Middlemarch

Character Guide

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Dorothea Brooke (Dodo)

An idealistic, intellectually earnest young gentlewoman living with her uncle, who longs for a great purpose in life and dreams of aiding a great mind's work.

Mr. Edward Casaubon

An elderly, reclusive clergyman-scholar reputed for his profound learning and long-labored (but as yet unpublished) work of religious history; he becomes Dorothea's suitor.

Will Ladislaw

Mr. Casaubon's young second cousin, artistic, restless, and independent-minded, whose relationship to Casaubon's household draws him into Dorothea's orbit.

Tertius Lydgate

A newly arrived young doctor in Middlemarch with progressive medical ideas and ambitions of scientific discovery, determined to practice honestly despite local custom.

Rosamond Vincy

A beautiful, accomplished young woman from a prominent Middlemarch family, admired for her music and polish, who catches Lydgate's attention.

Fred Vincy

Rosamond's amiable but financially careless brother, expected by his family to enter the clergy though his heart isn't in it.

Mary Garth

A plain-spoken, sensible young woman who works as companion to the wealthy old Mr. Featherstone and has known Fred Vincy since childhood.

Mr. Nicholas Bulstrode

A wealthy, outwardly pious Middlemarch banker with strict evangelical views, active in founding a new hospital and influential in town affairs.

Sir James Chettam

A good-natured local baronet initially drawn to Dorothea, who later marries within her family circle.

Mr. Brooke

Dorothea and Celia's amiable, scatterbrained uncle and guardian, a landowner with vague dabbling interests in politics and ideas.

Celia Brooke

Dorothea's younger sister, more conventional and practical, often puzzled by Dorothea's intensity.

Rev. Camden Farebrother

A witty, unpretentious clergyman and naturalist, well-liked in Middlemarch, who becomes acquainted with Lydgate.

Caleb Garth

Mary's father, a respected, honest land agent and builder valued for his practical competence.

Mrs. Cadwallader

The sharp-tongued, socially astute wife of the local rector, given to frank opinions about the neighboring gentry.

Glossary

living

A clergyman's appointed church position and its income; a major concern for characters like Fred Vincy and Mr. Farebrother.

codicil

A legal addition or amendment to a will, used pivotally to attach conditions to Casaubon's bequest to Dorothea.

entail

A legal restriction tying an estate's inheritance to a specific line of heirs, discussed regarding the Brooke family property.

Reform / Municipal Reform

Reference to the real 19th-century British political movement to expand voting rights and reform local government, forming the novel's historical backdrop.

Dissenter / Methodist

Terms for Protestants outside the established Church of England; used sometimes disparagingly by characters to describe Bulstrode's evangelical piety.

Whig and Tory

The two main British political factions of the era, roughly reform-leaning versus conservative, whose rivalry shapes town politics.

infirmary / New Hospital board

The governing committee overseeing Middlemarch's medical charity institutions, a site of professional and religious rivalry in the novel.

assessment

A local tax or levy raised for public works, such as the sanitary and burial-ground measures debated at the Town-Hall meeting.

sciolism

Superficial or pretended knowledge; used by Casaubon to disparage Will Ladislaw's intellectual seriousness.

the lowering system

A now-outdated medical practice of aggressive bloodletting and purging to 'lower' a patient's condition, referenced regarding old-fashioned doctors.

Theresa (Saint Teresa)

Referenced in the novel's Prelude and Finale as a figure of frustrated feminine ardor and reforming zeal, used as a touchstone for Dorothea's own thwarted aspirations.

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