The Mill on the Floss - Summary

Chapter I
The narrator stands on a bridge over the Floss next to Dorlcote Mill. The
narrator peacefully watches a little girl and her white dog that stand on the bank
of the river, watching the ill. The narrator can see the light of a fire burning
inside the little girl!s house.
It is decades later and the narrator has been do"ing in her archair,
dreaing of that past afternoon outside Dorlcote Mill. The narrator proceeds to
tell the story of what Mr. and Mrs. Tulliver were discussing in their house, in
front of the fire on that afternoon.
Chapter II
Mr. Tulliver explains to Mrs. Tulliver his wish to send their young son To
for further education, so that To ight have a lucrative career and enough
scholarly knowledge to help Mr. Tulliver with confusing legal processes. #tout,
blond Mrs. Tulliver subissively does not ob$ect but wants to have her sisters to
dinner to hear their thoughts on the atter. Mr. Tulliver refuses to ask his sister%
in%laws! advice.
Mrs. Tulliver prattles on about her wish that To not be sent to a school too
far away so that she can still do his washing. Mr. Tulliver, using analogy about
not hiring a waggoner because of only a ole on his face, warns her not to set
herself against a perfectly good school if they can only find one farther away. Mrs.
Tulliver takes his analogy literally, and Mr. Tulliver tries to explain, but then
gives up&'it!s pu""ling work, talking is.' (essy Tulliver continues talking about
laundry while Mr. Tulliver resolves to hiself to ask Mr. )iley!s advice about a
good school. Mr. Tulliver brings up his only doubt over To!s education&that
To is a bit slow, taking after (essy!s faily. Mr. Tulliver laents the fact that
his daughter instead of his son takes after his own faily in her cleverness.
More than happy to concede Maggie!s likeness to the Tulliver faily line,
Mrs. Tulliver calls her a 'wild thing' and coplains of her essiness,
absentindedness, and 'brown skin as akes her look like a ulatter.' Mr.
Tulliver disisses his wife!s coplaints, citing Maggie!s ability to read 'alost as
well as the parson.' Mrs. Tulliver wishes Maggie!s dark hair would curl, like that
of her pretty cousin *ucy Deane.
+t this oent, Maggie enters the roo and throws off her bonnet and
refuses her other!s in$unctions to work on her patchwork for Mrs. ,legg, who
Maggie doesn!t like. Mr. Tulliver chuckles at her honesty as she leaves the roo.
Chapter III
Mr. Tulliver and Mr. )iley have been discussing local arbitrations and
troublesoe lawyers such as -ake, all of who Mr. Tulliver believes have been
created by the devil. +t a pause in the conversation, Tulliver asks )iley!s advice
about To!s schooling. Tulliver explains his plan to educate To so that To can
go into business instead of looking to replace hiself at the ill. Maggie, who has
been sitting with a book, runs to her father proclaiing that To would be
incapable of such an evil. Tulliver coforts Maggie, bragging to )iley of her
cleverness. Maggie feels exciteent at the ention of her intelligence to )iley,
who is busy looking at the book she has dropped. Maggie hopes to earn )iley!s
respect with an exposition of the book&'The .istory of the Devil' by Daniel
Defoe&but )iley is unreceptive. Mr. Tulliver is suddenly ebarrassed by his
daughter!s knowledge and sends her to her other.
Tulliver explains his fears that To is ore inclined to an outdoors sort of
knowledge and isn!t at ease speaking to strangers as Maggie is. )iley recoends
a parson naed #telling as a tutor for To. )iley speaks elaborately of #telling!s
erits and soon convinces Tulliver, though we learn that )iley!s recoendation
has sprung ore fro )iley!s desire to do a favor to #telling!s father%in%law and
to speak authoritatively, than fro first%hand knowledge of #telling!s erits.
Chapter I/
Maggie, not allowed to accopany her father to fetch To fro school,
won!t let her hair be curled to spite her other, then runs up to the attic. Maggie
picks up the doll that she uses as a voodoo doll, abusing it with nails and
beatings, while she iagines it to be people who vex her like +unt ,legg. Maggie!s
sobbing abates after a while, and she runs outside into the sunshine to her dog,
0ap, celebrating To!s iinent arrival. Maggie runs into the ill with her
father!s iller, *uke, and tries unsuccessfully to convince *uke to read soe of
her books. *uke declines, warning, 'That!s what brings folks to the gallows&
knowin! everything but what they!n got to get their bread by.' In the idst of the
conversation, *uke entions the fact that To!s rabbits have died, and Maggie
becoes upset, reali"ing that she had forgotten to feed the rabbits according to
To!s re1uest and has killed the. Maggie is soon distracted, however, as she
accepts *uke!s invitation to visit his wife at his nearby house. +t *uke!s house,
Maggie becoes interested in a series of pictures depicting the parable of the
prodigal son.
Chapter /
To arrives hoe to the delight of Mrs. Tulliver and Maggie, who dotes on
To affectionately. To greets Maggie and shows her the fishing line he has
saved all ter to buy her, so that they can go fishing toorrow. To had to fight
soe boys over his oney, and Maggie adoringly copares his strength to
#ason!s. Ipatient with Maggie!s hypothetical iaginings, To decides to go
see his rabbits, and Maggie ust confess that they are dead. To tells Maggie he
doesn!t love her and severely reinds her of her past naughtiness. Maggie,
distraught, clings to To, but he shrugs her off. Maggie retreats to the attic and
reains there, iserable, until her presence is issed at teatie. Mr. Tulliver,
suspecting that To has been hard on her, orders To to fetch her and treat her
kindly. Maggie begs To!s forgiveness, and the two share the cake that To has
brought and nu""le each other like 'two friendly ponies.'
To and Maggie go fishing the next day. Maggie is respectful of To!s
practical knowledge of the outdoors and is ipressed by his superiority and
refusal to acknowledge her bookish cleverness. Maggie, through no skill of her
own, catches a fish. Today, both To and Maggie envision that they will always
be together, and always be happy. The narrator infors us that their lives will
change. (ut as the narrator hi2herself strolls in the woods, he2she reflects that
childhoods spent outdoors inspire a lifelong love of nature that affects one!s
perception of the world.
Chapter /I
Mrs. Tulliver prepares for the visit of her sisters&all forer Miss Dodsons&
and their husbands and children. Though Mr. Tulliver scoffs at the opinions of
the Dodsons, Mrs. Tulliver values their participation, not least because they each
have oney saved to be left to their nieces and nephews. .er sister Mrs. Deane
will bring her daughter *ucy, who Mrs. Tulliver loves as her own as a result of
*ucy!s deureness and coloring. The Dodsons consider theselves a respectable
faily with a sense of superiority and particular ways of aintaining households
and social relations eant to distinguish theselves fro other failies.
To steals two pastries fro the kitchen for hiself and Maggie. Maggie
offers to take the one with less $a, but To insists that she choose between
the fairly, without looking. Maggie ends up with the bigger pastry, and To
refuses when she tries to give it to hi. (ut he finishes his own saller one first
and watches angrily as she eats all of her larger one, calling her 'greedy.' To
runs off, and Maggie sits feeling regretful and confused about the pastry. #he
arouses herself finally to reali"e that To has gone off with (ob 3akin.
To and (ob play heads%or%tails with (ob!s half%penny, and (ob cheats,
snatching back the coin and claiing it was heads. To accuses (ob of not
playing fair, and the two fight. To forces (ob to give hi the half%penny, then
refuses to take it, saying he doesn!t play with cheaters and won!t hang around (ob
anyore. (ob yells insults after To and throws the pocketknife that To had
given hi, picking it up again when To is out of sight.
Chapter /II
Mrs. ,legg is the first of the Dodsons to arrive at the Tullivers. +ll the
Dodsons are handsoe woen, though Mrs. ,legg stingily keeps her new or
expensive clothing in storage, wearing shabbier clothing that sells of old
instead. Mrs. ,legg reproaches Mrs. Tulliver for various extravagances while they
wait for the others to arrive. The 4ullets soon coe5 Mrs. 4ullet is crying
draatically over the death of an ac1uaintance. Mrs. 4ullet goes with Mrs.
Tulliver to adire a new hat, while Mrs. ,legg ruinates on their extravagance
and on the unbecoing 1ualities of Maggie, who resebles her father!s sister,
Mrs. Moss, rather than the Dodsons.
The Deanes arrive, and Maggie and To coe in to greet *ucy Deane. Mrs.
,legg speaks loudly to Mrs. Tulliver of the need to thin out Maggie!s unruly hair.
Maggie and *ucy get perission fro *ucy!s parents for *ucy to stay over.
Maggie drags To upstairs with her to have hi watch while she cuts her hair.
Instead of $oining in her rebellious triuph, To laughs and insults her new
appearance. To goes downstairs, leaving Maggie feeling reorseful. First 6e"ia,
the faily servant, then To coe upstairs and finally coax Maggie down to
dinner. 7veryone is shocked&then the woen are reproachful and the en
aused. Maggie begins to sob, and her father coforts her.
The children soon ad$ourn with their dessert, and Mr. Tulliver announces
his plans for To!s education. Mrs. ,legg in particular is skeptical and
pessiistic about this plan. Mr. Tulliver and Mrs. ,legg 1uarrel, and Mrs. ,legg
leaves, taking Mr. ,legg with her.
Chapter /III
Mrs. Tulliver reinds her husband that Mrs. ,legg ight ask for her loan
of five hundred pounds back fro the Tullivers because of Mr. Tulliver!s poor
behavior. Mr. Tulliver decides to ride to (asset to see his sister and her husband
&the Mosses&and ask the for the three hundred pounds that he has loaned
the. (asset is a poor neighboring village, and the Mosses live a poor existence,
since Mr. Tulliver!s sister arried a an of little eans against Tulliver!s will.
Mr. Tulliver has resolved to be fir and his resolve weakens a little at the
sight of his sister and her kind in1uiries after Maggie. Mr. Tulliver sypathi"es
with his sister, since she has four daughters. Mrs. Moss replies eekly that she
hopes her four sons will always look after her daughters as Mr. Tulliver has done
for her and as To should do for Maggie. Mr. Moss coes in fro the field, and
Mr. Tulliver eets with hi in the garden, deanding that Moss find a way to
coe up with the three hundred pounds. Mr. Tulliver leaves the Mosses but has a
change of heart on his way out, provoked by the thought of Maggie being left with
no one but To to look after her after Tulliver!s own death. Mr. Tulliver rides
back and relents. .e coforts his sister and tells her to try to raise soe of the
oney if she can.
