Pritiba Gohil's presentation topic for her MA English course examines "Failed Idealism" in George Eliot's novel Middlemarch. The document provides background on Eliot, whose real name was Mary Anne Evans. It defines idealism as an unrealistic pursuit of perfection and how idealism can fail when it is too utopian to achieve. In Middlemarch, several marriages fail to live up to idealistic expectations, such as Dorothea Brooke's marriage to the much older Edward Casaubon due to her youth and disillusions, and Lydgate's marriage due to irreconcilable personalities. As the marriages do not have perfect fairytale endings, Middlemarch deals with the theme of failed

1. Name :- Pritiba B. Gohil
Roll No. :- 21
Course No. 6 :- The Victorian Literature
Presentation Topic :- ‘Failed Idealism’ in Middlemarch
Enrolment No :- PG 14101016
M.A. English Semester - 2
Batch Year :- 2014 - 2016
Submitted to :-
Department of English
Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji Bhavnagar University

2. Middlemarch By George Eliot :-

3. About George Eliot :-
• Mary Anne Evans, who wrote
under the pen name of
George Eliot.
• Born on 22 November 1819.
• Died on 22 December 1880.
• She is the author of seven
novels, including
1. Adam Bede (1859),
2. The Mill on the Floss (1860),
3. Silas Marner (1861),
4. Middlemarch (1871–72),
and
5. Daniel Deronda (1876).
• Mary Anne began writing
Middlemarch in 1869.

4. What is Idealism :-

5. Idealism
• Idealism
• noun: idealism
• the unrealistic belief in or pursuit of
perfection.
• definition :- In popular culture, an idealist is
generally defined as “a person who sees the
world as it could be rather than as it
currently exists.”

6. What is Failed Idealism :-
• Idealism is an utopian idea which can’t
achieved.That’s why idealism fails.
• To much idealism fails.

7. How Idealism Fails In Middlemarch :-

11. Marriages Fails In Middlemarch :-

12.  Idealism About Marriages
And How It Is Failed As Failed Idealism Of Marriages
Will
Ladislaw
Dorothea
Brooke
Edward
Casaubon

13. • Most characters in Middlemarch marry for love rather than
obligation, yet marriage still appears negative and unromantic.
• Marriage and the pursuit of it are central concerns in
Middlemarch, but unlike in many novels of the time, marriage is
not considered the ultimate source of happiness.
• Two examples are the failed marriages of Dorothea and Lydgate.
• Dorothea’s marriage fails because of her youth and of her
disillusions about marrying a much older man.
• While Lydgate’s marriage fails because of irreconcilable
personalities.
• As none of the marriages reach a perfect fairytale ending, we can
say that Middlemarch is a novel which deals with ‘failed idealism’ .