This week really dragged for me, and looking forward to the weekly discussion was one of the few things pulling me through. Things are starting to get interesting and I'm curious to see what y'all think!

Summary

Celia lets the cat out of the bag that Sir James is in love with Dorothea, and Dorothea is so surprised and upset that she lashes out at Celia. She sulks until Uncle Brooke presents her with a letter from Mr. Casaubon with a proposal of marriage. Brooke tries to give her advice but Dorothea accepts Casaubon immediately. Celia is shocked to learn of the engagement, and feels guilty for insulting Casaubon’s appearance and odd habits. Casaubon and Dorothea plan to get married in six weeks.

Context and references

Celia is compared to “Murr the cat,” a reference to The Life and Opinions of the Tomcat Murr, an unfinished novel by German novelist E. T. A. Hoffmann.

Pilgrim’s Progress was a 1678 allegory written by John Bunyan. It was strongly associated with radical Protestantism and Puritanism.

Uncle Brooke mentions a sheep thief named Bunch who is going to be hanged. Sheep stealing was a capital offense until 1832. He mentions that he knew Romilly, who “would have helped us” in stopping Bunch from being hanged. Sir Samuel Romilly was an abolitionist and advocate for criminal law and prison reform who succeeded in abolishing hanging, drawing, and quartering as a punishment. He died by suicide in 1818.

Casaubon’s love letter is compared to the “thinness” of the sonnets to Delia, a series of sonnets written by Samuel Daniel (1562-1619). Evidently Daniel fell out of fashion, or perhaps Eliot was just not a fan of his sonnets!

Some discussion questions in the comments like always :)