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Share your thoughts and ideas here for Book Three - Waiting for Death

I am about half way through book three right now and I am very impressed with the diversity of personalities created by Eliot. They are so different which demonstrates such deep observation of others, that I am inclined to feel almost selfish by comparison. I don’t think I notice so many details regarding others the way Eliot demonstrates an understanding of.

For example, the description of Mrs. Vincy’s response to Fred feigning ill.

“All the deepest fibres of the mother’s memory were stirred, and the young man whose voice took a gentler tone when he spoke to her, was one with the babe whom she had loved, with a love new to her, before he was born.�

I have felt this way before, but I had never put it in words. It is very true, that a fresh maternal instinct is born when a child is ill.

This is in contrast to the observation of Lydgate’s role coming on the scene after the older and more experienced doctor has left.

The subtle way Eliot demonstrates the difference in the decision making process between a new and energetic doctor and one who has had experienced enough to know how to pick his battles, is so intelligent.

Lydgate is ready to run off and have a medicine made for him even though it is pretty obvious he is just depressed and possibly embarrassed. Some kind of illness is a great way to avoid people you don’t want to see at the moment.

The older doctor clearly knows that people do this, but doesn’t say this out loud so that they are offended. However, Lydgate does not have this same experience practicing medicine, which is very different than studying medicine, and the reason why new doctors will treat people like Fred and older doctors won’t.

I did horribly on an observation essay years ago in a writing class. I am really learning a lot about the art of observation from the book.

That's interesting, Marie, do you think then that Fred's illness isn't real? I thought he was genuinely ill and that Wrench was just being lazy so he just sent some powders that didn't help.

I agree Lydgate is pretty inexperienced and fevers are his special interest so I think he was very keen to have the chance to observe Fred and try out his theories.

I do think Fred is faking it at the moment because there isn’t really any description that is conveying a real condition, and I don’t think the other doctor would have ignored a fever even though he does seem to have some shortcomings himself.

The condition is being presented from the perspective of the mother and Lydgate, and there is no description of increasing weakness or concerning change in disposition regarding Fred.

However, I do think that he genuinely isn’t feeling well, but it is because of all that happened with Mary and having to admit his debts. I feel bad for him because I do like his character, but I think the illness is an attempt to avoid the situation and gain some temporary positive attention.

I could be wrong though. Now I will have to find some time today to read and find out. :)

Chapters 23 - 27

Fred has really got himself into a mess here, he's well meaning but totally irresponsible and naive. He's easy prey for Bambridge and Horrock - I loved Eliot's description of these two. However, it's Caleb Garth who is going to suffer the most for Fred's foolishness, as he ends up having to pay up for the debts he's guaranteed.

Fred falls ill, and this illness is useful as it brings Lydgate and Rosamund together. Rosamund believes an engagement is certain, Lydgate has the opposite idea but Eliot hints that Rosamund will win the day.

The way Eliot builds up the contrasts between these relationships - Dorothea/Casaubon, Fred/Mary, Lydgate/Rosamund - is fascinating.

Chapters 28 - 33

Dorothea and Casaubon return from honeymoon, and learn Celia is to marry Sir James - another pairing, but this one seems more likely to work as Celia is more down to earth.

It was interesting to see Eliot looking at the marriage from Casaubon's viewpoint. He has followed what society expects of him, he felt he should marry before he was too old, and thought Dorothea would be ideal for him. Eliot is clear she feels sympathy for him, and how can we not join her when we read this ...

"It is an uneasy lot at best to be what we call highly taught and yet not to enjoy: to be present at this great spectacle of life and never to be liberated from a small hungry shivering self - never to be fully possessed by the glory we behold, never to have our consciousness rapturously transformed into the vividness of a thought, the ardour of a passion, the energy of an action, but always to be scholarly and uninspired, ambitious and timid, scrupulous and dim-sighted."

We can see how Dorothea, who is totally passionate and anxious to feel high emotion, is totally unsuited to marriage with such a man.

He falls ill, and I wondered if this who was Waiting for Death (so soon?) but eventually we find it is Featherstone. This deathbed scene is another example of fine writing, sometimes comic as the relations wait around, sometimes quite disturbing.

I loved how innocently Mr. Brooke decides to invite Casaubon‘s cousin to stay with him having no way to know the whole background. It is interesting to me that Casaubon seems to repress admitting his jealousy. I don’t know why, but I expect him to be more in tune with expressing the way he is feeling since he is clearly able to make decisions thoroughly.

Casaubon and Dorothea are an interesting match because in many ways, they seem perfect for each other. Their expectations for life seem like they should be having a great time, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. It seems like the sense of being burdened by each other is started to replace the excitement over what they expected to offer and receive from each other.

However, it is all in a somewhat amusing way and I wonder if there is some way to form a final conclusion about life when it is all said and done. For example, sometimes the bitterness of life has its own sense of humor. Something like this.

Marie wrote: "It is interesting to me that Casaubon seems to repress admitting his jealousy. I don't know why, but I expect him to be more in tune with expressing the way he is feeling since he is clearly able to make decisions thoroughly..."

