THE MILL ON THE FLOSS:

Autobiographical Elements in
“The Mill on the Floss"
“The Mill on the Floss" stands out among George Eliot’s novels, as the one which she was most closely
involved emotionally. It is not an autobiographical novel in its each and every actual event. Maggie’s story is
not wholly like -Mary Ann Evans. But the general view is that “The Mill on the Floss" is a novel interwoven
with autobiographical details such as the early memories of places and persons. Leslie Stephen calls the first
two volumes of the novel virtually a spiritual autobiography. F.R. Leavis asserts that “ Maggie Tulliver is
essentially identical with the young Marry Ann. H. W. Ward observes that " The Mill on the Floss" is a novel
into which G. Eliot has proved most abundantly the experience of her own life. If we read carefully the
biography of G. Eliot, and her novel “The Mill on the Floss”, we find a number of parallels between the two.
There are similarities between the experiences, incidents, characters and environments of G. Eliot’s life and
Maggie’s. The most significant aspect of autobiographical element we find in the novel is its characters,
which are picked from G. Eliot’s own personal life. In Maggie’s character, G. Eliot has reflected her own
personality. Her appearance was like Maggie’s, whose rebellious nature, unkempt locks of hair and brown
skin are similar to G. Eliot’s. Tom represents her brother Isaac. Lucy stands for her sister Crissey who is a foil
to G. Eliot. She presents her father in the portrait of Mr. Tulliver. Her mother was one of the four sisters of
the Pearson family and their social and financial superiority provides the material portraits of four Dodson
sisters. All the characters play the same role as G. Eliot’s own relatives. Through Maggie and Tom’s
childhood, she reflects her own early life. Maggie’s childhood with all its traits and tribulations, longings and
frustrations is related to G. Eliot’s own. George Eliot was often scolded and criticized in her childhood,
compared unfavorably with her sister Crissey. Maggie with her dark hair and brown skin is thought o be an
ugly girl by her mother and aunts. Besides physical appearance, Maggie resembles G. Eliot in nature also.
Like G. Eliot, Maggie possesses a sensitive nature. When her aunts point to her dirty hair, she cuts them off.
To Mrs. Tulliver, Maggie seems half an idiot. Mrs. Tulliver cannot appreciate Maggie and sighs: "It seems
hard as I should have but one girl and her so comical." Marry Ann Evans had unmanageable hair and was no
comfort to her mother in housework either. George Eliot’s grandfather, a George Evens, a builder and a
carpenter, accidentally died by drowning. Death by drowning is a conclusion in some of G. Eliot’s novels.
Tom and Maggie Tulliver end thus. Marry Ann's father, Robert, was a strong and sturdy carpenter. Robert’s
true English nature and temper are produced in Mr. Tulliver and, like Maggie; Marry Ann also was the
favourite of her father. In portraying the character of Lucy, the author remarked her own sister Christiana
who was neat and pretty- quite a contrast to Marry Ann. The sort of life led by Isaac ad Marry Ann as a boy
and girl is almost like that of Tom and Maggie in the first two books of “The Mill on the Floss". Marry Ann
adored her brother as Maggie her own. Their romping and fishing excursions, their puddings and puffs and
cakes are almost the same. She loves her brother Tom so much that she ° innocently says: "l love Tom, so
dearly- better than anybody else in the world. When he grows up, I shall keep his house and we shall always
live together". Maggie is jealous when Tom shows affection to Lucy and she pushes Lucy into the mud. She
runs away to the gypsies when Tom hits her for her misbehavior with Lucy. It is even said that Marry Ann
also had an adventure with gypsies. Maggie’s love with Stephen is an allusion to Marry Ann's love with
George Lewis. He was a married man as Stephen is engaged to Lucy. George Eliot was intensely sensitive to
masculine beauty, a handsome face, long straight limbs and a rich bass voice. When she let Maggie fall in
love with Stephen, she knew, she could have done the same under the same conditions. She liked much of
Stephen’s physical perfections as of Tito’s. Maggie, the true child of her author, had the same full nature.
She knew in her inmost soul the real nature of her love for Stephen. She battled her way through these
tempestuous passions and just when the cup of nectar was held to her thirsty lips she dashed it away and
returned to the difficult path of duty. The ground of Maggie's resistance was that on which George Eliot
built the teaching of morality to which she clung throughout her religious doubts. George Eliot lived with
Lewis without marrying him.

