The Mill on the Floss portrays the conflict between personal ambition and family expectations - Discuss
To what extent do you agree with this statement?
Introduction
George Eliot’s The Mill on the Floss is by far her most autobiographical novel. The genre of the novel is one of tragedy, written during the Victorian era (Gilmour, 1993). Nonetheless, the term 'autobiographical' as used in reference to this work has a different meaning from the general meaning seeing as the novel is regarded as more of a 'spiritual autobiography' (Moran, 2006). As such, the minute description of the novel's characters along with the situations facing them is not a true reflection of the life of George Eliot. Rather, the term 'autobiographical' describes the spiritual development or growth that the author undergoes. The disparity between Eliot's social conventions and beliefs yields anguish in her matrimony and Christian faith. For example, Eliot stops going to church and effectively abandons her faith, and this does not go down well with her father (Malmgren, 1986). Moreover, when she meets George Henry Lewes and resolves to get married to him, she is disowned by Isaac, her beloved brother, who is opposed to their unorthodox union (Rignall, 2000). The Mill on the Floss was thus written at a time when the author was undergoing a worrying period. In a sense, therefore, we could say that the tone of the novel is somewhat reflective of the anguish Eliot endures. Her personal agony with the internal needs of love and external demands of duty was thus influential in George Eliot's description of the conflict between personal ambition and family expectations.
The plot of the novel is set in the Midlands region of England, and revolves around the lives of a sister and brother; Maggie and Tom. While they may be deeply affectionate towards each other, they only get to understand each other when Maggie nears their tragic death after their boat capsizes and they die. Maggie Tulliver is one of the main characters in the novel which is evident in her relationships with Tom, her older brother, and her romantic relationships (Malmgren, 1986). She is first romantically attracted to Philip Wakem, who is crippled, then to Stephen Guest, a polished and wealthy suitor of her cousin, Lucy. Maggie and Tom are the son and daughter of Mr. Tulliver, who owns the Devecote Mill on River Floss. Maggie is described as a sensitive and intelligent young girl, more than her other family members. In contrast, her brother Tom, whom Maggie endeavours to please and truly adores, is described as an unimaginative and rather dull boy. Nevertheless, he is firm and practical in his beliefs.
The conflict between individual expectations and societal expectations in the novel is best exemplified by Marie Tulliver's character. Her being extremely intelligent places her at odds with the conservative, restrictive, and narrow-minded society that her bother Tom symbolises (Postlethwaite, 2001). As a young child, Maggie fails to fit the model of what defines the proper girl. Her behaviour as a young girl leaves her mother embarassed and she yearns for the day when Maggie will behave like other girls her age. Her father, Mr. Tulliver, is equally perplexed by Maggie's intelligence and behaviour (Rliot, 1860). He indicates that, while most men desire to marry a woman who is not stupid, they are nonetheless likely to be put off by an overly intelligent woman like his daughter. This is because men do not like being challenged by intelligent women. Throughout the novel, Maggie is torn between obeying social conventions or resisting them.
Tom personifies the social and family values that her sister Maggie struggles to achieve. She endeavours to reconcile her individual inner nature and personal freedoms with her brother Tom's narrow nature to no avail. Maggie has a lot of interest in learning and books, unlike her brother. She is also sensitive to art and music (Eliot, 1860). However, her family and society do not approve of these interests. Again, this acts as a source of conflict betweenness Maggie's desire to fulfill her personal ambition and the familial and societal values that a girl of her age is expected to live by. On a visit to Tom's school, Maggie requests Reverend Stelling whether she could study Latin and geometry like her brother. Stelling rather harsh remark that those subjects were meant for boys crushes Maggie and equally leaves her confused given that her family and friends have always described her as "quick", something that she deems desirable until now. This compels Maggie to start imagining that possibly her "quickness" is nothing more than a symbol of her inferiority of mind and female shallowness (Flint, 2001). Maggie also gets into trouble with her family owing to the fact that she harbours a strong desire to be loved and to love. She does not get unconditional love from any member of her family, especially Tom.
Consequently, Maggie is profoundly gratified by the attention that she gets from both Philip and Stephen. At the same time, the attention that she gets from her two lovers is in conflict with the values that her family expects her to espouse (Eliot, 1860). Her family considers Maggie's relationship with Philip shameful on account of Philip's being a cripple, while her relationship with Stephen is viewed as scandalous taking into account that he is the suitor of Maggie's cousin (Flint, 2001). As the novel comes to an end, Maggie is deeply trapped by these rather conflicting urges, so the only escape available to her is death. Her death at the hands of the raging floods signifies the end of the conflicts, and this also acts as a link to her union with her brother Tom. This is not in itself a real solution to the conflicts because had Maggie survived the floods, her union with Tom would have remained a mirage.