Chapter I8
To, Maggie, *ucy, and Mrs. Tulliver prepare for a visit to the 4ullets. The
children are aking cardhouses&*ucy and To are the ost adept. Maggie
accidentally knocks To!s house over, but To doesn!t believe it was an accident.
To reains cold to her, walking instead with *ucy to the 4ullets!. Mrs. Tulliver
and the children arrive at the 4ullet!s and go upstairs so that Mrs. Tulliver can
adire Mrs. 4ullet!s new hat.
(ack downstairs, Mr. 4ullet plays his usic box, and Maggie sits happily
entranced. #he hugs To, accidentally spilling his wine and is chastised by the
adults. -hile the children go outside to play, Mrs. Tulliver spends tie
convincing Mrs. 4ullet to go to Mrs. ,legg and convince her not to call back her
five hundred pounds fro the Tullivers. #ally, the 4ullets! servant, ushers in
*ucy, covered with ud, and the woen screa.
Chapter 8
-e discover the events that lead to *ucy!s uddy appearance. 9nce
outside, To leads *ucy to see a toad, leaving Maggie behind. *ucy calls Maggie
over to see, but Maggie now iplicates *ucy in her anger toward To and silently
refuses. To leads *ucy to the pond, farther away than the children were
supposed to venture. Maggie follows at a distance, and when To sees her near
the, he cruelly orders her away. Maggie shoves *ucy in the ud, and To slaps
Maggie. Maggie reains satisfied that their happiness was spoiled.
#eeing *ucy covered in ud, Mrs. Tulliver goes in search of her two
children. #he finds To and sends hi to fetch Maggie fro the pond, but
Maggie is no longer there. + frantic, unsuccessful search for Maggie ensues. Mrs.
Tulliver finally decides to go hoe, hoping Maggie will be there.
Chapter 8I
Maggie runs off fro the 4ullets! with the idea of reaching Dunlow coon
and $oining the band of gypsies that ust be there. Maggie eets two beggars in
the road and gives the the six pence in her pocket when they ask her for it
ungraciously. Maggie travels inside the hedgerow to avoid further eetings.
-hen she reaches a bend in the road she sees a gypsy cap and a tall gypsy
woan walking towards her. Maggie tells the woan her wish to live with the
and to teach the any things. The woan brings Maggie to sit near the fire,
where other gypsy woen reove her bonnet and the contents of her pocket.
Maggie continues to explain her plans to live with the and perhaps becoe the
1ueen of the gypsies.
#oon Maggie becoes hungry but refuses to eat the strange food she is
offered. Disenchanted by the rude anners of soe of the woen, and feeling
hungry and confused by their strange language, Maggie wishes to be taken hoe.
-hen the en gypsies return to cap, one of the puts her on his donkey to
take her hoe. Maggie is convinced he wants to kill her and is wary even after she
recogni"es the road to #t. 9gg!s. Maggie spots her father riding down the sae
road on his way hoe fro the Mosses, and the gypsy an returns her to a
confused Mr. Tulliver, who rewards the gypsy with five shillings. +t hoe, Mr.
Tulliver speaks harsh words to Mrs. Tulliver and To on Maggie!s behalf, and she
never hears of the incident again.
Chapter 8II
The narrator describes #t. 9gg!s as an inland town, 'which carries the traces
of its long growth and history like a illennial tree.' -e are taken briefly through
)oan, #axon, and :oran ties and are told the story of #t. 9gg, patron saint
of the town. 9gg was a ferryan on the Floss, who ferried a woan and her child
across the river Floss one windy night when other ferryen refused. ;pon
reaching the other side, the woan revealed herself as the /irgin Mary, sainted
9gg for his pity of her and 1uick action, and subse1uently saved 9gg during one
of the historical floods of the river Floss. The history oves on through the civil
wars of 4uritans and *oyalists and through the changing dynaics of anti%
Catholic feeling. +t the tie of our story, people in #t. 9gg!s do not spend uch
tie thinking about politics or the long history of the town.
The narrator discusses Mr. and Mrs. ,legg. Mr. ,legg is retired and spends
uch tie in his garden, thinking about natural history as well as 'the
!contrariness! of the feale ind, as typically exhibited in Mrs. ,legg.' Mr. ,legg
and Mrs. ,legg are both stingy, though Mr. ,legg is ore good%natured in his
ipulse to save oney.
Mr. ,legg goes into breakfast and finds his wife still sullen fro the 1uarrel
at the Tullivers and unreceptive when he urges her not to call back the five
hundred pounds fro the. Mrs. ,legg retreats to her roo in a stubborn huff,
but changes her ind by the end of the day and decides not to deand the
oney, chiefly because Mr. ,legg has pointed out potential loss of oney trying
to find another way to invest it. Mr. and Mrs. ,legg en$oy their evening 1uarrel%
free and discuss the folly of the Tullivers.
Chapter 8III
Mrs. 4ullet arrives at Mrs. ,legg!s the following day to discover that Mrs.
,legg has already decided she won!t call her oney back, and Mrs. 4ullet does
not need to coax her. Instead, they discuss the poor behavior of the Tulliver
children at Mrs. 4ullet!s and share pessiistic predictions for both To!s and
Maggie!s futures. Mrs. 4ullet would like to see Maggie sent to a boarding%school.
(efore Mrs. 4ullet can advance to the Tullivers to announce Mrs. ,legg!s
aiability in the atter of the loan, a letter arrives fro Mr. Tulliver telling Mrs.
,legg that her five hundred pounds will be repaid within the onth. Mr. Tulliver
had hastily sent the note upon learning that Mrs. Tulliver had sent Mrs. 4ullet to
plead for hi. Mrs. ,legg is insulted and faily relations suffer. Mrs. ,legg does
not return to the Tulliver!s until $ust before To leaves for school in +ugust.
Chapter I
To goes to school under Mr. #telling for his first ter. The experience is
$olting to To&he is Mr. #telling!s only student and feels inade1uate to the *atin
and 7uclid that #telling attepts to teach hi. Mr. #telling, who considers *atin
and 7uclid the only easureents of intelligence and only ethods of teaching,
scolds To for his supposed la"iness. To becoes 'ore like a girl than he had
ever been in his life' as both his pride and sense of correctness in his previous
way of life are diinished. .e feels lonely&his only distraction being Mr.
#elling!s toddler, *aura&and he wishes for Maggie!s presence.
Maggie coes for a visit before the end of ter. Maggie condescendingly
offers to help To with his studies and sits to study his *atin and 7uclid, both of
which take her longer to understand than she supposed. #he ipresses Mr.
#telling with her intelligent chatter but feels ortified by his allusion to her
attept to run away to the gypsies, and his coent that woen have only
'superficial cleverness' and are '1uick and shallow.' To is sad when Maggie
leaves.
To goes hoe gratefully for Christas at the end of the half%year, happy
to see his failiar hoe. The narrator editates upon one!s affection for the
worn furniture of childhood versus the ipulse to ac1uire newer, nicer things.
Chapter II
Christas at the Tullivers! is tense, as Mr. Tulliver is preoccupied with the
proble of Mr. 4ivart, a new landowner upriver who purports to use soe of Mr.
Tulliver!s waterpower. Mr. Tulliver suspects that *awyer -ake supports 4ivart
and would represent hi in future litigation. Mr. and Mrs. Moss are supportive of
Tulliver at Christas dinner, but Mrs. Tulliver begs hi not to 'go to law' and
laents his stubbornness. Mr. Tulliver!s lawyer, ,ore, is less clever than -ake,
yet Mr. Tulliver is likely to go to law against -ake, as he still bears a grudge
over a suit that -ake won against hi, costing Tulliver his private right of road
and the bridge. +dditionally, Mr. Tulliver is goaded by the fact that he has been
forced to borrow oney fro -ake!s office to repay Mrs. ,legg.
To has learned that -ake!s son will be sent to Mr. #telling next ter.
Mr. Tulliver warns To not to be antagonistic toward -ake!s son despite his
own grudge against -ake, as the boy is a 'poor defored creatur.'
Chapter III
To arrives back for his second half%year at school with Mr. #telling, and a
new student has arrived&4hilip -ake. To and 4hilip have their first eeting,
and both boys are wary of each other&To because he knows 4hilip!s father to
be a bad an5 4hilip because he is afraid of being $eered at for his hupback. The
ice is soon broken when To notices 4hilip!s talent for drawing, and the
conversation oves easier. Then To spontaneously asks 4hilip if he loves his
father, and 4hilip defensively replies 'yes.' To is 1uite sure of his own father!s
righteousness, as well as the fact that *awyer -ake is evil, and his son ust be
bad, too, if he loves his father.
4hilip and To are not to have the sae lessons because 4hilip is uch
ore advanced and intelligent. The boys reconcile through 4hilip!s knowledge of
,reek war stories. To then tries to reassert his superiority in the face of 4hilip!s
older age and knowledge of fighting stories, by indirectly reinding 4hilip of his
handicap.
Chapter I/
4hilip and To!s relationship continues in the oscillating anner of their
first eeting. +t ties they en$oy each other!s copany&4hilip helps To with
*atin and tells hi extra%detailed war stories&at other ties, 4hilip behaves
'peevish<ly=' and bitterly about his defority. To!s education continues in the
anner that Mr. #telling sees fit, though uch of it will be of no practical use to
To in his profession.
To is happier in his second ter with Mr. #telling. #telling does not push
To so hard, now that 4hilip -ake is around and acadeically accoplished
enough to ake Mr. #telling!s reputation respectable. #telling has also hired a
drillaster for To&the local schoolaster, Mr. 4oulter. To en$oys 4oulter!s
battle stories and begs hi to bring his sword so To can see his sword exercises.
4oulter, a an of 1uestionable $udgent who often drinks before his sessions
with To, brings his sword one day and perfors his sword exercises for To.
To runs inside to get 4hilip, but 4hilip is in the iddle of singing and yells at
To for bursting in. They exchange harsh words, and To calls 4hilip!s father a
'rogue.' To leaves the roo and 4hilip cries 'bitterly.'
(ack outside, 4oulter agrees to let To keep his sword for the weekend in
exchange for five shillings.
Chapter /
Maggie coes for a second visit to Mr. #telling!s. #he notices 4hilip!s
cleverness and wants hi to think her clever too. Maggie also has special feelings
for defored creatures because she finds the ore grateful for her attention.