The actions led to her defame. We see the same reaction on the part of Tom who refused to give any shelter
to Maggie after her supposed elopement with Stephen Guest. The whole episode may be taken as
autobiographical but there is difference that Maggie rejects Stephen as lover but G. Eliot lived with Lewes
happily though he did not belong to her lawfully. George Eliot's early religious views underwent a change
and she passed through a crisis, moral and spiritual, very much like Maggie who comes under the influence
of Thomas A Kempis, a writer , whose book was given to her by Bob Jakin. From this book, she learns the
importance of renunciation. There was a constant struggle between her head and the heart, convention and
emotion. Thomas Kempis had helped George Eliot’s own passionate and perturbed childhood. Out of the
depth of her own experience she wrote the pages related to Maggie’s dilemma, which are highest anywhere
for their extreme beauty. There are similarities between the environment and places. The Round Pool called
the Moat was also a favourite haunt of Marry Ann in her girl hood. Like Maggie, she too used to speculate
that as she was younger, the smaller fish would come to her fishing rod and the bigger to Tom's. Again the
Red Deeps also were a favourite resort with Marry Ann. In short, the character of young Maggie is an image
of Marry. The mental acuteness, the ambitions; make- believe stories, the thirst for knowledge, the spiritual
and moral conflicts and love of music are common to both Maggie and Marry Ann. But to call the novel
wholly autobiographical would be wrong. Mainly the first two volumes of the novel can be called a spiritual
autobiography of Marry Ann. So to a great extent it is the autobiography of G. Eliot’s own life as the above
discussion proves. According to L. Cooper, "Her second long novel, The Mill on the Floss, was the book in
which she drew most directly her own early life."

Written and composed by:

