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The Mill on the Floss (Version 2)



Description The Mill on the Floss (Version 2)


The Mill on the Floss is George Eliot’s second novel, and was published in 1860, only a year after her first, Adam Bede. It centres on the lives of brother and sister Tom and Maggie Tulliver growing up on the river Floss near the town of St. Oggs (a fictionalised version of Gainsborough, in Lincolnshire, England) in the years following the Napoleonic Wars, with both as young adults eventually meeting a tragic end by the Mill which the family holds so dear. In large measure, their lives are dominated by their father, a successful miller brought down by his inability to resist settling arguments in a court of law. Character differences between Tom and Maggie - he dour and rigid of thought, she lively and impulsive - seem to matter little in childhood, but eventually strain their relationship beyond breaking point. It is Maggie, however, who is the dominant character of the book, arguably one of the great characters of 19th century literature. Each of her relationships is vital to the narrative: with her parents, with Tom above all, but on a romantic level with Philip Wakem, the sensitive hunchbacked son of her father’s (and Tom’s) bitterest enemy, and with charming and urbane Stephen Guest, fiance of Maggie’s cousin Lucy Deane. Maggie’s life is changed utterly by an impulsive elopement which she turns back from, but too late to stop the inevitable abuse and contempt. This is a semi-autobiographical reflection of the vilification which George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans) herself had to endure while openly living with a married man, a time when her brother was willing to communicate with her only through lawyers. Eliot writes of character and relationships with an insight and sharp detail that few authors have ever equaled. It’s a long book, but you will appreciate it for its depth. - Summary by Tom Denholm

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BOOK FIRST. BOY AND GIRL. Chapter I. Outside Dorlcote MillChapter II. Mr Tulliver, of Dorlcote Mill, Declares His Resolution about TomChapter III. Mr Riley Gives His Advice Concerning a School for TomChapter IV. Tom Is ExpectedChapter V. Tom Comes HomeChapter VI. The Aunts and Uncles Are ComingChapter VII. Part i Enter the Aunts and UnclesChapter VII. Part ii Enter the Aunts and Uncles, cont'dChapter VIII. Mr Tulliver Shows His Weaker SideChapter IX. To Garum FirsChapter X. Maggie Behaves Worse Than She ExpectedChapter XI. Maggie Tries to Run away from Her ShadowChapter XII. Mr and Mrs Glegg at HomeChapter XIII. Mr Tulliver Further Entangles the Skein of LifeBOOK SECOND. SCHOOL-TIME. Chapter I. Part I Tom’s ''First Half''Chapter I. Part II Tom’s ''First Half'', cont'dChapter II. The Christmas HolidaysChapter III. The New SchoolfellowChapter IV. ''The Young Idea''Chapter V. Maggie's Second VisitChapter VI. A Love-SceneChapter VII. The Golden Gates Are PassedBOOK THIRD. THE DOWNFALL. Chapter I. What Had Happened at HomeChapter II. Mrs Tulliver's Teraphim, or Household GodsChapter III. Part i The Family CouncilChapter III. Part ii The Family Council, cont'dChapter IV. A Vanishing GleamChapter V. Tom Applies His Knife to the OysterChapter VI. Tending to Refute the Popular Prejudice against the Present of a Pocket-KnifeChapter VII. How a Hen Takes to StrategemChapter VIII. Daylight on the WreckChapter IX. An Item Added to the Family RegisterBOOK FOURTH. THE VALLEY OF HUMILIATION. Chapter I. A Variation of Protestantism Unknown to BossuetChapter II. The Torn Nest is Pierced by the ThornsChapter III. Part i A Voice from the PastChapter III. Part ii A Voice from the Past, cont'dBOOK FIFTH. WHEAT AND TARES. Chapter I. In the Red DeepsChapter II. Part i Aunt Glegg Learns the Breadth of Bob's ThumbChapter II. Part ii Aunt Glegg Learns the Breadth of Bob's Thumb, cont'dChapter III. The Wavering BalanceChapter IV. Another Love-SceneChapter V. The Cloven TreeChapter VI. The Hard-Won TriumphChapter VII. A Day of ReckoningBOOK SIXTH. THE GREAT TEMPTATION. Chapter I. A Duet in ParadiseChapter II. First ImpressionsChapter III. Confidential MomentsChapter IV. Brother and SisterChapter V. Showing That Tom Had Opened the OysterChapter VI. Illustrating the Laws of AttractionChapter VII. Philip Re-entersChapter VIII. Wakem in a New LightChapter IX. Charity in Full-DressChapter X. The Spell Seems BrokenChapter XI. In the LaneChapter XII. A Family PartyChapter XIII. Borne Along by the TideChapter XIV. WakingBOOK SEVENTH. THE FINAL RESCUE. Chapter I. The Return to the MillChapter II. St Ogg's Passes JudgmentChapter III. Showing That Old Acquaintances Are Capable of Surprising UsChapter IV. Maggie and LucyChapter V. The Last Conflict, and Conclusion

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