4hilip thinks Maggie sees nice and wishes that he had a sister.
To brings Maggie upstairs to show her his secret. -hen she is allowed to
open her eyes, she sees To dressed as a pirate holding 4oulter!s sword. Maggie
is gleeful at his costue. To unsheathes the sword and points it at her, intent
upon inspiring respect and fear in her. To accidentally drops the sword while
executing a cut and thrust, and it falls on his own foot. Maggie screas and tugs
at To, who has gone unconscious. Mr. #telling rushes into the roo.
Chapter /I
To has been seen by a doctor and lays in bed unable to walk. To fears he
will be handicapped for life. 4hilip senses To!s fear. .e feels genuine dread on
To!s behalf and asks Mr. #telling if To will be lae, reporting back to To the
good news that he will soon walk well again. To invites 4hilip to coe sit with
hi between lessons, and 4hilip accepts, spending uch tie with To and
Maggie at To!s bedside.
9ne day, 4hilip sits in the study with 4hilip while To!s foot is dressed.
4hilip asks Maggie, 'if you had had a brother like e, do you think you should
have loved hi as well as To>' Maggie replies, 'yes,' and adits that she would
feel pity for 4hilip. Maggie soon senses her error in alluding to 4hilip!s defority
and assures hi she would adire his cleverness and talent and will never forget
hi. 4hilip tells Maggie that he likes her eyes, to her delight. Maggie kisses 4hilip
and proises to kiss hi when she sees hi again.
-hen Mr. Tulliver coes to pick up Maggie, she reports how nice 4hilip is
and entreats To to agree. Mr. Tulliver warns To not to try and be good to
4hilip, but not to get 'too thick with hi&he!s got his father!s blood in hi.' To
and 4hilip never becoe close friends, and their personalities soon continue to be
at odds.
Chapter /II
To continued at Mr. #telling!s into a fifth session, at the age of sixteen,
while Maggie went to a boarding school with *ucy Deane. Maggie hardly ever saw
4hilip again, and she sensed that he and To were no longer friends. Mr. Tulliver
was now engaged in the lawsuit with *awyer -ake and 4ivart, and any ention
of the nae -ake angered hi.
To continues onotonously with his education. .e is now tall and
pridefully reserved and is sure that his father!s lawsuit will be decided in their
favor soon.
9ne day in :oveber, Maggie coes to the #telling!s to tell To that their
father lost the lawsuit and is bankrupt. To is shocked, having foreseen nothing
but perpetual success for hiself and his father. Maggie further reveals that their
father has fallen off his horse and has lost his senses. To explains to Mr. #telling
why he ust return hoe, and Mrs. #telling gives Maggie a basket of food. To
and Maggie go 'forth together into their new life of sorrow.'
Chapter I
Mr. Tulliver, upon losing the lawsuit against -ake, reains optiistic.
.e would ask Furley, who held the ortgage on the ill and house, to buy the
property and keep the Tullivers on as tenants. Tulliver had signed away the
faily!s furniture as collateral on the loan of five hundred pounds fro a client of
-ake!s, but he lets Mrs. Tulliver ask the 4ullets to buy up the loan, so they
could keep their furniture. Tulliver dispatches a note to Maggie!s school asking
her to return hoe, as he wants her by his side. Then Tulliver goes hoe to Mrs.
Tulliver, who still does not know the full extent of their trouble, and angrily tells
her not to worry.
The next day Tulliver rides downtown to see ,ore, his lawyer, about asking
Furley to take buy the ill and keep Tulliver on as iller. 9n his way to the
office, a clerk delivers hi a note fro ,ore. Tulliver reads the note on the way
hoe. It explains that Furley has already transferred the ortgage to -ake.
Mr. Tulliver has been found lying hear his horse, insensible.
-hen Maggie arrives hoe, Tulliver is vaguely conscious and has lost soe
eory. .e sees anxious about the letter and to have Maggie near hi. Mrs.
Tulliver sends for her sisters, who gather downstairs and dee Mr. Tulliver!s bad
luck as fate and $udgent upon hi. Maggie and Mrs. Tulliver agree that Maggie
should fetch To fro school. 9n the carriage ride hoe, To expresses hatred
toward Mr. -ake, who To is convinced has been planning to ruin their
father.
Chapter II
Maggie and To return to their house to find a stranger soking in the
parlor. Maggie does not know who he is, but To understands that he ust be
the bailiff and feels pained and ashaed. Maggie checks on her father, and then
they go in search of their other, who they find in the store roo in the attic,
crying over her best goods. Mrs. Tulliver is despondent that all her goods shall be
sold and is draatically pessiistic about their future? 'we shall be beggars @ we
ust to the workhouse.' Mrs. Tulliver explicitly blaes Mr. Tulliver for their
troubles, and To, too, begins to feel reproachful toward hi for the first tie.
Maggie is angry at the atosphere of bitterness toward her father, as well as the
iplication that she is shut out fro To and Mrs. Tulliver!s grief. Maggie
reproaches the both and returns to her father. To becoes annoyed with her
but softens upon seeing her at their father!s bedside.
Chapter III
Mr. and Mrs. ,legg, Mrs. Deane, and Mr. and Mrs. 4ullet gather at the
Tullivers!. The narrator rearks on the rising fortunes of Mr. and Mrs. Deane,
one of any sources of ill will and 1uarreling aong the Dodson sisters this
orning. Mrs. Tulliver beseeches the sisters to buy up her good china and linens,
though Mrs. Deane and Mrs. 4ullet will buy only the few ites they want for
theselves. Mr. and Mrs. ,legg encourage Mrs. Tulliver to concentrate on the
necessities, such as beds, instead of luxuries.
The Dodson sisters look for To and Maggie to be brought in the roo so
they can be hubled by the sisters! charity. The aunts and uncles allude to To
and of all the oney spent on his education and warn the children that they ust
work and bear the brunt of their father!s 'isconduct.' To 1uiets Maggie!s
teper and respectfully proposes that they pay Mr. Tulliver!s debt of five
hundred pounds&with the interest to be paid by To hiself&and save the
Tulliver faily soe disgrace along with their furniture. Mrs. ,legg contends that
the Tulliver debts extend far beyond five hundred pounds, aking it futile to
relieve even that debt. Maggie loses her teper and warns the aunts and uncles to
keep away fro the house if they don!t ean to help at all. The aunts take this
outburst as confiration of their past predictions that Maggie will coe to no
good.
Mrs. Moss enters the troubled household, sypathetic and huble, as she
has her brother!s three hundred pounds still but cannot pay it back with eight
children to feed. Mr. and Mrs. ,legg suggest that the security note should be
found, and Mrs. Moss should be ade to pay the debt. To inter$ects to relate
that his father once told hi that the Mosses should never be ade to pay back
the loan. To eans to abide by his father!s spoken will. Mr. ,legg suggests that
he and To then find the proissary note and destroy it. Mrs. Moss is grateful,
and she, To, and Mr. ,legg go upstairs to search for the note.
Chapter I/
Maggie and Mrs. Moss sit down at Mr. Tulliver!s bedside while Mr. ,legg
and To open Mr. Tulliver!s oak chest in search of the Mosses! proissary note
for the three hundred pounds he has lent the. -hile they are looking through
papers, the hinges on the oak chest give way, and it bangs shut loudly. The noise
rouses Mr. Tulliver fro his sleep and teporary anesia, and he deands to
know what they are doing with his papers. They explain to Tulliver that he has
been ill and that they!ve had to look after his affairs. .e asks for his wife, and
Maggie goes to get her. Mr. Tulliver tells To to pay *uke the fifty pounds the
faily owes hi before paying anything else and, in answer to To!s 1uestion,
tells hi to be easy on the Mosses! about the loan. Mrs. Tulliver enters the roo,
and Mr. Tulliver asks her forgiveness for the state of their affairs and blaes the
'raskills' of the 'law' for his downfall. .e adonishes To to get back at
-ake, if he ever has the chance.
Mr. Tulliver begins to drift off again, ubling directions for the future, as
though preparing the faily for his death. (ut Tulliver is not presently dying5 his
death is to be 'a long descent under thickening shadows.' Mr. Tulliver sinks back
into sei%consciousness, having never reebered that -ake now owns the
ortgage to his property. To sets about fulfilling his father!s wishes.
Chapter /
To leaves for #t. 9gg!s to see his uncle Deane about getting a $ob. To
feels huiliated about his faily!s condition but does not blae his aunts and
uncles, as Maggie does, for not helping the. To cheers hiself with optiis
about his possibilities of getting a good $ob and aking oney 1uickly, as his
uncle Deane has done.
In town, the local publican salutes hi and entions To!s father!s
downfall, eaning to be friendly. To, ebarrassed, passes hi without
speaking, and the publican takes offense. 9nce in his uncle Deane!s office, To
ust wait while his uncle finishes auditing accounts. -hen Deane has finished,
To tells hi of his wish to get 'a situation.' Deane points out that To is 1uite
young, and possesses no knowledge of the real world, only useless *atin. To
anages to convince Deane that he cares enough about his own reputation to
work hard at whatever $ob Deane ight find hi. Deane is ipressed by this but
akes no coitents.
To leaves feeling pained at the full understanding of his own
disadvantage. +t hoe, Maggie tries to cheer To by $oking that she could teach
hi bookkeeping if she had learned it herself. To becoes angry at the
iplication that she ight teach hi and says, '0ou!re always setting yourself up
above e and everyone else.' Maggie tries to explain that he has been
isunderstanding her intent and accuses hi of being harsh with her often.
Maggie runs upstairs to cry and wishes that life were ore like her books, where
people 'did not show their kindness by finding fault.'
Chapter /I
The Tulliver faily sits by Mr. Tulliver!s bedside as the sale of their
furniture takes place downstairs. -hen it is over, 6e"ia, the houseaid, tells To
that a an downstairs would like to see hi.
To escorts the red%haired stranger into the parlor and reali"es it is (ob
3akin when (ob pulls out the pocketknife To had given hi when they were
boys. (ob reinds To of the early kindness of the pocketknife, and To asks
soewhat condescendingly if there!s anything he can do for (ob now. (ob says
no, and before he can finish speaking, Maggie coes in the roo. Maggie focuses
iediately on the epty bookshelves because she wasn!t expecting so any
books to have been sold. Close to tears, she sits down.
