealed leaves a bit to be desired. Often Silas Marner is criticized for being such a simple, unrealistic story. …
Silas Marner: Silas is the main character and protagonist of the story. When shunned from his town and church after being falsely accused of robbery, Silas is forced to migrate to another town, Raveloe, where he lives as a hermit weaver. Soon his small fortune of gold becomes an obsessive endeavor. The monotony and repetition …
Now that he has the money to travel, Silas decides to return for a trip to Lantern Yard with Eppie. This marks a real turning point in Silas’s ability to accept the past. When they visit this far-off town, Silas soon realizes that it no longer exists. A big factory has replaced Silas’s whole original …
Silas Marner: Novel Summary: Chapter 21 – Conclusion Read More »
Godfrey and Nancy walk home in the darkness. Godfrey blames himself for the situation, saying, “It’s part of my punishment, Nancy, for my daughter to dislike me. I should never have got into that trouble if I’d been true to you— if I hadn’t been a fool. I’d no right to expect anything but evil …
Godfrey and Nancy Cass are admitted to the home of Silas and Eppie that evening. Godfrey apologizes for the theft of the weaver’s gold by his brother so many years ago. Silas shrugs it off, saying Godfrey isn’t responsible anyway, and that he’d much rather have Eppie than the gold. Soon Godfrey gets to the …
This chapter is very short but quite significant to the novel as a whole. While one of the stone pits near Silas’s house is being drained (for the first time in decades), the skeleton of Dunstan Cass is discovered, along with the two sacks of gold he had stolen sixteen years ago. It seems Dunstan …
Eliot’s seventeenth chapter views the perspective of Nancy Cass. It seems she is not totally happy with her life as wife of Godfrey. Although she loves him very much and is happy when he is happy, she desperately desires children. Godfrey also feels that he’s missing something in middle age. Apparently the couple has tried …
This chapter fast-forwards to the future— sixteen years after Silas found Eppie. Mr. and Mrs. Godfrey Cass (Godfrey and Nancy) have taken over the Red House and received much of the Squire’s inheritance. As Silas and Eppie walk out of church, Aaron Winthrop approaches them, saying he is willing to help them build the garden …
