Background of Novel

Overview
Author Year Published

George Eliot 1860
Type Genre
Novel Tragedy
GEORGE ELIOT 1819–80
An intellectual giant of the 19th century, Eliot used her capacious mind as a translator, literary
critic, essayist, and novelist. The Mill on the Floss showcases her firm grasp of science and
psychology and mastery of description and dialogue, which ensured her a seat at the high table of
English literature.
About the Title
In The Mill on the Floss, the mill of the title, Dorlcote Mill, belongs to the Tulliver family and is
responsible for their prosperity until Mr. Tulliver loses it in a prolonged legal battle and brings his
family to ruin. The Floss is the river that flows through the town and eventually takes the lives of
Maggie and Tom Tulliver when it overflows its banks.
Tense
The Mill on the Floss is written primarily in the past tense, although the narrator occasionally
lapses into the present tense when referring to himself or addressing the reader.
The Mill on the Floss, published in 1860, is based partially on Eliot's own experiences with her
family and her brother Isaac, who was three years older than Eliot. Eliot's father, like Mr. Tulliver
in the novel, was a businessman who had married a woman from a higher social class, whose
sisters were rich, ultra-respectable, and self-satisfied; these maternal aunts provided the character
models for the aunts in the novel. Like Maggie, Eliot was disorderly and energetic and did not fit
traditional models of feminine beauty or behavior, causing her family a great deal of
consternation.
Introduction
By the time Eliot published The Mill on the Floss, she had gained considerable notoriety as an
"immoral woman" because she was living with the writer George Henry Lewes, who was married,
though separated from his wife. Social disapproval of her actions spilled over into commentary on
the novel, and it was scathingly criticized because it did not present a clear drama of right and
wrong. Perhaps the most offended reader was Eliot's brother Isaac, who was very close to her in
childhood but who had become estranged from her when he found out about her life with Lewes;
he communicated with her only through his lawyer. In the book, Eliot drew on her own
experiences with a once-beloved but rigid and controlling brother to depict the relationship
between Maggie and her brother Tom.
Introduction
Published in 1860, The Mill on the Floss was George Eliot’s third novel and also her most
autobiographical. Its focus was a young woman’s struggle for intellectual fulfilment, her forbidden
love and the ruptured relationship between a sister and brother. Much of the plot had parallels to
the author’s own life.
Eliot’s journey began at Arbury Hall in Warwickshire. It was near here that Mary Ann Evans
(Eliot’s real name) was born and developed her literary appetite. Her best friend growing up was
her brother Isaac, yet as adults they became estranged. He was unwilling to accept her
unconventional relationship with the critic and philosopher George Henry Lewes. Being shunned
by her brother was the tragedy that motivated so much of The Mill on the Floss and its focus on
the fractured relationship between Tom and Maggie Tulliver - one of English fictions most
powerful female protagonists.
The life of Eliot herself shaped the book but another powerful influence on Eliot’s work was of the
German writer Goethe. Eliot’s only surviving hand-written manuscript resides in the British
Library. It reveals a strikingly neat set of volumes with little corrections except from subtle
indications in the author’s handwriting which divulge the true extent of the emotional toll of the
book’s denouement on its writer.
Introduction
The Mill on the Floss, novel by George Eliot, published in three volumes in 1860. It
sympathetically portrays the vain efforts of Maggie Tulliver to adapt to her provincial world. The
tragedy of her plight is underlined by the actions of her brother Tom, whose sense of family honor
leads him to forbid her to associate with the one friend who appreciates her intelligence and
imagination. When she is caught in a compromising situation, Tom renounces her altogether, but
brother and sister are reconciled in the end as they try in vain to survive a climactic flood.
Historical Context of The Mill on the Floss
The Mill on the Floss is set in the 1820s, in the period following the Napoleonic wars. In the wake
of Britain’s triumph, many of the inhabitants of St. Ogg’s—a fictional town in Lincolnshire, a
region in the northeast of England—feel confident about the British empire and its predominance
in the world. At the same time, however, there are some suggestions of social and political unrest.
Characters like Mr. Tulliver, Mr. Riley, and Mr. Deane make frequent reference to the “Catholic
Question,” which is a reference to the Roman Catholic Relief Act (1829). This piece of legislation
finally made it legal for Catholics to openly practice their faith, vote, and sit in Parliament, after
centuries of disenfranchisement in England (a Protestant country since the sixteenth century).
Although this was regarded as a step forward for religious tolerance, some characters in The Mill
on the Floss worry that civil liberties for Catholics will lead to rebellion and dissent, suggesting
that anti-Catholic prejudice was still deeply held in provincial areas like St. Ogg’s. In addition,
The Mill on the Floss is widely regarded as George Eliot’s most autobiographical novel. Maggie
Tulliver is often seen as an avatar for Eliot, who also grew up as a bookish and intelligent girl in a
rural community, a farm in Warwickshire, that didn’t support her literary ambitions. Maggie’s
volatile relationship with Tom recalls Eliot’s relationship with her brother, Isaac. Isaac
disapproved of Eliot living with a man (George Henry Lewes) outside of marriage. He and Eliot
were estranged for many years as a result, just as Tom rejects Maggie after her botched elopement
with Stephen Guest.

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