Prof. A. R. Somroo
M.A. English, M.A. Education
Cell phone: 03339971417
 THE MILL ON THE FLOSS
Character of Maggie Tulliver:
Maggie Tulliver is the central figure of the novel "The Million the Floss". Walter Allen says that she is "the unifying
principle of the novel." She is the character with whom the readers really identify themselves. The way in which G.
Eliot has traced the transformation of Maggie from an ugly duckling to the attractive heroine is a fine piece of artistic
skill. As Masefield has pointed out, "We do not so much read as watch a living and developing childhood." Maggie
grows before us from a child to a girl and then to a young woman. In this novel, we are concerned with the child
whose cleverness and her quickness are subdued by criticism and convention. In this novel “The Mill on the Floss" we
also find autobiographical elements. Through Maggie, Eliot has portrayed her own early childhood. Maggie's
childhood with all it trials and tribulation, longings and frustrations is akin to G. Eliot’s own childhood. Like Maggie, G.
Eliot also fell in love with a married person and lived with him without marrying him. This incident is apparently
modified into the Maggie-Stephen affair. As a child, Maggie grows into a complex child. She is dark with hair that will
not curl, so her mother and aunt regard her as an ugly duckling. Her mother and aunts do not love her. They always
criticize her. She has a great need for affection and intimate inter-personal relationship. It is only her father who loves
her. Only her father can appreciate the "real" Maggie. He always takes her side and defends her. She too loves her
father. Maggie has a mind as well as a heart. As a child, she is much quicker at learning than Tom. Her imagination is
fertile and vivid. She is a sensitive, imaginative and passionate girl. When upset, she creates for herself an imaginary
world which is just what likes the real world to be. Her response to criticisms shows her sensitive nature .She drives
nails into her doll, which is the symbolic target for Maggie's revenge against unhappiness. Maggie also loves her
brother Tom very much as G. Eliot loved her brother Isaac .Her childish declaration reveals how much she loves her
brother Tom: "l love Tom so dearly better than any body else in the world . When he grown up, l shall keep his house
and we shall always live together". Maggie reveals her jealousy when she pushes Lucy into mud because Tom pays
more attention to Lucy. Though Tom often hurts her feelings yet she always loves him. She refuses to marry Philip
because Tom does not approve of it. Though Tom has stopped her to enter the house after her supposed elopement
with Stephen yet she cannot forget her brother when flood comes, the safety of her brother is the uppermost thought
in her mind. She puts her self into danger and goes in a boat to Tom's house. In the end, pathetically the River Floss,
the companion of their childhood, reunites them in an eternal embrace. When Tom in the boat, calls her "Maggie"
she at last gains that "mysterious, wondrous happiness, that is she is tender and kind hearted. She has not lost the
need to love and be loved. The affection developing from tender pity for the deformed Philip in her young days
matures into love for the intelligent boy. We cannot call it Love because Philip's well-furnished mind wins her respect.
The affinity between the two is inevitable, for both are lonely, emotional and sensitive, craving for affection and
sympathy. In case of Phillip, she is stimulated both mentally and sympathetically. Her sympathy for his physical
deformity assumes the colour of affection like a religious person. Sexually, she is quite un-awakened and it is the only
warm affection and pity she has for him. However, Maggie cannot continue her relationship with Philip. Throughout
her life, Maggie is torn between duty and desire, personal happiness and family ties, and her liking for Philip is one
victim of this conflict. She is a virtuous girl and resists Stephen's love with all her conscious moral sense. Though she is
physically attracted to this man who seems to have come from the world of beauty, love and delight, she does not
indulge herself into immoral deeds. Maggie’s elopement with Stephen in which she cannot so much be blamed for
active participation as for passive compliance is a subject of criticism by moral critics. But Maggie's final decision to
sacrifice her own happiness with Stephen comes when she burns his letters. This is true renunciation. She has
experienced passion and knows the pain of giving it up to the call of conscience. She gives up Stephen, knowing that
she would cause great misery to Philip and Lucy if she married him. Maggie Tulliver is a complex personality whose
actions cannot always be explained logically. The conflict between duty (social traditions) and personal desire; loyalty
to others and her own personal happiness is acute and painful. Stephen's letter asking her to marry him in spite of
everything is the final test. The battle of emotions in her mind is stupendous. It is indeed the great moment of
temptation. At last, she decides to renunciation. This is again a self sacrifice. She realizes that she cannot achieve real
happiness as Stephen's wife for her conscience will pose a great burden for her. As a whole, Maggie is kind, generous,
loving and capable of complete self sacrifice. But she is also human in her weaknesses which, with circumstances,
cause her tragedy. . The self sacrifice that has helped Maggie to give up Philip first and Stephen next, is finally
directed to the rescue of her brother in that moment of dire calamity, the sweeping flood of the River Floss. In the
end, we can say that in Maggie, G. Eliot has created a heroic figure of classical type.

Written and Composed By:

Prof. A.R. Somroo
M.A. English, M.A. Education
Cell: 03339971417
 The Ending of the Novel
“The Mill on the Floss"
The ending of the novel "The Mill on the Floss” is that part of the novel which has been criticized heavily
and has marred the brilliance of this work of art which is otherwise as perfect as a novel can well be made.
"The Mill on the Floss" is one of the finest imaginative works of English language, as Dinah Mulock holds it
in a high esteem.
The first two volumes of the novel are well balanced in which Maggie's childhood and are so fully treated
that the closing episodes appear melodramatic and unconvincing. The catastrophe is worked out in the last
chapter entitled “The Last Conflict". The ending of Maggie is perhaps the only solution for the complicated
problems of her life. George Eliot herself admitted that the close of her novel suffered because she had
treated the first two volumes too fully to allow herself the necessary place to prepare the tragic climax.
Walter Allen says: " lf you have a river in a novel, a flood is always tempting." According to Dinah Mulock, "
The Mill on the Floss" is a great work of art, but about the abrupt end of the novel, this critic says: " The
author cuts the Gordian Knot by creating a flood in the Floss, which wafts this poor child out of her troubles
and difficulties into another world".
Some of the critics have appreciated the present ending of the novel. They call this ending of the novel as
the finest one, artistically, and in their views, it is equally fine in a moral sense; that the death of Maggie
and Tom is a glorious mercy killing showing that even at the eleventh hour, temptation is conquered, error
at once and love reconciled, the life is complete; its lesson has been learnt ,its work done. There is nothing
more needed but the movement to an immediate haven. But we should not have been left to feel
undecided whether this death was a transition or an escape.
Walter Allen too has advocated and justified this ending by saying that Maggie's rescue of her estranged
brother in the flood and their reunion in death is well prepared. According to her, the Foss flows from the
beginning to the end. It is there in the title of the novel, it is in the very first sentence as in the last
paragraph. It is closely bound with the Tulliver downfall, in the legend of St. Ogg's and the folk superstition
that when the mill changes hands the river is angry, and in the doom-laden references to death by drowning
as Mrs.Tulliver says "They are such children for the water, mine are that they shall be brought in dead and
drowned some day”. It is as through nothing but death has been left for Maggie after having made her final
act of self sacrifice. But then Walter Allen has contradicted this first idea and showed her dissatisfaction
over Maggie's death, by viewing, even so, the manner of the death is fundamentally unsatisfying, as the last
paragraph of the novel, indicates. After this statement she has stated from the novel the following extract
to advocate her views:"The boat reappeared... but brother and sister had gone down in an embrace
never to be parted: living through again in one supreme moment, the days when they had clasped their
little hands in love, and roamed the daisies fields together.
The novel does not prepare us for the part played by the river in reaching the conclusion and solving the
problems. In the earlier Books, the river seems to expose the realities of the characters and events by
exposing human beings to life without opiate. But in the end, it succumbs itself as a work of art to the
unrealities it has been criticizing. After Maggie has burnt the letter from Stephen, she has been left with
nothing but a hope for early death, and author provides a timely and wishful death through drowning; it is
emotionally satisfying that Maggie should attempt to save Tom's life that the brother and sister should die
in each other's arms and that Tom's eyes should at last be opened to his sister's worth. But when we reflect,
we cannot but feel that this poetic justice at the culminating point of a long, serious and naturalistic novel is
a dishonest contrivance.
Sir Edward Bulwer-Lytton also shows his dissatisfaction with the ending of the novel when he says:
"Drowning comes at last, it fails accordingly in the pathos, and there has not been even sufficient care taken
to make that final reconciliation in death of brother and sister as touching as it should be.
The ending of the novel is no doubt, nearly religious and is marked by a strong optional louder show which
betrays the uncontrolled urge to reach an end. But the novel fails for a good reason, the solutions and
conclusions are so visibly needed by the artist, not by the tale", viewed Barbra Hardy.
Richard Simpson advocates the above mentioned opinion and holds that "The flood at the end is a violent
means of cutting the tangled knot of Maggie's destiny". According to him, G. Eliot prepared her readers for
the incongruous event, from the very first line, for the treacherous role of the river. But all this preparation
is insufficient to justify a catastrophe which is out of place. Joan Benet also criticized the abrupt ending
when she opined, "The reunion in death of Maggie and Tom is out of key with the rest of the work."
The whole discussion can be concluded at the following points: George Eliot has cut the knot she was unable
to unravel she has placed Maggie in a dilemma in which no pre-conceived principle could direct her choice;
she has let her choose and then refused to imagine the consequences of her choice. We are temporarily
carried away by the vivid description of her death but the inflated and melodramatic style of the close is a
system of the relaxation of the author's serious concern with her characters. The novel has been about
living without fantasy and opiate, but ends with a combination of several strong fantasies: the fantasy of
death, the fantasy of being finally righted and understood. All of this is enough to prove the ending abrupt
and out of key with the rest of the work.

Written and Composed By:

Prof. A. R. Somroo
M.A. English, M.A. Education
Cell: 03339971417
 The Mill on the Floss
George Eliot as a Modern Novelist:
G. Eliot is a distinct landmark in the history of the modern novel. Fiction in her hand is no longer a mere
entertainment. It strikes rather a new note of seriousness. In G. Eliot's works one is aware of her desire to enlarge the
possibilities of the novel as a form of expression. She wishes to include new themes, to penetrate more deeply into
the characters. According to David Daiches "She was the first English novelist to move in the vanguard of the thought
and learning of her day and in doing so, added new scope and dignity to the English novel." Hudson Says, "In G. Eliot
the novel took its modern form deriving its unity from its plot." Because of the distinct qualities of her art she has
become the pioneer of the modern novel.

