Hope you had a good week, Middlemarchers! If you’re in the path of Henri I hope you stay safe. Discussion questions are in the comments as always.

Summary

In Chapter 56, we learn about a different kind of reform in Middlemarch: the arrival of the railroad. Solomon Featherstone, who oversees the roads in the area and thus has a vested interest in keeping the railroad out of Middlemarch, manages to convince a few laborers that the railroad is bad, even though they do not fully understand what it is.

Several of these men later attack the railroad surveyors. Fred Vincy breaks up the altercation with the help of his horse, and Caleb Garth deescalates and reasons with the men. Fred helps Mr. Garth with some work on a local property, and realizes that he wants to be Mr. Garth’s apprentice so he can learn an honorable trade that allows him to be outdoors and do something practical. Mr. Garth agrees after Fred admits that he and Mary are in love. Mrs. Garth objects because she suspects that Farebrother loves Mary, but Mr. Garth is determined to help Fred become a man worthy of his daughter.

Fred is somewhat disillusioned that a large part of his new occupation is essentially being a glorified clerk. Mr. Garth is disappointed in Fred’s penmanship and tells Fred he has a lot of learning to do, but Fred is determined to improve and commit to his chosen career. His father is disappointed but accepts his decision, but his mother is heartbroken because she realizes he will marry Mary Garth. She thinks this means he will become “Garth-like,” more humble and less materialistic and well-groomed. His parents agree that Fred has disappointed their hopes to raise his station in life. Rosamund has also disappointed them with her marriage; she has recently miscarried and they suspect she will ask them for money soon if Lydgate’s practice is unsuccessful.

In Chapter 57 Mrs. Garth chides Fred for not being good enough for Mary or Caleb. She hints that by asking Farebrother to intercede with Mary on his behalf, he has dashed any hopes of Farebrother pressing his own suit with Mary. Fred is in paroxysms of jealousy that he might have a rival for Mary’s hand, but Farebrother is kind as always and schemes to get the young couple a few moments alone together. Mary is annoyed at Fred but assures him that she cares for him.

References

The laborers ramble about “King George, the regent, and the new king with the new name” - this refers to King George III and his son the Prince Regent (later George IV) who became regent when his father was declared legally insane in 1810. George IV’s only daughter Princess Charlotte died in childbirth; his brother William Iv became king when he died in 1830.

“Clemming” means starving.

The epigraph to chapter 57 was composed by Eliot herself but contains several references to Sir Walter Scott’s novel Waverley.

Scott is referenced again in chapter 57 when the Garths sit together reading Ivanhoe, an immensely popular book at the time.

Mary says that the only clergymen she has ever liked are Farebrother and the vicar of Wakefield, a reference to Goldsmith’s 1766 novel.