(ob continues, explaining that he has $ust won ten sovereigns for dousing a
fire at a gentlean!s ill. .e puts nine of the sovereigns on the table, explaining
that he used one to get hiself started as a packan but that To should have
the rest since To isn!t as 'lucky' as (ob. To is touched, but he refuses the
oney. (ob sees hurt that To will take nothing fro hi, and Maggie reali"es
what (ob wants, suggesting that the Tullivers will always think of (ob as a friend
to depend on. (ob leaves satisfied.
Chapter /II
Mr. Tulliver is still not fully conscious, and the sale of the house and ill is
rapidly approaching. Mrs. Tulliver and the children have hope that uncle Deane
and his copany, ,uest A Co., will buy the ill and keep Mr. Tulliver as
anager. They fear, though, that Mr. -ake decide to bide on the ill since he
now holds the ortgage on it.
Mr. Deane has also found To a teporary warehouse $ob. To life is gri
&he goes to the warehouse all day, then takes bookkeeping lessons at night. .e!s
also recently reali"ed that, besides the sale of the house, ill, and furniture, his
father owes still ore debts and is therefore truly bankrupt.
Deciding to take action herself, Mrs. Tulliver goes into town to see Mr.
-ake without telling anyone. #he entreats Mr. -ake not to bid on the sale of
the house and ill, because ,uest A Co. 4lan to buy it and keep her husband on
as anager. Mr. -ake is short with Mrs. Tulliver and resolves after showing
her out to buy the ill and house and keep Tulliver on as anager, although the
idea of purchasing the property had not occurred to hi before Mrs. Tulliver
cae to see hi. Mr. -ake!s actions do not necessarily ake hi an evil an.
In the course of her visit, Mrs. Tulliver inadvertently revealed several incentives
for -ake to buy the property, including Mr. Tulliver!s hatred for -ake, and
the intentions of -ake!s rivals, ,uest A Co., to buy it theselves. -ake plans
to keep Tulliver on as anager, in part because Tulliver!s huiliation will
increase knowing that -ake has ade a charitable gesture toward hi and
partly because -ake understands that Tulliver is an honest iller.
Chapter /III
-ake has bought the property and stopped by to present to Mr. Deane
and Mr. ,legg his willingness to keep Tulliver on as iller. Mr. Tulliver is
unaware of this, as his eory is still vague. The doctor orders that Tulliver
should walk downstairs in hope that his eory will catch up. Maggie and To
try to explain to hi what is happening with his affairs, and Mr. Tulliver!s pain is
renewed upon learning again that he is bankrupt. Maggie and To are careful
not to reveal that -ake now owns the property. Mrs. Tulliver enters into the
conversation beoaning her poor luck. Mr. Tulliver proises to do anything he
can to ake aends. Mrs. Tulliver re1uests that he be respectful toward -ake,
revealing that -ake has bought the property. Mr. Tulliver is upset, and To
offers support, saying that his father shouldn!t be ade to work under -ake.
Mr. Tulliver oans that '<t=his world!s been too any for e.'
Chapter I8
Mr. Tulliver struggles with his hatred for -ake and his proise to Mrs.
Tulliver to ake aends. Tulliver walks around his property with *uke and
reebers scenes fro his childhood spent on the sae property. Mr. Tulliver
has a great attachent to his hoe, and he and *uke discuss the dislike of new
places and people. +t hoe that night, Mr. Tulliver sees to be working
soething over in his ind. .e gets anxious for To!s arrival and tells Maggie to
get the faily (ible. -hen To arrives hoe, Mr. Tulliver calls hi in. Tulliver
vows in front of his faily to fulfill his proise to Mrs. Tulliver and work under
-ake, but he also vows not to forgive -ake. .e akes To write in the
faily bible that -ake will not be forgiven and that 'I wish evil ay befall
hi,' and he signs his own nae, To Tulliver. Maggie protests, but To insists
on carrying out his father!s orders.
Chapter I
The narrator copares two odes of life or of novelistic sub$ect atter. The
first could be related to the everyday dwellings, washed out by a flood, to be seen
on the banks of the river )hone that speak to a past 'narrow, ugly, grovelling
existence.' The second could be related to the castle ruins on the river )hine. The
second consists of lives fro the past that are colorful, sublie, and grandiose&a
tie of beautiful good and extree evil.
The reader ight iagine the story of the Dodsons and Tullivers to belong
to the first ode of life, 'irradiated by no sublie principles, no roantic visions,
no active, self%renouncing faith.' The 'oppressive narrowness' felt in the tale of
the Dodsons and Tullivers ay be tedious to encounter, but, 'it is necessary that
we should feel it if we care to understand how it acted on the lives of To and
Maggie.' The religious or oral ideas of the Dodsons have always been prosaic.
They are 4rotestants but truly revere what is 'custoary and respectable'5 they
do not have a striking sense of spirituality. The Dodsons are exceptional only in
their conviction that 'the right thing ust always be done towards kindred.'
Thus, the Dodsons will never turn their backs on unfortunate kin, though they
will be hard on the in their speech.
The Tullivers, by contrast, are not as self%serving as a faily but rather
show 'eleents of generous iprudence, war affection, and hot%tepered
rashness.' The Tullivers are even less big on religion, valuing coon sense
instead.
Chapter II
The initial traua and accopanying adrenaline of the faily downfall
having worn off, the Tulliver household has becoe orose and onotonous,
with few visitors. Mrs. Tulliver wanders around the house, bewildered at their
loss. Maggie begins to feel tenderly toward her other, who has becoe pitiful.
Mrs. Tulliver, hopeless for herself, has begun to rest soe hopes on Maggie, and
dotes on her slightly by brushing her hair.
Mr. Tulliver is not his old self. Instead, he is singleinded in his attept to
pay his debts. .e has turned into a iser, keeping a rigid hold on the house. .e
still likes Maggie to be near hi, but this is now ore of a need than a desire&
there is no love in it.
Maggie feels no love any ore fro her father, nor fro To, who is $ust as
singleinded about repaying the debts as his father. 0et the oney accuulates
slowly, and it ay be a very long while until they are all paid.
Chapter III
Maggie sits outside, unable to read, as she is distracted by the rage Mr.
Tulliver exhibited yesterday after a visit to -ake. This tie he had beaten a boy
fro the ill and last tie he had beaten his horse. Maggie worries that he ight
hit her other soe day.
(ob 3akin coes through the gate. .e gives Maggie several picture books
and several prose books, because he reebered her sadness upon having
discovered her books had been sold. Maggie takes the books happily, and she
asks (ob 1uestions about (ob!s dog Mups to stall his departure. (ob reveals to
Maggie his extra%wide thub that he uses to cheat his old custoers of their full
length of cloth. Maggie tells (ob seriously that 'that!s cheating' and that she
doesn!t like to hear of it. (ob says sincerely that he wished he hadn!t said
anything and explains to Maggie that his custoers attept to cheat hi as well.
+fter (ob leaves, Maggie sits upstairs by the window feeling incredibly
lonely. #he has no friends, and life has 'no usic for her anyore.' #he feels that
even the other ebers of her faily have tasks to focus on or inds dull
enough not to ind, but Maggie seeks to understand why her life has becoe so
sad. 7ven To!s schoolbooks, and the ac1uisition of ale knowledge they
proise, offer little solace. Inevitably, Maggie ends up feeling selfish about her
own sadness by reebering her father!s.
Maggie sits down to read one of the books (ob gave her, whose author she
vaguely recogni"es&Thoas a 6epis. The book has passages arked by a
previous owner and a low voice sees to speak the passages to her. The book
speaks of renouncing self%love in favor of the tran1uility of focusing on the
sufferings of others and thinking of heaven instead of earth. Maggie feels she has
found the secret that will give her the strength to endure happily through her
difficult life. Maggie begins to live her life as deprivation and penance, though she
soeties outdoes herself by putting too uch 'exaggeration and wilfulness,
soe pride and ipetuosity' into her new practice. For Maggie there is still a hint
of the old Maggie, who deands full feeling out of life and love and happiness. In
her youthful way, she has issed the point that Thoas a 6epis!s writings hold
iplicit that 'renunciation reains sorrow, though a sorrow borne willingly.
Maggie was still panting for happiness, and was in ecstasy because she had found
the key to it.'
In her house, Maggie!s new deeanor akes her other proud and
affectionate. Maggie!s new grace of anner increases her father!s gloo at the
future he can!t provide her.
Chapter I
Fro a window, Maggie sees Mr. -ake approach and notices that 4hilip
is with hi. 4hilip tips his cap to her, and Maggie runs upstairs, unwilling to spoil
a reunion with 4hilip by the presence of their fathers.
#everal days later, Maggie goes out for her usual walk in the rocky area near
her house, called the )ed Deeps. Maggie!s chosen life of deprivation has suited
her&she looks stately and older now, though there still reains 'a sense of
opposing eleents, of which a fierce collision is iinent.' 4hilip -ake
eerges fro the woods and adits to Maggie that he has followed her there,
wanting to see her again. Maggie is frank&she is happy to see hi and thanks
hi for the kindness shown to her and her brother in their youth and explains
how she is sad that they cannot restart their friendship. 4hilip protests, asking
Maggie to eet hi in the woods now and then. .e first suggests that it is their
duty to repair the enity between their failies, that their eeting would affect
no one, and finally that eetings with her would provide the only happiness of
his days. Maggie cannot agree to eet hi as it would thwart her purpose of
putting other people!s happiness in front of her own and her desire to give up her
discontent with her narrow life. 4hilip re$ects this as daaging asceticis and
speaks of the need to hunger after 'certain things we feel to be beautiful and
good,' like 1rt. Maggie finally agrees not to ake her decision today but to coe
again to the )ed Deeps and tell hi her decision then. 4hilip is happy but still
slightly sad at his perception that she has never considered the possibility that
they will becoe lovers.
Maggie returns hoe with a conflict within her. 4hilip returns hoe feeling
that Maggie is the only woan in the world with enough love to love hi in his
defority. .e vows to be Maggie!s 'guardian angel,' and to 'do anything, bear
anything for her sake.'
Chapter II
To has been getting on in the world slowly but has becoe a credit to his
uncles, especially his uncle Deane who ac1uired the warehouse position for hi.
To is frustrated by the slow accuulation of oney and, about a year ago, took
an opportunity to venture soe capital with (ob 3akin. First, To needed capital
to venture, and Mr. Tulliver proved too uneasy about losing oney. Instead, To
decided to visit his uncle ,legg with (ob to ask for ,legg to advance hi soe
oney to venture.