That's an interesting point, Marie. He certainly is jealous, the reader can see it clearly, and unsurprisingly as it's obvious that Ladislaw's openness and enthusiasm is really appealing to Dorothea.

I guess it's part of Casaubon being closed in and afraid of emotions - Eliot often comments on how his timorous nature brings him unhappiness. He is happy with making decisions when he is using his intellect, but uncomfortable when emotions come into play. So he just closes his mind to his feelings rather than own them.

Yah, I can already feel sparks flying between Dorothea and Ladislaw.

I agree with you that Casaubon has been portrayed as very closed in since the beginning when he was pursuing a marriage as though he were hiring a staff member. Although, I have also wondered since the time of their honeymoon whether Casaubon was jealous because of the age difference between Dorothea and himself.

Dorothea is described as young and attractive and he is middle aged. Maybe this makes him feel a little insecure as well. Overall, the inability to be honest with himself about the cause of his jealousy makes him seem at risk to become rather controlling. He is already indirectly controlling Dorothea so that she is trying to accommodate him even though his true complaint remains a mystery.

Definitely an incentive for being honest with oneself.

Fred sounds like a young and willful kid who has never been held responsible, nor had any real responsibilities in his life. Essentially, he is somebody who has always lived high on the hog. It’s understandable that he’s financially reckless and willfully ignorant, both seen through his coasting through college without any real prospects after graduating, and his gambling debt. Fred and Mary, I love the idea of this potential coupling and the trials and tribulations associated with their union because these two come from different walks of life, one benefiting the other in many ways. Fred’s affections for Mary, I find very genuine. Where I begin to cringe, in regards to Fred, is his approach to pursuing Mary, or how he insists on Mary seeing him…as someone to take pity upon, as something that needs a quick fix. At present, there isn’t much about Fred that makes him worthy of Mary’s affections because he simply comes off as a spoiled and impetuous child. While his saving grace is that he is “is� pititful, that there is a vulnerability to him, to want to capitalize upon it for love makes him look even weaker than he really is.

All I can say about Mary is…God love that girl! She comes from meager means, yet is far more worldly, cultured and intelligent, compared to her counterpart Fred. Get it together, Fred! Mary’s foresight alone should be commended, considering how she saves Fred from Featherstone’s scheming even during his last moments at his deathbed. God love, Mary!

The medical community and Lydgate, their brewing amongst one another is slowly coming to a head. One has to hand it to Lydgate, a real David vs Goliath theme at play here, to go up against peers admonishing the use of antiquated medicines and pursuing newer approaches considered “flightly, foreign notions.� I shook my head in both love and irritation during this part in the reading. I loved it.

What I wasn’t expecting about Lydgate is the rate at which his fondness for Rosamund both escalated and deescalated within a page or two? Boy, did she deflate his prospects for her, the inability to notice the importance and aspirations Lydgate has for his work. In fact, Eliot writes, he held it one of the prettiest attitudes of the feminine mind to adore a man's pre-eminence without too precise a knowledge of what it consisted in. While Rosamund thinks Lydgate to be a perfect match for her based on what she sees on the surface (Lydgate’s occupation and demeanor), he no longer thinks the same of her…does he? What gives me pause is Lydgate’s interaction with Mrs. Bulstrode about Rosamund. I was under the impression he had no interest in Rosamund, but then at the turn of a page, he proposes marriage to her? What was it that Eliot is trying to convey here� are we prisoners to our circumstances, does destiny outmaneuver our free will?

I am the last person to consider myself well-read within the Victorian genre because I found myself riveted by the narrative in these last few pages. While Eliot alludes to Cassaubon’s celibate tendencies in previous chapters, the blatant sexual (or lack there of :P) undertones were unlike anything I have ever read in novels from this era. I have to hand it to Eliot, kudos to her for depicting not only sexuality between man and woman, but the reality of the idiosyncrasies that surface between people over time. I was most taken by Dorothea too, standing by Cassaubon as a dutiful and emotionally struck wife, wanting to better the quality of Cassaubon’s life

Ami wrote: "All I can say about Mary is ...God love that girl!.."

Yes yes yes! she quickly became one of my favourite characters. She's decent and honourable without being preachy, and it's so nice to see a 'plain' character be of romantic interest to one of the heroes.

I was under the impression that he had no interest in Rosamund, but then at the turn of a page, he proposes marriage to her? What was it that Eliot is trying to convey here... are we prisoners to our circumstances, does destiny outmaneuver our free will?

That's an interesting thought, it's certainly an idea Eliot plays with from time to time. Maybe also that Lydgate, for all his stubbornness faced with Mrs Bulstrode interfering, is actually more fond of Rosamund than he wants to admit (hence his return to the house after 10 days) and then easily swayed by the near presence of a beautiful girl, especially one in tears? "Remember that the ambitious man who was looking at those forget-me-nots under the water was very warm-hearted and rash".

Pamela wrote: "Ami wrote: "All I can say about Mary is ...God love that girl!.."

Yes yes yes! she quickly became one of my favourite characters. She's decent and honourable without being preachy, and it's so nic..."

"Remember that the ambitious man who was looking at those forget-me-nots under the water was very warm-hearted and rash".
Bingo. This must be it...warm-hearted and rash.