The disparities between the Tullivers and the Dodsons early in Eliot's novel also act as yet another source of conflict between personal ambition and family expectations. The Dodsons are portrayed as socially respectable people who are materialistic, but still concerned with observing the set codes of behaviour. They are a symbol of the social conventions that characterise the town of St Ogg (Eliot, 1860). Since Tom's behaviour is in keeping with the behaviour of the Dodsons, what this effectively means is that Tom is by extension a representation of the very things that Maggie feels bind her to the surroundings (Beer, 1986). On the other hand, the Tullivers retain a certain depth of affection and emotion and are also socially respectable (Burdett, 2009). Maggie, on account of her behaviour, is associated with the Tullivers, whereas the Dodsons best describe Tom's behaviour. Tom's father has set high expectations for his son. He would want him to grow up as a responsible intellectual, which is why he sends him to a tutor to learn Latin and geometry. Despite having the best opportunity to get an education, Tom lacks the intellectual potential that Maggie possesses and as such, his privileges prove to be a waste of him. This is because he lacks the capacity and interest to tackle the gentleman’s education that his father wants him to pursue, and which he passionately believes holds the key to his upward mobility. While Tom may be poor in Latin and geometry, he possesses other natural talents that those around him deem valuable, except for his father. Tom can 'predict with accuracy what number of horses were cantering behind him...guess to a fraction how many lengths of his stick it would take to reach across the playground, and could draw almost perfect squares on his slate without any measurement' (Eliot, 1860, p. 259). Although Tom possesses such admirable practical skills they do not make any impression on his teacher Mr. Stelling, who regards him as a 'thoroughly stupid lad' (Eliot, 1860, p. 258).
Like Maggie, Tom is also forced to make do with an education system that he is not cut out for. Nonetheless, Maggie has the yearning to immerse herself in the academic work that Tom has the privilege of being exposed to, as opposed to the polite trivialities that her father and Mr. Stelling regard as sufficient for her. Maggie's intelligence is apparent during her visit to Tom at school, when she asks Mr. Stelling various questions regarding the Roman empire, a development that prompts Tom to realise for the first time, that 'there had once been people upon the earth who were so fortunate as to know Latin without learning it through the medium of the Latin grammar' (Eliot, 1860, p. 282). Maggie longs to study Euclid, which even boys dread, but Mr. Stelling once again made her eat a humble pie by remarking that girls might have 'a great deal of superficial cleverness; but they couldn’t go far into anything. They're quick and shallow.' (Eliot, 1860, p. 281).
While Maggie is undoubtedly intelligent, this is hardly considered an asset. She demonstrates a high ability to read at an early age, and this elicits mixed feelings of anxiety and pride in her father, while Mr. Riley, the auctioneer patronises and admonishes her. The precociousness of Maggie's reading triggers her father to remark that it is "too 'cute for a woman" (Eliot, 1860, p. 278), but he is also quick to admit that he regards the "straight black-eyed wench" dear to him (60). Her mother is also less supportive of Maggie, and she is convinced that her "cuteness... all runs to naughtiness" (Eliot, 1860, p. 13). Clearly, Maggie cannot expect to get encouragement from her family in matters of education, and this discourages her from discussing with them the ideas that she comes across and the direction to take in choosing subjects. Tom’s private education proves worthless when he has to leave school and look for a job after his father losses a lawsuit against Lawyer Wakem, Philip’s father. His "good education" (Eliott, 1860, p. 4) proves unsuitable to his uncle Deane's quest to have him get a job. Consequently, Tom is forced to start attending evening lessons and study "bookkeeping and calculation" (Eliott, 1860, p. 78). His uncle viewed these as more suitable subjects that would help him land a job.
While Tom may not be as intelligent academically as Maggie, he nonetheless has a strong personality as evidenced by his strong sense of justice. However, this makes Tom come out as a rather cruel character and Maggie is aware of this, seeing as it acts as the main cause of her distress. After it came to Tom's knowledge that Maggie and Philip have a secret meeting in the Red Deeps, his deeds and words directed at Philip were a source of deep sorrow to Maggie. Such was the level of disparity in their nature which coincidentally, set the scene for the greatest tragedy that would in turn bring them closer than they had ever been. Although Maggie Tom's loathing of Maggie's actions causes her to develop a rebellious spirit toward him, the familial ties between them prevent her from cutting him off her life completely. Maggie says, ‘I desire no future that will break the ties of the past. But the tie to my brother is one of the strongest. I can do nothing willingly that will divide me always from him.’ (Eliot, 1860, p. 160). Maggie's strong ties to Tom nonetheless, prove fateful. Tom's behaviour both as a child and as an adult in receiving the approval of the world around him, that is, he grows up to become a proud and dutiful person.
On the other hand, Maggie is judge harshly by the world, on account of her rebellious behaviour. She is brimming with imagination and intelligence and is clearly a woman who is living ahead of her time. Her brother and the rest of the family struggle hard to understand her, to no avail. Throughout the novel, George Elliot depicts Maggie as wild, an animal that cannot be tamed. She is compared to "a long-tailed sheep, and a Shetland pony" (Henry, 2008, p. 57). Such comparisons are indicative of the strong connection between her and the natural world. Maggie is ruled by nature, just like the wild animals, as opposed to relying on taught behaviour. This prompts Elliot to describe Maggie as a "small mistake of nature" (Eliot, 2013, p. 77). What this seems to suggest is that while Maggie may be the child of the Tullivers and the Dodsons, there is no resemblance between her and either family because, unlike the others, Maggie never learns their characteristics. Consequently, Maggie acquires her own distinct identity, as opposed to gaining an identity from her parent's upbringing. Her acquired behaviour cannot be changed, but none of Maggie's family members acknowledges that her nature is beyond redemption.
Conclusion
In The Mill on the Floss, George Eliot uses the characters to personify her own life and in this way, address the growing conflict between personal ambition and family expectations that she had to endure growing up as a girl in the Victorian era. Maggie's intelligence and imagination are way beyond her time. For example, she seems to understand Latin and geometry rather effortlessly, even as her brother Tom struggles. Maggie feels strongly connected to Tom, but Tom on the other hand does not reciprocate this love. In fact, the only people who seem to show unconditional love to Maggie are Philip and Stephen. Maggie, on account of her rebellious behaviour, is judged rather harshly by the world because society does not approve of her behaviour.
References
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