(ob and To eet Mr. ,legg in his garden. ,legg is wary of (ob, dressed in
his packan gear, at first, but is won over by (ob!s innocent talkativeness. (ob
explains the plan to buy goods cheaply at *aceha and sell the for a profit.
Mrs. ,legg calls the en in fro the garden but is disissive of (ob the
packan. (ob senses that Mrs. ,legg would be a good target to who he can sell
his goods and begins buttering her up, speaking of her high%class status and of his
knowledge of the Dodsons. (ob plays coy with the contents of his pack, insisting
that they!re beneath her tastes and prices.
The en explain the oneyaking schee to Mrs. ,legg, who is first
skeptical, then hurt&feeling as if she!s been left out of a profitable plan. (ob
returns to the sub$ect of his goods and, after uch ore coyness, shows Mrs.
,legg his goods. Mrs. ,legg, entranced with stories of lesser woen getting good
deals, buys soe uslin and net. (ob also gets Mrs. ,legg to lend twenty pounds
of her own oney toward the venture.
That gathering of the initial capital was a year ago, and by the tie 4hilip
and Maggie eet in the )ed Deeps, To has a hundred and fifty pounds return,
unbeknownst to his father.
Chapter III
Maggie continues to struggle with the 1uestion of whether to continue
eeting 4hilip. #he decides to tell hi she can!t, because it would have to be
secret, though she feels that the friendship between herself and 4hilip is
blaeless and naturally good. Maggie eets 4hilip in the )ed Deeps and tells
hi they cannot eet again, and 4hilip ac1uiesces but insists they spend a half%
hour together before they part.
Maggie poses for 4hilip to continue a picture of her. They continue to have
the arguent in which Maggie sticks by her pious self%effaceent, and 4hilip
insists that she is unnaturally stupefying herself, instead of reaching for a full life.
Maggie hears soe truth in what he says but also senses that he is not copletely
correct. 4hilip argues against her self%denial in part because he knows it to be
unnatural but also selfishly, because he knows it will cause her not to see hi.
Maggie asks 4hilip to sing her a song, which he does, but the indulgence of the
usic causes Maggie to insist that she leave. 4hilip offers a loop%hole to Maggie?
he will continue to walk in )ed Deeps and if they eet by chance, there will be no
secrecy involved. Maggie!s eyes consent and they leave it at that.
Chapter I/
It is a year later, and Maggie and 4hilip have been eeting regularly in the
)ed Deeps. 9n this day Maggie gives returns a book to 4hilip, which he has lent
her and announces her deterination to read no ore books in which the blond
woen 'carry away all the happiness.' 4hilip teases Maggie that she would like to
carry away all the love fro her blond cousin *ucy. They continue to discuss love,
and 4hilip begins to drop hints of his own love for Maggie and wish for her to love
hi, and Maggie finally understands. Maggie is shocked and begins to ad$ust her
understanding of their last year together. 4hilip asks her if she loves hi. Maggie
explains siply that she loves no one better but begs that they not discuss it
further as she reveals her lingering fear that their eetings will lead to 'evil.'
4hilip!s copany has already led her to want ore fro the world and becoe
weary of her hoe and her parents. 4hilip entreats Maggie to think only of their
love.
Maggie and 4hilip near the end of their walk. 4hilip fears that Maggie loves
hi only as a brother. Maggie agrees that her happiness with hi is as great as
the happiness she felt as a child, when To was good to her. +s they part, Maggie
is caught up in the oent, and her words express ore than she feels&she
agrees that she would like to be always with 4hilip and ake hi happy and
stoops to kiss his 'pale face that was full of pleading, tiid love&like a woan!s.'
Maggie leaves feeling truly happy, feeling that 'if there were sacrifices in this love,
it was all the richer and ore satisfying.'
Chapter /
The day after Maggie!s last eeting with 4hilip, her aunt 4ullet coes to tea
at the Tullivers!. The table conversation shifts fro *ucy Deane!s beauty to 4hilip
-ake, who Mrs. 4ullet reports having seen 'a%scrabling out o! the trees and
brables at the )ed Deeps.' Maggie, sitting across fro To, blushes deeply and
is unsure if To notices.
To did notice and reebers hearing Mrs. Tulliver scold Maggie for
walking in the clay at )ed Deeps, but his ind refuses to accept the possibility
that his sister would seek the copany of a defored an. The next afternoon,
(ob 3akin entions having seen 4hilip -ake on the ill side of the river. To,
convinced, confronts Maggie on her way out of the house. To 1uestions her, and
Maggie explains everything, including their vows of love. To akes Maggie
swear on a (ible never to see 4hilip again, or he will tell their father of her deceit.
Maggie insists that she see 4hilip once ore, and To brings Maggie to )ed
Deeps to eet 4hilip. To berates 4hilip and insults his defority. 4hilip stands
by his good intentions to Maggie and accuses To of being incapable of
understanding what he feels for Maggie.
To pulls Maggie away and Maggie confronts To about his cruel words to
4hilip and his continual en$oyent in punishing her. To reinds Maggie that
his actions have brought the faily goodness, while Maggie!s actions have
brought no one good. To leaves for appointents, and Maggie goes to her roo
to ourn. 0et the end of the chapter wonders about the cause of a 'certain di
background of relief in the forced separation fro 4hilip.'
Chapter /I
Three weeks later, To coes hoe early fro work in a good ood. .e
triuphantly tells his father of the oney of ;ncle ,legg!s on which he has
traded and that he now has three hundred and twenty pounds return. Their debts
will finally be fully paid. Mr. Tulliver breaks into sobs.
To explains that Mr. Tulliver is to eet the creditors toorrow at the
,olden *ion. Mr. Tulliver triuphs at the reali"ation that -ake ust know of
the publici"ed event. .e tells To that To ust ake a speech to the creditors
and ake his father proud and, in turn, ake -ake ashaed of his own
crooked son. Mr. Tulliver stays up late savoring his triuph with To. .e wakes
up with a start in the orning fro a drea, presuably about -ake&'I
thought I!d got hold of hi.'
Chapter /II
#itting at the ,olden *ion the next day, Mr. Tulliver sees his old self. To
akes a brief speech of which Mr. Tulliver is 1uite proud. +fter the party, To
reains in town to take care of business, and Mr. Tulliver heads hoe, hoping to
eet -ake in the street. +t the gates of Dorlcote Mill, Tulliver does eet
-ake, who scolds hi about a faring ethod. Mr. Tulliver becoes furious
and proclais that he!ll 'serve no longer under a scoundrel.' +s -ake tries to
pass, Tulliver spurs his horse, and -ake!s horse throws -ake fro the
saddle. Tulliver $ups off his horse and flogs -ake with a riding whip. Maggie
rushes out of the house and holds her father back. *uke arrives and helps -ake
back onto his horse, as -ake vows that Tulliver will 'suffer for this.'
+fter -ake!s departure, Tulliver becoes faint and goes to bed. To
arrives hoe triuphant, becoes glooy again upon hearing the awful news of
his father!s violence. The next orning, Mrs. Tulliver awakens To and Maggie
to tell the she has sent for a doctor and that their father is asking for the.
Tulliver charges To with the task of getting the old ill back in the faily and
caring for Mrs. Tulliver and Maggie. Tulliver announces that he doesn!t forgive
-ake, and his last words before death are 'This world!s @ too any @ honest
an @ pu""ling@. ' Maggie asks To to forgive her, and they hold each other
and weep.
Chapter I
*ucy Deane, wearing ourning for the death of her other, sits in her
parlor with her suitor, #tephen ,uest, at her knees. #tephen is the son of Mr.
Deane!s senior partner. #tephen is handsoe, rich, and leisurely. The two are
flirtatious and secure in their love, though no betrothals have been ade yet.
*ucy tells #tephen of the iinent arrival of her cousin Maggie, who has had a
hard life and has been serving as a governess in another town. *ucy allows
#tephen to assue that Maggie is fat, blond, and dull%witted like Mrs. Tulliver,
who now lives at the Deane!s. *ucy is worried that Maggie will not want to see
4hilip -ake, a friend of *ucy and #tephen!s who coes often to sing with the.
*ucy writes a note to 4hilip for #tephen to take to hi. *ucy and #tephen sing
several duets before #tephen ust leave.
+fter #tephen!s departure, *ucy takes a 1uick glance at herself in the
irror. Though beautiful, *ucy is not truly vain, for she is too benevolent and
filled with thoughts of others to be vain. :ow *ucy rehearses in her ind the
preparations for Maggie!s arrival&*ucy!s favorite cousin ust have the best of
everything and a truly relaxing visit.
Though *ucy is only the daughter of his father!s lesser partner, #tephen is
sure of his love for her. *ucy is exactly the kind of woan he has always adired
&beautiful and kind to others, even other woen.
Chapter II
*ucy and Maggie sit in *ucy!s parlor&*ucy is describing #tephen ,uest.
*ucy rearks on Maggie!s beauty, which sees enhanced by her 'shabby
clothes.' Maggie envies *ucy!s happiness, which is gained fro the happiness of
others. Maggie adits to being regularly unhappy and soeties getting angry at
the sight of happy people. Maggie!s years of renunciation had ended, and she has
been experiencing 'desire and longing,' contributing to her unhappiness. *ucy
brings up the topic of 4hilip -ake with Maggie, who assures *ucy that she,
Maggie, does not think harshly of 4hilip as To does. Maggie is about to explain
her proise to To not to see 4hilip, when the doorbell rings and #tephen ,uest
enters.
#tephen is 1uickly fascinated by Maggie!s tall, dark, beauty, and her
frankness. Maggie 1uickly reali"es that #tephen had drawn a satirical portrait of
her in his head before eeting her. Maggie is frank about her annoyance at his
conventional coplient to recover hiself and also satirical about #tephen!s
obvious self%assurance. Maggie is also frank about her own poverty, to *ucy!s
disay and #tephen!s interest. #tephen changes the sub$ect to a variety of things
&the upcoing town ba"aar, the charity of the inister, Dr. 6enn, the next book
for the (ook Club&in hopes that Maggie will look at hi as he speaks.
