Margitte's Reviews > The Mill on the Floss

Maggie sacrifices love for family loyalty in George Eliot's (a.k.a. Mary Ann Evans) semi-autobiographical novel, The Mill on the Floss, published 1860. The novel spans a period of 10 to 15 years and details the lives of Tom and Maggie Tulliver, siblings growing up at Dorlcote Mill on the River Floss at its junction with the more minor River Ripple near the village of St. Ogg's in Lincolnshire, England.

In the introduction to the book, A.S.Byatt(Editor) states:No well-known novel contains so much of the author's own life as 'The Mill on the Floss', All the relatives, the humble life, the attic, the marbles and the fishing, the gypsies, the reading and music, the quarrels and affection, the father who loved his "little wench"—all are reflections of her own girlhood. She had a brother whom she doted upon and feared, who often thought her foolish and wrong. He had refused to see her after she married Lewes, so that we may think of this account of Maggie Tulliver's mistakes as a record of real anguish written by a famous Maggie to an obscure and unforgiving* Tom

While Maggie is the main character, the river, representing broader society, and the mill determine the flow and outcome of this tragedy. There is never a moment when it can be ignored or forgotten.

The full impact and brilliance of the book, is hidden in the plot construction, says A.S Byatt:Invent such an entanglement of five human fates that a little child's finding refuge from the cold means the failure of one woman's revenge, the innocent happiness of another woman, the rescue of one man from despair, the prevention of disgrace for another, the escape from torment and at the same time the punishment of a third, the suffering of an innocent wife for the selfishness of her husband, the uniting of two sets of destinies. No, the plot is a masterly contrivance. The story may be fitly called "her most perfect work."

In another review of the book, the person writes:Maggie Tulliver is one of the most engaging and endearing heroines that a reader will encounter in Victorian fiction. Eliot’s raven-haired and dark-eyed beautiful creation manages to combine the goodness, sensitivity, and natural curiosity of Elizabeth Gaskell’s ‘Molly Gibson;’ the spirit and independence of Charles Dickens’s ‘Bella Wilfur;’ and the wit and humor of Jane Austen’s ‘Elizabeth Bennet.’ Maggie Tulliver has a heart the size of the sun, nearly as bright, and burns just as hotly. She wants to please everyone, all of the time; and it is this propensity to love and be loved that leads to her troubles. Mostly though, Maggie desires more than anything to please her older brother Tom; and, in return, to be unconditionally loved by him.

It is probably one of the most monumentally important books of the nineteenth century, well in cahoots with the subjects in Charles Dickens's novels. George Eliot brought a realism to her work which was traditionally only allowed/acceptable to male authors. The author also addressed sensitive issues, such as marriage and the definition it brings to relationships. It is a sad book for two reasons: 1) the author had to write under a pseudonym, and 2) the autobiographical story ends up in tragedy, like a typical opera. The river Floss, in the end, became the main character that it actually was throughout the book.

The e-book that I've read, had many flaws, which regularly made the reading really challenging. For the life of me, I couldn't figure out what this could mean: / "He's none so full now, the Floss isn't," said Bob, as he ^ kicked the water up before him, with an agreeable sense of being insolent to it. " Why^ last 'ear^ the m rni inw n m il i nil nn r sheet of wate r, they_was»!' "^y;'b'tIt]r^sai3'Tom, whose mind was prone to see an opposition between statements that were really quite accordant, "but there was a. big^. flood once, wh en th e Round Pool w as made.~ inEnow there was, 'cause father says so.

However, there were lighter moments, so skillfully created, which made this book a delightful experience. I did not want to change or edit any of the text. It is pasted here unchanged:

Maggie loved to linger in the great spaces of the mill, and often came out with her black hair powdered to a soft whiteness that made her dark eyes flash out with new fire. The resolute din, the unresting motion of the great stones, gi^nng her a dim delicious awe as at the presence of an uncontrollable force—the meal for ever pouring, pouring—the fine white powder softening all surfaces, and making the very spider-nets look like a faery lace-work—the sweet pure scent of the meal—all helped to make Maggie feel that the mill was a little world apart from her outside everyday life. The spiders were especially a subject of speculation with her. She wondered if they had any relations outside the mill, for in that ease there must be a painful difficulty in their family intercourse—a fat and floury spider, accustomed to take his fly well dusted with meal, must suffer a little at a cousin's table where the fly was au naturel,^ and the lady-spiders must be mutually shocked at each other's appearance.

Another application of skillful wit:

It was not everybody who could afford to cry so much about their neighbors who had left them nothing; but Mrs. Pullet had married a gentleman farmer, and had leisure and money to carry her crying and everything else to the highest pitch of respectability.

The unforgettable, but highly complex characters:

Maggie Tulliver - the impetuous, contradictory, and generous young heroine. She denies herself knowledge and opportunities in her quest to remain loyal to her family. Regarded as wild and gypsy-like by most of her respectable relatives, the sensitive and imaginative Maggie does not fit into the provincial society in and near St. Ogg’s on the River Floss. She worships her brother Tom, who judges her harshly and thinks her unreliable. She explains herself throughout the book, and summarizes her own actions with these words:"Many things are difficult and dark to me - but I see one thing quite clearly - that I must not, cannot seek my own happiness by sacrificing others. Love is natural - but surely pity and faithfulness and memory are natural too. And they would live in me still, and punish me if I didn’t obey them. I should be haunted by the suffering I had caused."

Tom Tulliver - Maggie’s brother. Although never quick at school, Tom assumes financial responsibility for the family when he is only sixteen, after the father has lost his mill and home through a series of lawsuits. Tom pledges to follow his father in having nothing to do with the Wakem family.

Edward Tulliver- the father of Maggie and Tom and the owner of Dorlcote Mill. An emotional and hot-tempered man, Tulliver engages in several lawsuits that, in combination with other financial reverses, cause him to lose his mill. Tulliver must swallow his pride and work in the mill as the hated Wakem’s manager.

Elizabeth Tulliver (Bessy) - Edward’s wife, proud of her birth as a Dodson and grieved that her husband’s temper and improvidence cause her to lose her home and furnishings. She is dependent on the advice and opinions of her more prosperous sisters. Her pleading visit to Wakem inadvertently causes the tragic outcome of the family.

(Excerpts used in this review, comes from this edition: Eliot, George, 1819-1880. “The mill on the Floss.” Chicago, New York, Scott, Foresman and company, 1920. iBooks.)

In the end the book deals with art and culture, society and class, gender, compassion and forgiveness, suffering, religion, home, memory and the past, choices, family, and love.

The Mill On The Floss was undoubtedly a fascinating, often challenging read, due to its length and all the different elements combined in the book. However, it was worth all the time dedicated to it.