Optative Regret in George Eliot's Middlemarch

Andrew Miller argues that in realist fiction, there exists the concept of optative regret,which is when a character becomes aware of and yearns for alternate versions of him orherself that may have become realized if different choices had been made in his or herpast. George Eliot's Middlemarch constantly confronts the reader with depictions ofsuch optative regret, especially in describing the man'iages of four of the novel'sprincipal characters: Dorothea Brooke, Edward Casaubon, Tertius Lydgate, andRosamond Vincy. I claim that Eliot wrote these scenes of marital optative regret in sucha manner as to provoke her reader into experiencing optative regret for the characters,and to create in the reader a stronger sense of agency in his or her own life. Throughclose readings of scenes of marital optative regret of these four characters, I will illustratehow Eliot wrote those passages in such a manner as to invite her reader to react in anoptative fashion. It is my purpose to expand the conversation about optative regret inrealist fiction and to expand the conversation about George Eliot's novel Middlemarch toinclude a discussion of the effects of Eliot's depictions of optative regret on her readersand her characters.

Name thesis:degree_name

Bachelor of Arts

Level thesis:degree_level

bachelors

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

English

Grantor dc:publisher

University of Toledo Honors Theses

Year dc:date

2012

Author dc:creator

• Andrews, Sandra Hildegarde

Contributors dc:contributor

• Gregory, Melissa

• Literature
• Optative regret
• George Eliot
• Middlemarch
• Dorothea
• Lydgate
• Casaubon
• Rosamond

Statement dc:rights

• unrestricted
• This thesis or dissertation is protected by copyright: all rights reserved. It may not be copied or redistributed beyond the terms of applicable copyright laws.

Language dc:language

English

Repository record dc:identifier

http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=uthonors1355502521

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:etd.ohiolink.edu:uthonors1355502521