#tephen proposes a boating trip. -hile Maggie gets her bonnet, *ucy
infors #tephen that Maggie will see 4hilip, and #tephen infors *ucy that
Maggie is too tall and 'fiery'&not his 'type' of woan. 0et, #tephen reains
intrigued by Maggie, because she is so unlike other woen. .e looks forward to
having to take her hand during the boat%ride. -hen #tephen catches Maggie, who
slips getting out of the boat, Maggie herself feels chared by the protective touch.
(ack at the Deanes, after the boat%ride, Mr. and Mrs. 4ullet are visiting so
that Mrs. 4ullet ight donate a foral dress to Maggie. The group openly
discusses the beauty of Maggie!s ar shape and the tragedy of her
unsophisticated brown skin.
Chapter III
+fter an evening of #tephen!s singing, Maggie goes up to her bedroo, too
excited by the usic and the vague atosphere of roance to sleep. *ucy coes
in and asks her opinion of #tephen. Maggie teases that he is too self% confident
&'a lover should not be so uch at ease.' +t *ucy!s ention of ore usic with
4hilip -ake, Maggie reebers to tell her that she, Maggie, has proised To
not to see 4hilip. *ucy offers to speak to To, but Maggie insists upon going
herself. Maggie explains the story of her relationship with 4hilip to *ucy. *ucy is
enthusiastic about Maggie and 4hilip&she vows to find a way for the to be
arried.
Chapter I/
Maggie goes to (ob 3akin!s house, where To now lives. (ob!s new wife
greets Maggie, and (ob soon coes in. (ob speaks to Maggie of To!s gluness
and drops a hint that To ight be in love with *ucy, for who To $ust
ac1uired a new dog.
To coes in, and Maggie asks hi to absolve her fro her proise not to
see 4hilip. To coldly agrees, and Maggie reassures hi that she will only see
4hilip in the copany of others& 'There will never be anything secret between us
again.' To reinds her that his feelings about 4hilip reain the sae and that
if she eans to ake 4hilip a lover, she ust give To up. To tells Maggie that
he has 'no confidence' in her, and Maggie begins to cry. To explains to Maggie
that she is always acting in extrees and assuing she knows best. Maggie
inwardly criti"es To for being 'narrow and un$ust.' To brings up the scene
between their father and -ake $ust before Mr. Tulliver!s death as a reason for
Maggie to forget a relationship with 4hilip, and Maggie again reassures hi that
she has given up thinking of 4hilip as a lover.
The two reconcile before To ust return to work.
Chapter /
Mr. Deane gives To a speech about the changing world of business and
coplients To!s $ob perforance at ,uest A Co. .e offers To a share in the
business. To entions his wish that ,uest A Co. buy up Dorlcote Mill. Mr.
Deane is skeptical that -ake would sell the property. To reveals that
3etsoe, the iller -ake has installed, has taken to drinking. Mr. Deane
proises to in1uire into the atter. Mr. Deane invites To to breakfast with the
Deane!s the next orning.
Chapter /I
Maggie ade 1uite a favorable ipression on the young people of #t. 9gg!s
at *ucy!s evening party. .er beauty ade her interesting and her lack of social
convention ade her see innocent, even to #tephen!s sisters, the Miss ,uests.
Maggie is en$oying the pleasant leisure of the lady!s life&being adired, playing
usic. The narrator reinds us that we are failiar with Maggie!s character but
that this will not entirely dictate her history&outside events will for her future
as uch as her character.
4hilip has not coe to the Deane!s because he had gone on a sketching
expedition without telling anyone and won!t arrive back for twelve days. During
those twelve days, Maggie continues to spend tie with *ucy and #tephen.
Maggie and #tephen ake lively conversation between the, and *ucy is happy
for the entertainent. #tephen!s affection toward *ucy has increased, a
subconscious atoneent for his ental attention to Maggie. 9utwardly, Maggie
and #tephen reain distant though attuned to each other. They do not
counicate out of *ucy!s copany.
9ne day, when *ucy is out, #tephen stops in to drop off soe usic for
*ucy. #tephen pets the dog, Minnie, who is sitting in Maggie!s lap and hopes to
receive one of Maggie!s 'long looks.' They ake conversation awkwardly.
#tephen!s entioning of 4hilip causes Maggie to reeber herself and ove
away fro #tephen. #tephen iediately feels foolish for having coe and
assues Maggie has guessed his reason for coing $ust to see her. .e asks
Maggie if she!d like to walk in the garden. In the garden, #tephen offers Maggie
his ar, and they walk without talking. #oon, Maggie, wondering at her own
otivations and actions, excuses herself and runs inside. (ack inside, she cries,
wishing for the peace of 4hilip!s presence. #tephen wonders how he can think of
Maggie constantly, though he is alost engaged to *ucy. .e vows to control
hiself in the future.
Chapter /II
4hilip coes to the Deane!s the next orning, and Maggie greets hi with
tears&she has begun to view 4hilip as 'a sanctuary where she could find refuge
fro an alluring influence.' 4hilip still has their last private eeting and
declarations of love fresh in ind and senses a change in Maggie. *ucy leaves
the alone, and Maggie tells 4hilip that she ust leave for another teaching $ob
soon. #he adits her otive of 'trying to ake herself a world outside <loving=,
as en do.' 4hilip again chides her for her attepts to find 'a ode of
renunciation that will be an escape fro pain.' Maggie happily subits to
4hilip!s chiding and hopes that he does not guess at her confusion over #tephen.
#tephen arrives for a visit, and he and 4hilip sing a duet. Then 4hilip sings a
tenor song in which the singer tells 'the heroine that he shall always love her
though she ay forsake hi.' Maggie knows that the song is for her but feels only
'touched, not thrilled.' #tephen denounces the sentiental love of the song and
saucily sings, '#hall I, wasting in despair, 2 Die because a woan!s fair>' During
the next song, Maggie rises to get herself a footstool, but #tephen anticipates her
need and gets it for her. 4hilip notices the looks of pleasure in Maggie!s and
#tephen!s faces. Mrs. Tulliver coes in to announce lunch.
+t lunch Mr. Deane asks 4hilip 1uestions about his father!s ownings. *ucy
later asks her father what the 1uestions eant. Mr. Deane reveals to *ucy To!s
wish for ,uest A Co. to reac1uire Dorlcote Mill fro -ake. *ucy begs to be
allowed to tell 4hilip of To!s wish and have hi bring it about. Mr. Deane is
confused about this ethod but allows her to try.
Chapter /III
*ucy has told 4hilip of To!s desire to reclai Dorlcote Mill, and 4hilip has
coe up with a plan to accoplish this and iprove his chances with Maggie.
4hilip asks his father up to his studio to see his newly laid%out sketches, two of
which are his portraits of Maggie. -hen Mr. -ake asks about the, 4hilip
explains that they are of Maggie Tulliver and tells his father of his love for
Maggie, of their eetings in )ed Deeps, and of his wish to arry her if she will
have hi. -ake furiously disapproves of the atch, but 4hilip reains
rational. -ake argues that the Tullivers are beneath the. 4hilip points out
that Maggie takes no part in faily 1uarrels and that all of #t. 9gg!s would
consider Maggie well above 4hilip, with his defority. -ake leaves.
4hilip goes out for a walk and a boat ride and returns in the evening.
-ake returns to 4hilip!s studio later that evening and concedes that Maggie
does see to love hi. -ake reconciles with 4hilip affectionately and offers to
visit Maggie. 4hilip then explains the issue of Dorlcote Mill to -ake, who
signals his willingness to give up the property.
Chapter I8
It is the day of the #t. 9gg!s ba"aar, and any en visit Maggie!s stall to ask
about her goods, a detail which will be reebered by the woen of #t. 9gg!s
unfavorably in the future. #tephen is paying uch attention to *ucy in this public
setting. Mr. -ake visits Maggie!s booth and pleasantly buys goods fro her,
speaking generally, but significantly, about 4hilip. #tephen coes to Maggie!s
booth late in the day, and Maggie appears agitated, looking up at 4hilip, who is
sitting in the corner observing the. #tephen follows her look, seeing 4hilip, and
reali"es the attachent between 4hilip and Maggie.
#tephen approaches 4hilip and akes nervous talk about his own antipathy
to Maggie, and 4hilip calls hi a 'hypocrite.' The two part. Meanwhile, Maggie
sits at her stall in despair at the thought that life was always 'bringing soe new
source of inward strife.' Dr. 6enn, seeing the pain on Maggie!s face, visits her
stall. Dr. 6enn!s presence is soothing to Maggie, and she explains to hi that she
ust soon leave #t. 9gg!s again. Dr. 6enn senses the urgency behind this need.
-e learn that *ucy has reported to Maggie that the ill can be reclaied by
To, thanks to 4hilip. Maggie has not spent tie with 4hilip lately, leaving her
alone to struggle internally with her feelings for hi. +fter the ba"aar, Maggie
tells *ucy that she is leaving in two days to see her aunt Moss and then is taking
up a governess position at the end of the onth. *ucy is hurt and confused about
why Maggie would leave now that there are no obstacles between Maggie and
4hilip. Maggie explains that To still ob$ects. *ucy offers to speak with To, but
Maggie insists she ust leave #t. 9gg!s and 'leave soe tie to pass.' *ucy asks
Maggie if she does not love 4hilip enough to arry hi, but Maggie responds
that she would choose to arry 4hilip because it would be 'the best and highest
lot' for her.
Chapter 8
The night before she leaves for Mrs. Moss!s, Maggie attends a dance at
#tephen!s house. #tephen does not ask Maggie to dance as he cannot think of her
without thinking of 4hilip, too, now that he senses the attachent between the.
(ut as Maggie begins to dance a country%dance, #tephen begins to hunger for her
closeness. +fter the dance, he approaches her and suggests they go for a walk. In
the conservatory, looks and silences ake up a 'oent of ute confession'
between the, and there is a sad resignation that they will soon part for good.
Maggie reaches to pick a rose, and #tephen ipulsively kisses her ar. Maggie is
instantly hurt and angry that he would think so lightly of her. 0et Maggie is also
relieved that her prideful reaction to #tephen!s insulting gesture will ake it
easier for her to renounce hi and face her duty.
The next orning 4hilip visits Maggie before she leaves for the Mosses!.
Maggie is affectionate to 4hilip like they had used to be, but she tells hi that she
ust go away again. #he explains that she cannot do anything against To!s will.
4hilip, suspicious, asks her if this is the only reason they cannot be together, and
Maggie answers affiratively and believes it.
