Ahh it’s hard to believe this is my last post of the year before we have our final/adaptation discussion! It’s been quite the ride and this community has definitely made my 2021 more bearable, so thank you to all of you :)

Summary

We get some more classic Will brooding. He once again changes his mind and decides to come back to Middlemarch, trying to convince himself that he has other reasons to be there and that any encounters with Dorothea would be completely accidental. He continues to waffle about whether he should take Bulstrode’s money and use it for a project in the “Far West,” but ultimately decides he does not want to take the money under any circumstances. He is ashamed of his treatment of Rosamond, and goes to apologize. However, Lydgate is there and they cannot speak frankly, so Rosamond passes him a note informing him that she told Dorothea everything, and Dorothea does not hold anything against Will.

Will sends Miss Noble as his emissary, and Dorothea agrees to see him. They finally have an open conversation about their feelings for one another. While a storm rages outside, they kiss and mourn the fact that they will never be able to be together. Dorothea tries to remain optimistic, but Will claims that she does not understand his pain. When he gets up to leave, Dorothea is heartbroken and decides that she is willing to give up her inheritance from Casaubon so she can marry Will.

Context and references

The first sentence of chapter 82, “exiles notoriously feed much on hopes” is a reference to Aeschylus’s play Agamemmnon.

I wasn’t sure what the “Far West” meant in the context of Will’s “plan for a settlement,” and there wasn’t an explanation in my edition. Possibly the western United States? Does anyone know?