'Middlemarch' is the greatest novel in English literature.

According to the results of a large-scale poll conducted by The Guardian , involving numerous reputable writers, scholars, and critics, George Eliot's (pen name Mary Ann Evans) novel Middlemarch impressively tops the list of the greatest novels in the history of English literature.

During her lifetime, the writer Virginia Woolf asserted that Middlemarch was "one of the few English novels written for adults." The writer Henry James also praised some of the work as some of the most intelligent scenes in British literature. Even more than a century later, contemporary novelist Martin Amis still admires it and calls it "a novel without flaws."

The timeless influence of Middlemarch

When Middlemarch was published in installments over two years, 1871 and 1872, George Eliot was already a well-established name in literature. However, instead of following the well-worn path of the romantic "marriage plot" previously defined by Jane Austen, Eliot's work begins with a profoundly unhappy marriage.

The central character of the story is Dorothea Brooke, a 19-year-old girl with "intense aspirations." In a conservative and stifling English society, with few opportunities for women to assert themselves, she mistakenly aligns her ideals with Casaubon, a dry and selfish scholar. Alongside this is another marital tragedy: that of the ambitious young doctor Tertius Lydgate and his frivolous and shallow wife, Rosamond Vincy.

By placing an intelligent, noble woman at the center of his work, Eliot reshaped the course of English literature. Critics argue that if Elizabeth Bennet or Jane Eyre were pioneers, then Middlemarch 's Dorothea served as the foundation for later outstanding female characters such as Virginia Woolf's Madame Dalloway, creating a direct connection to the inner depth of women in Sally Rooney's novels today.

The desire for change and moral awakening.

Set in England in the 1830s, just before the Reformation of 1832 and the railroad boom, Middlemarch reflects a society on the brink of transition, as the old order crumbles. However, the reform in Eliot's novel doesn't stop at a political lens. Her characters yearn to change the world, but ultimately, it is the harsh realities of the world that change them.

Throughout the work, Eliot acts as a wise and graceful narrator, constantly breaking down the barriers between herself and the reader to remind us to look at life more thoughtfully. For her, compassion is not an empty slogan but almost a religious belief. The most sacred and beautiful aspect of humanity is found through genuine empathy.

This moral seriousness sometimes leads to Eliot being misunderstood by later generations as dogmatic or boring. Her works are not easily adapted into films, do not penetrate the popular imagination as deeply as Jane Austen or Dickens, and do not inspire contemporary music as much as the Brontë sisters.

However, Middlemarch 's magical appeal lies in its immersive experience within a vast world of realistic literature. Living among the talkative yet imperfect inhabitants of Middlemarch, readers find a strange resonance with the present-day context: a world of social upheaval and instability. From this, readers discover a profound lesson about the meaning of striving for betterment, celebrating the silent heroism of ordinary lives, those whom, as Eliot wrote in his melancholic concluding sentence, "rest in unvisited graves."

George Eliot (1819-1880) was one of the greatest writers of Victorian English literature. She possessed profound intellect and had a far-reaching influence on subsequent generations of writers. Throughout her career, she left behind a vast literary legacy, including many excellent poems, short stories, and, most notably, seven classic novels.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/middlemarch-la-tieu-thuyet-vi-dai-nhat-van-hoc-anh-185260518172937403.htm