Chapter 8I
Maggie has been at her aunt Moss!s for four days, when #tephen rides up to
the house. #tephen clais to have a essage for Maggie, and they walk out of the
Mosses! yard together. Maggie angrily berates #tephen for pressing hiself upon
her. 4hilip, in turn, berates Maggie for her lack of feeling for the suffering he
feels, 'ad with love' for her and trying to resist, while she treats hi as though
he were a 'coarse brute.' .e explains that he would give her his hand in arriage
if he could and that he has repented his rash action in the conservatory, but it was
coitted because he 'loves <her= with his whole soul.' Maggie forgives hi
iediately but is reluctant to indulge hi affection. They walk further, and
Maggie urges hi to think of *ucy and explains her own attachent to 4hilip.
#tephen argues that if she loves hi as uch as he loves her, then it wouldn!t be
wrong for the to arry. .e argues that they are neither forally bound to *ucy
or 4hilip. Maggie agrees that their feelings for each other are strong but explains
that when 'such feelings continually coe across the ties that all our forer life
has ade for us' then they should be renounced. Maggie agrees to give hi one
kiss before they part, and then she hurries back to the Mosses! where she cries in
her aunt!s ars.
Chapter 8II
Maggie travels to her aunt, Mrs. 4ullet!s, where the Dodson faily is having
a party to celebrate To!s reac1uisition of the ill. The faily chatters about
who will donate what to To for his house and about the unsatisfactoriness of
Maggie!s returning to a governess $ob, when she ight stay at one of her aunts!
houses instead. -hen the party is over, *ucy has convinced To to drive her and
Mrs. Tulliver hoe. *ucy sits up front with To and tells hi about 4hilip!s use
of his influence to get -ake to sell the ill. *ucy hopes that To will reverse
his feelings toward 4hilip, but To refuses. +ll *ucy has accoplished is aking
To suspicious that Maggie will arry 4hilip.
Chapter 8III
Maggie returns for a final visit to the Deanes! before leaving for her new $ob.
#tephen has felt copelled to dine at the Deane!s to see Maggie as uch as
possible before she leaves. .e takes interest in little else besides watching Maggie
and singing. Maggie, too, is beginning to feel slightly selfish and allows for their
nightly glances to each other.
9ne afternoon when 4hilip is visiting, *ucy invites hi on a boatride with
the the next day. #tephen bows out, claiing not to like such a large nuber of
people in a boat, but 4hilip senses that Maggie is his reason for not coing.
4hilip agrees to row Maggie and *ucy the following orning. *ater that evening,
4hilip observes a glance between Maggie and #tephen and sees Maggie 1uickly
look guiltily to hiself. 4hilip goes hoe feeling and stays awake feeling alost
certain that Maggie and #tephen have feelings for each other.
In the orning, 4hilip has ade hiself too ill with $ealousy to keep his
date to row with *ucy and Maggie. .e sends a note to #tephen saying he cannot
go and asking #tephen to take his place. Meanwhile, *ucy has scheed to ride
ahead to *indu with her father to leave 4hilip and Maggie alone on the
boatride. Maggie looks forward to a day spent with 4hilip!s calness.
-hen #tephen arrives, Maggie is flustered and explains that they cannot go.
#tephen entreats Maggie to go, and Maggie subits. #tephen rows Maggie
downriver, and Maggie feels she is in an 'enchanted ha"e.' #uddenly, Maggie
reali"es they have passed the eeting point with *ucy by a long way. Maggie
begins to sob in fear, but #tephen cals her and asks her to run away with hi to
be arried. .e argues that they are passive actors in their own fate&despite all
their avoidance, they have been thrust together today and the fate has pulled
the away fro #t. 9gg!s and *ucy. Maggie resists #tephen&he has put her in a
difficult position on purpose. #tephen contends that he didn!t notice how far
they!d coe until they passed *uckreth. .e is hurt and offers to stop the boat and
take the blae. Maggie is affected by this iage of #tephen suffering. .e oves
next to her, and they float on in silence. #tephen takes her silence for yielding and
rows on toward Torby.
+ trading boat nears the, and #tephen suggests they get on it and ride to
Mudport before it begins raining. Maggie is exhausted and feels that no decisions
can be ade today. #tephen feels he has triuphed and ururs words of love
to Maggie, about their life together. Maggie goes to sleep for the night on deck
with #tephen watching over her.
Chapter 8I/
+t B?CC a.., near dawn, Maggie has a drea that #t. 9gg!s boat is coing
at the across the water, and the /irgin is *ucy and first 4hilip, then To, is #t.
9gg. They row right past Maggie though she calls out to the and leans toward
the. .er leaning capsi"es her own boat in the drea, and she 'awakes' to find
herself a child again the parlor at Dorlcote Mill with To not angry with her.
Maggie soon truly awakes and feels an iediate sense of resolve to resist
#tephen. #tephen awakes, and they walk around the boat together waiting for the
D?CC a.. docking at Mudport. #tephen senses a change in Maggie!s attitude, but
Maggie is unwilling to tell hi she will leave hi until the last inute. -hen
Maggie does tell hi, #tephen becoes angry but escorts her off the boat to look
for an inn. Maggie senses that soeone in the crowd is approaching her, but she
does not see who it is. +t the inn, Maggie asks for a roo for the to sit down.
Maggie tells #tephen that she cannot believe in their love because it would ean
causing pain to others that rely on the. #tephen argues that is too late&the
daage has been done. .e insists that they have 'both been rescued fro a
istake' and that Maggie ust not love hi as uch as he loves her if she can
consider leaving. .e warns her about what #t. 9gg!s will say of her, even now, if
she returns iediately. #tephen, pained, tells her to leave hi at once, and she
does. #he gets echanically into a coach without speaking and doesn!t reali"e
until late that night that the coach has brought her to 0ork, farther fro her
hoe. #he gets a roo in an inn and thinks of #tephen.
Chapter I
To stands outside Dorlcote Mill. Maggie has been gone for five days, and
(ob 3akin has reported seeing her with #tephen at Mudport. Maggie arrives at
the ill, looking worn and tired fro her $ourney fro 0ork and the headache
that kept her in bed there for over a day. Maggie approaches To to tell hi
everything, but To, looking at her face, knows that the worst has happened&his
sister has returned unarried and disgraced. .e re$ects her, 'I wash y hands of
you forever. 0ou don!t belong to e.' .e will not listen to Maggie!s explanations.
Maggie turns away to leave, and Mrs. Tulliver reaches out to her and offers to go
with her. To gives his other oney, and Mrs. Tulliver gets her things.
Maggie takes the to (ob 3akin!s. (ob takes the in with no 1uestions,
though he know has heard all the town ruors about Maggie and #tephen after
he saw the at Mudport, and is perplexed at seeing Maggie now alone. #everal
days later, (ob coes into the sitting roo where Maggie is and gives her to hold
his new baby, who they have naed after Maggie. Maggie asks (ob to go to Dr.
6enn!s and ask hi to coe to Maggie while Mrs. Tulliver is out. (ob reports that
Mrs. 6enn has $ust died and that he wouldn!t like to approach Dr. 6enn so soon.
Maggie agrees to wait several days. (ob finally gets the courage to ask Maggie if
she has been wronged Eby #tephenF in any way. Maggie, surprised, says no and
siles at (ob!s veheent wish to 'leather hi till I couldn!t see' in the event of
#tephen!s isconduct. (ob gets up with the baby but offers to leave Mups the
dog for copany.
Chapter II
#oon all of #t. 9gg!s knows that Maggie has returned, without #tephen. If
she had returned arried, public opinion would have been sypathetic and
welcoing. (ut, having returned unarried, Maggie!s conduct is seen in the
worst light and even her very physical appearance is interpreted ungenerously.
#tephen, however, is seen in a positive light&as having been under Maggie!s
spell, but now having got rid of her as soon as possible. The town knows of
#tephen!s letter, sent fro .olland a week after Maggie!s return, taking all the
blae on hiself, but the town interprets this as false but gallant on #tephen!s
part.
Maggie, eanwhile, takes little notice of the town gossip, being too
occupied with anxiety about #tephen, *ucy, and 4hilip. .er 'life stretched before
her as one act of penitence.'
Maggie has decided to eventually persuade Mrs. Tulliver to go back to live
with To at the ill, while Maggie finds soe way to earn a living. Mrs. Tulliver
visits the Deanes! every day to check on *ucy, who has been feeble and bedridden
since the news. Mrs. Tulliver can get no news of 4hilip. In desperate hopes of
ore news, Mrs. Tulliver visits Mrs. ,legg.
-hile Mrs. Tulliver visits Mrs. ,legg, Maggie leaves (ob!s to walk to Dr.
6enn!s. It is Maggie!s first tie out of doors, and she is et by nasty looks and
insolent treatent. Maggie!s pride is hurt, and it occurs to her for the first tie
that people ay think she!s done worse than $ust violate *ucy!s confidence&they
ake think she!s been coproised sexually.
Maggie reaches Dr. 6enn!s and tells hi everything. Dr. 6enn is receptive&
he has read #tephen!s letter and believes Maggie. .e congratulates her on the
'true propting' of her instinct to return to her past and her friends. Dr. 6enn
urges Maggie to find work in another town and offers to help. (ut Maggie
explains that she has already written to excuse herself fro her suer work, as
she desires to stay in #t. 9gg!s. Dr. 6enn agrees to try to help her find work in #t.
9gg!s.
Chapter III
Mrs. Tulliver reports to Maggie the unexpected news that Mrs. ,legg is
standing by Maggie. Mrs. ,legg apparently had gone to To to reprove hi for
re$ecting his sister before knowing the whole truth? 'If you were not to stand by
your !kin! as long as there was a shred of honour attributable to the, pray what
were you to stand by>' Mrs. ,legg has been standing strong on Maggie!s behalf
against any others. To, at least, however, reains unoved in his refusal of
Maggie. Mrs. ,legg has offered to take in Maggie and not reproach her.
Mrs. Tulliver reports that *ucy has begun to sit up in bed and take notice of
people, though there is still no word for Maggie of 4hilip. Mrs. Tulliver laents,
for the first tie, the turn of faily luck for the worse, and Maggie sadly repents.