Seriousness: The most important quality that takes her in the row of the moderns is her seriousness. She takes
the novel as a medium for the discussion of serious problems and preoccupations of mature life. The great novels of
early Victorian age are designed only for the entertainment of middle class readers. Their subject matter is limited to
those aspects of life which provide entertainment. But this is not the case with G. Eliot. She probes deep into the
spiritual fundamentals of existence. Her novels are a criticism of life. For this quality, her novels are called "The
Novels of “ideas". She makes the reader think. She thinks it a suitable vehicle to explore ideas, religious, political or
abstract philosophy. In "The Mill on the Floss", presenting the character of Maggie, she tells us about the bitter facts
of life as to how a person has to sacrifice his desires for the will of others, how fate binds a person with moral duties
that he himself renounces all his pleasure for the sake of others.

Psychological Analysis: G. Eliot's understanding of the human psyche leads her to the psychoanalysis of the
others. She shows psychological analysis in the portrait of Maggie. What does Maggie feel, think and act at different
times? Why does she become so passionate, jealous and sensitive? All such analysis shows her deep observation of
the human nature. In her, we see a logical growth for the better or the worse in her characters. Stephen Guest in "The
Mill on the Floss" shows a development of character from a shallow minded Young man to a man having enough
moral courage to take blame on himself of an unpleasant happening. We realize the mental anguish of Mr. Tulliver
when he loses the suit and the mill. George Eliot has criticized Dickens for lack of psychological element in his novels.
She says: "He scarcely ever passes from the humorous and the external to the emotional and the tragic”.

Drawing Conclusions: Eliot's active generalizing brain forbids her to confine herself merely to describe or
observe. She draws conclusion, constructs a scale of values, and evokes an attitude of mind. Her novels are a critical
interpretation of life. For instance, firstly she observes the social condition of the society which prevents Maggie from
doing anything according to her wish. When the unhappy incident of elopement occurs, she ascribes the reason to
society, and at the end when Maggie does not find any solution of her problems, she concludes that renunciation
from all worldly pleasures would be better for her. She thinks in this way she will cause less suffering to those whom
she loves.

Tragic Vision: Her stories are tragic because she looks at life with a tragic vision. No happy ending is imposed
upon her novels. Her characters are normal human beings who have no supernatural powers. She looks at character
as thinkers, politicians and souls full of conflict. For instance, Maggie is ugly duckling transformed into a beauty but
she is also a soul torn by conflict between duty and desire, the moral code and her wishes, her desire to have
something and her spirit of sacrifice.

