Middlemarch continued

After spending a day in jury duty, I burned through almost a quarter of the book. Considering it's 838 pages, I'd say that's not too shabby.

I've really gotten into the book. Whereas it used to be the book on my nightstand that put me to sleep at night, it is now the book that keeps me up way past my bedtime. I've avoided reading the introduction because I didn't want to spoil the plot. It's hard when I could so easily wikipedia this sucker and find out what happens, but I think that would hinder the joy in reading it since I would be paying far more attention to finding foreshadowing than to what's actually happening in the novel.

So far, Dorothea's married Cassaboun. I don't know why Eliot opened the book with the relationship between these two. They are the most tiresome. Cassaboun marries Dorothea because he feels he should get married and Dorothea marries Cassaboun because she wants to be the woman behind the great man and his ideas. Then they go on a disastrous honeymoon to Italy where Cassaboun ignores her the whole time and Dorothea realizes that marriage to him isn't what she thinks it's going to be. However, Eliot does introduce Cassaboun's more interesting cousin, Ladislaw, who's taken an interest in Dorothea. We'll see how that pans out since he's come to Lowick to visit with Dorothea's uncle, Mr. Brooke, much to Cassaboun's dismay. But not really dismay since Cassaboun's too boring to be dismayed.

More interesting are the romances between Lydgate and Rosamond and Fred Vincy and Mary Garth. Lydgate and Rosamond are interesting in that he was a reluctant suitor to her, leading her on when he knew he didn't want to get married yet and she thought that they were basically engaged. Lydgate realized, however, that he wanted to marry Rosamond when he came to run some errand at her house and he realized he hurt her feelings by ignoring her. I guess this the 19th century equivalent of putting a ring on it. I'm excited to see how their marriage turns out considering that he's an orphan country doctor and she's the mayor's daughter. Something tells me she won't take too well to having much less to live on.

Fred and Mary, so far, are my favorite couple. I'm right at the part where Fred's uncle Featherstone dies. Featherstone has a large fortune and it seems as if he's going to leave it to Fred, which would allow him the means to marry. But if he doesn't give his fortune to Fred, then he's without a living and will have to find some occupation. Mary is the girl next door who Fred's always known, but now comes to love. These are always my favorite couples. Mary's sensible and she's basically told Fred that she won't marry him unless he becomes a responsible man. I hope these two end up together.