Maggie finally asks Dr. 6enn about 4hilip, but no one has any word of hi,
since -ake refuses to answer 1uestions about his son. Finally, though, Maggie
receives a letter fro 4hilip expressing his forgiveness and understanding and a
proise to wait for her and not press his continuing love for her. .e credits
Maggie!s conduct in leaving #tephen and his love for her with having brought hi
out of egoistic $ealousy to a state of 'caring for <her= $oy and sorros ore than for
what is directly <his= own.' Maggie collapses in tears upon reading the letter at
the thought of 4hilip and *ucy!s pain.
Chapter I/
Dr. 6enn becoes ore and ore frustrated at the unwillingness of the
woen of #t. 9gg!s to eploy Maggie. .e decides to offer her a $ob as governess
for his children. The town soon begins to talk of Maggie!s power over Dr. 6enn
and the horrid possibility of their arrying. The Miss ,uests report the
connection between Maggie and Dr. 6enn in a letter to #tephen. They also ask
#tephen to $oin the on the coast, where they will be taking *ucy to rest.
*ucy has been gradually recovering. Maggie longs to see her but knows it
would cause *ucy too uch agitation, even if she were allowed. Maggie despairs
upon hearing that *ucy will soon leave for the coast.
9ne evening, Maggie hears soeone coe in the house. #he feels a hand on
her shoulder and hears *ucy!s voice call her nae. *ucy has snuck away fro her
hoe to see Maggie and forgive her. Maggie repents and explains that she never
eant to deceive *ucy. *ucy coforts Maggie, acknowledging that they have all
suffered. Maggie asks *ucy to forgive #tephen as well, but *ucy trebles and is
silent. *ucy!s aid, +lice, interrupts, to urge *ucy to hurry. *ucy hugs Maggie
and tells Maggie, 'you are better than I a,' before leaving.
Chapter /
The day after *ucy!s visit the weather changed in #t. 9gg!s and rain has
fallen continuously, aking the Floss dangerous, especially for nearby houses
such as the 3akins!.
It is #epteber, and Maggie sits, the last one still awake in the house, with a
letter fro #tephen in front of her. Two days prior, Dr. 6enn, finally overcoe by
the slanderous gossip about hi and Maggie, asked Maggie to leave #t. 9gg!s for
a while. Maggie trebles at the thought of the loneliness she will face, having left
#t. 9gg!s.
#tephen!s letter reports that he is back fro .olland and is in Mudport,
unbeknownst to anyone else. .e reproaches her for her cruelty to hi. .e
stresses the severity of his suffering since their parting and begs her to ask hi to
coe to her. Maggie is tepted to accept this escape fro her loneliness and
exile. (ut soon she reebers her feelings upon having read 4hilip!s letter and
upon having et with *ucy and begins to pray. #he cries out for #tephen to
forgive her, saying of his suffering, 'It will pass away. 0ou will coe back to her.'
#he then burns the letter and resolves to write hi a letter of final parting
toorrow.
Maggie resolves to herself, 'I will bear it, and bear it till death @ (ut how
long it will be before death coesG' Maggie falls on her knees and suddenly feels
cold river water flowing under her. The Floss has begun to flood. Maggie wakes
up (ob and his wife. The first floor is being inundated, and Maggie wades
through the water to get (ob!s two boats outside of the house. #he gets one of the
boats to (ob, before she and the other boat are carried out onto the open water.
Maggie begins to paddle towards the ill in the dangerous current of the Floss.
Maggie rides the current downriver, then paddles the boat out of the current and
over toward the Mill in a feat of strength. Maggie reaches the ill. To is at the
attic window. Mrs. Tulliver had gone to the 4ullets! the previous day. To gets in
the boat and takes the oars. -hen they reach the current again, he finally reali"es
what a iraculous effort Maggie has ade to save hi. .e speaks only his nae
for her, 'MagsieG' They row on towards the Deanes! and *ucy, but before they can
get there a piece of wooden achinery capsi"es their boat, and they drown
together ebracing each other.
Conclusion
It is five years later, and all of the characters of the novel are still living
except To and Maggie. 4hilip and #tephen visit Maggie!s grave. 0ears later than
this, #tephen and *ucy visit Maggie!s grave together, and 4hilip visits alone.
Maggie and To!s tob reads, 'In their death they were not divided.'
Major Characters
Maggie Tulliver - Maggie Tulliver is the protagonist of The Mill on the Floss. When the
novel begins, Maggie is a clever and impetuous child. Eliot presents Maggie as more
imaginative and interesting than the rest of her family and, sympathetically, in need of
love. Yet Maggie's passionate preoccupations also cause pain for others, as when she
forgets to feed Tom's rabbits, which leads to their death. Maggie will remember her
childhood fondly and with longing, yet these years are depicted as painful ones. Maggie's
mother and aunts continually epress disapproval with Maggie's rash behavior, uncanny
intelligence, and unnaturally dar! s!in, hair, and eyes. Yet it is only Tom's opinion for
which Maggie cares, and his inability to show her unconditional love, along with his
embarrassment at her impetuosity, often plunges Maggie into the utter despair particular
to immaturity.
The most important event of Maggie's young life is her encounter with a boo! of
Thomas a "empis's writings, which recommend abandoning one's cares for oneself and
focusing instead on unearthly values and the suffering of others. Maggie encounters the
boo! during the difficult year of her adolescence and her family's ban!ruptcy. #oo!ing
for a $!ey$ with which to understand her unhappy lot, Maggie sei%es upon "empis's
writings and begins leading a life of deprivation and penance. Yet even in this lifestyle,
Maggie paradoically practices her humility with natural passion and pride. &t is not until
she re- establishes a friendship with 'hilip Wa!em, however, that Maggie can be
persuaded to respect her own need for intellectual and sensuous eperience and to see the
folly of self-denial. Maggie's relationship with 'hilip shows both her deep compassion, as
well as the self-centered gratification that comes with having someone who fully
appreciates her compassion. (s Maggie continues to meet 'hilip Wa!em secretly, against
her father's wishes, her internal struggle seems to shift. Maggie feels the conflict of the
full intellectual life that 'hilip offers her and her $duty$ to her father. &t is Tom who
reminds her of this $duty,$ and Maggie's wish to be approved of by Tom remains strong.
The final boo!s of The Mill on the Floss feature Maggie at the age of nineteen. )he
seems older than her years and is described as newly sensuous*she is tall with full lips,
a full torso and arms, and a $crown$ of +et blac! hair. Maggie's unworldliness and lac! of
social pretension ma!e her seem even more charming to )t. ,gg's, as her worn clothing
seems to compliment her beauty. Maggie has been often unhappy in her young
adulthood. -aving given up her early asceticism, she longs for a richness of life that is
unavailable to her. When she meets )tephen .uest, #ucy /eane's handsome suitor, and
enters into the society world of )t. ,gg's, Maggie feels this wont for sensuousness
fulfilled for the first time. )tephen plays into Maggie's romantic epectations of life and
gratifies her pride. Maggie and )tephen's attraction seems to eist more in physical
gestures than in witty discussion, and it seems to intoicate them both. When faced with a
decision between a life of passionate love with )tephen and her $duty$ to her family and
position, Maggie chooses the latter. Maggie has too much feeling for the memories of the
past 0and nostalgia for a time when Tom loved her1 to relin2uish them by running away.
Tom Tulliver - (s a child, Tom Tulliver en+oys the outdoors. -e is more suited to
practical !nowledge than boo!ish education and sometimes prefers to settle disputes with
physical intimidation, as does his father. Tom is 2uite close to Maggie as a child*he
responds almost instinctively to her affection, and they are li!ened to two animals. Tom
has a strong, self-righteous sense of $fairness$ and $+ustice$ which often figures into his
decisions and relationships more than tenderness. (s Tom grows older he ehibits the
/odson coolness of mind more than the Tulliver passionate rashness, though he is
capable of studied cruelty, as when he upbraids 'hilip Wa!em with reference to 'hilip's
deformity . 3epelled by his father's provincial, small-minded ways and the mess these
ways caused the family, Tom +oins the ran!s of capitalist entrepreneurs who are swiftly
rising in the world. Tom holds strict notions about gender*his biggest problem with
Maggie is that she will not let him ta!e care of her and ma!e her decisions for her. Tom's
character seems capable of love and !indness*he buys a puppy for #ucy /eane, and he
often ends up reconciling with Maggie*but the difficult circumstances of his young life
have led him into a bitter single- mindedness reminiscent of his father.
Mr. Tulliver - #i!e the other main characters of The Mill on the Floss, Mr. Tulliver is the
victim of both his own character and the circumstances of his life. -is personal pride and
rashness causes his ban!ruptcy4 yet there is a sense, especially in his illnesses, that
Tulliver is also sheerly overwhelmed by the changing world around him. Tulliver is
somewhat more intelligent than his wife*a point of pride and planning for him*yet he
is still $pu%%led$ by the epanding economic world, as well as the compleities of
language. The lifestyle to which Mr. Tulliver belongs*static, local, rural social networ!s
and slow saving of money*is 2uic!ly giving way to a new class of venture capitalists,
li!e Mr. /eane. 'art of the tragedy of Tulliver's downfall is the tragedy of the loss of his
way of life. Mr. Tulliver is one of the few models of unconditional love in the novel*
his affection for Maggie and his sister, Mrs. Moss, are some of the few narrative bright
spots of the first chapters. Yet Tulliver can also be stubborn and obsessively narrow-
minded, and it is this that !ills him when he cannot overcome his hatred of Wa!em.
'hilip Wa!em - 'hilip Wa!em is perhaps the most intelligent and perceptive character of
The Mill on the Floss. -e first appears as a relief to Maggie's young life*he is one of the
few people to have an accurate sense of, and appreciation for, her intelligence, and 'hilip
remains the only character who fully appreciates this side of Maggie. 'hilip himself is
well read, cultured, and an accomplished s!etcher. 'hilip's deformity*a hunched bac!
he has had since birth*has made him somewhat melancholy and bitter. #i!e Maggie, he
suffers from a lac! of love in his life. -is attraction to Maggie is, in part, a response to
her seemingly bottomless capacity for love. 'hilip's gentleness, small stature, and
sensitivity of feelings cause people to describe him as $womanly,$ and he is implicitly
not considered as a passionate attachment for Maggie. &t is 'hilip who urges Maggie to
give up her unnatural self-denial. -e recogni%es her need for tran2uility but assures her
that this is not the way to reach it. Through the remainder of the novel, 'hilip seems to
implicitly offer Maggie the tran2uility that she see!s*we imagine that Maggie's life with
'hilip would be calm, happy, and intellectually fulfilling.