Symbolism: The most important aspect that she has added to the novel is symbolism. She uses one thing for the
representation of something else. These symbols give allegorical and specific meanings to the novel. Through these
symbols she enhances the beauty of the novel and emphasizes its tragic effect. In the novel "The Mill on the Floss”,
the river appears as a symbol of life, fate and destiny. Because of this symbol, the novel has become more complete
and effective. "The Mill" as a symbol represents the economic forces of the area. It controls the lives of three families:
The Tulliver, the Wakems and the Guests. The Flood shows the power of natural forces of destruction.
 “The Mill on the Floss”
Maggie's Moral Dilemma:
George Eliot is recognized as one of the pioneers of psychological fiction. Her novel “The Mill on the Floss" is a
supreme effort on presentation of human mind. Its various psychological conflicts are obvious, when she talks of
Maggie's sufferings and conflicts. The whole novel seems to revolve round the idea of Maggie's conflict or dilemma. A
dilemma means a situation in which one must choose between two or more courses of action, both equally
undesirable. By Moral dilemma we mean a difficult moral choice. This is the central theme of the novel. In “The Mill
on the Floss" we read about the conflict between Maggie's desires and her social duties. We can compare Maggie
with Richardson's Clarissa because both the heroines are thrown into conflict with an unreasonable family authority.
According to Joan Bennet, "George Eliot, conception of moral choice required that her heroine should be faced with a
dilemma. Out of which, there was no happy issue. Maggie Tulliver, the heroine of the novel, is born with an immense
capacity for bestowing love on others and desiring it from others.
As she grows up, she has not lost the need to love and be loved. The affection developing from the tender pity for
deformed Philip in her young days matures into love. It is also debatable whether what Maggie feels for Philip is love
merely a sympathetic liking. When Philip meets magic in the Red Deeps, Maggie is passing through a sort of spiritual
crisis. She finds nothing but suffering and misery all around her. In Philip she finds a companion who can cater to the
deepest cravings of her spirit. But Maggie knows that her brother and father will not allow her to marry Philip. All
through her life, Maggie is torn between duty and desire, personal happiness and family ties, and her liking for Philip
is one victim of this conflict.
Most of us, however, would be a little more disturbed about the late development in the story. The popular view of
love is that it takes place only once in a life time. Therefore, the common reader would find fault with Maggie for
being attracted to Stephen at all. Once she has pledged herself to Philip, she would be expected not even to think of
any body else.
Her meeting with Stephen Guest leads to a worse conflict. Stephen appeals to the sensuous and youthful nature of
Maggie. Maggie is a young and healthy girl. Her nature demands all the depth of feelings which Stephen alone brings
into her life. It has been said that love is a spontaneous feeling. It cannot be artificially created. Therefore, we cannot
blame Maggie if she finds herself so powerfully attracted to Stephen.
Maggie has to suffer tragedy because she has to contend against two forces; inner conflict as well as outer conflict.
The two conflicts are intermingled and integrated, influenced and determined by one another. The external conflict is
embodied first Philip on the one side, and Tom and Mr. Tulliver on the other. Then it is embodied by Stephen on the
one side and Philip, Tom and Lucy on the other. Her brother Tom with his rigid unimaginative moral code simply
cannot understand Maggie. She has to struggle against the narrow minded notions and customs of her family. Up to
the last minute, Maggie has to face adverse comments of society. When she returns without marrying Stephen, she
acts according to her own high principles but she has to face the anger of Tom and the malicious gossip of the town.
She has to face internal conflict also. She cannot totally supersede ways of society or Tom's demands precisely
because her own nature is torn between opposing forces as her sensitivity and thoughtful nature lead to mental
conflict whenever she is in a situation which offers two solutions. Maggie is not satisfied with the little that the world
offers. She herself says to Philip. "I was never satisfied with the little of anything.” From this basic conflict between
her sensuous nature and her moral being, arise the other conflicts in her mind in response to the various situations in
the plot.
In the case of Philip, it is her desire for submission and her desire for independence that comes into clash. She finds
comfort in his company. However, there is a consciousness of doing something which would hurt her father. Thus, a
conflict arises between her desire and her loyalty to family demands. Her sense of duty always has a slight edge over
her personal desires though the result makes her unhappy. This conflict, however, is not very strong because Maggie's
passions are not involved.
In the case of her involvement with Stephen, however, something deeper is involved. Stephen arouses in her the
feelings of sexual love and sexual pleasure. Her sensuous nature now comes into clash with her moral nature and the
result is deep agony for her. She refuses to marry Stephen. She would cause great misery to Philip and Lucy if she
married Stephen. She is not the girl to accept this at the cost of the happiness of others. The conflict between her
duty and personal desire is acute and painful. Stephen's letter, in spite of everything, is the test. The battle in her
mind is stupendous. It is indeed the greatest moment of temptation. Maggie's final decision to sacrifice her own
happiness with Stephen is true renunciation. She had earlier decided to take the path of renunciation under the
influence of the book by Thomas Kempis.
Joan Bennet observes, “Maggie's decision is the result of feeling and not of thought. This self-sacrifice that has helped
Maggie to give up Philip first and Stephen next is finally directed to the rescue of her brother in the moment of dire
calamity, the sweeping flood of Floss. Both Tom and Maggie die. So we can conclude from all this discussion that the
moral dilemma of Maggie is her conflict between duty and desire and she has to struggle against both of them. Her
struggle continues to the very last day of her life. Baker remarks: "The drama is internal; it is the drama of moral
conflict. The conflict is that of ego-centric impulses, good or bad, with an opposing environment.”
 The Mill on the Floss---Maggie-Stephen Relationship:
George Eliot's characterization of Stephen Guest and Maggie's falling in love with him has been facing adverse
criticism from the time of the publication of the novel “The Mill on the Floss". Much has been said against the
Stephen-Maggie episode in the novel. Very few critics have tried to defend this episode. Critics like Saintsbury, Leslie
Stephen and F.R.Leavis say that Stephen Guest is a failure in characterization.
Swinburne is of the opinion that a noble girl like Maggie cannot fall in love with Stephen Guest, a shallow dandy.
George Eliot, however, defended her against the criticism, making clear in a letter written to Blackwood that the
episodes handling was deliberate. She says if the ethics of art does not admit the truthful presentation of a character;
it is too narrow and needs to be broadened with the corresponding widening psychology.
However, the question which a modern reader is faced with is not whether so noble a character as Maggie could be
mastered by her passions, but whether Stephen Guest is presented as a temptation to her. The very first picture of
Stephen is of disagreeable impression. Nevertheless, there are reasons to suppose that G. Eliot intends to give an
impression to be disagreeable. He is a conceited foolish and egotist as compared with Philip Wakems. He is a man
without perception and without chivalry, when placed against Bob Jakin. By doing so, George Eliot meant to show
certain developments in his character under the influence of his love for Maggie. At the first appearance, Stephen is
shown imagining himself in love with Lucy and he likes to smile down from his tall height, with the air of a rather
patronizing lover at the little lady on the music stool. G. Eliot's method of presenting Stephen is through dialogues
which enable her of giving an explicit account of Stephen's motives behind his choice of Lucy for certain
characteristics which were superficial.
But the very next chapter makes him to meet with Maggie who represents the characteristics quite opposite to those
being represented by Lucy. Her qualities which cause him to be taken aback are quite opposite. Maggie is markedly
intelligent instead of merely not stupid; she is tall and dark looking instead of small, fair and pretty. G. Eliot
intentionally makes Stephen under the passionate love choose a lady whom he would
never have thought of selecting in general circumstances and this selection is quite contrary to his deliberate choice of
Lucy. This experience is designed to shatter his complacency, humble his masculine vanity in order to impart a new
depth to his character which may be capable of undergoing a tragic suffering. At the same moment it is essential to
apprehend that Maggie's own love for Philip Wakems is overwhelmed by a strange kind of feeling, unlike any she has
hitherto experienced. Her love for Philip Wakems has been moved partly through the pity she felt for his crippleness
and partly because of her admiration for his keen and well-furnished intellect.
When we reach the boat scene in this chapter, we come to know that Maggie is mastered by her, first on rush of
passionate love for Stephen which springs to meet his love for her. George Eliot allows the bond between them to
become more tightened to the degree of an unbreakable tie. Both of them are conscious of the danger awaiting them.
When she gives her consent to go alone with Stephen on the boating expedition, incidentally, both Lucy and Philip
withdraw themselves for certain self assumptions of their own creation, and Stephen arrives alone. Maggie resists the
temptation but as it does not seem a fatal one she yields.
Stephen is conscious of his will, so he allows the circumstances to move towards the fulfillment of his desires though
he himself is not contriving them. Maggie remains unaware. But she allows her natural impulse to take charge. The
gliding of boat through water symbolizes the way, Maggie letting the things slide. At last Stephan ceased to row, and
laid down the oars. This sudden change roused Maggie. But as it seems it is too late to choose her way. To get back to
St. Ogg's that night is impossible and whatever decision Maggie makes the following morning, she is unable to avert
the suffering that her yielding has caused.
When Stephen wakes and the conflict of wills take place between the "two", the issues remain in dark. Maggie
decision is "an outcome of feelings and not of thought," as Bennet remarks. Stephen addresses her with his own self-
assumption that she will reconcile with the situation: "Dearest you are now mine; the world believes it. In a few hours
you will be mine" But Maggie refuses to act in accordance with the proposal and decides to reveal the reality to both
Philip and Lucy' whose love and trust has been betrayed respectively. When Stephen informs her of the dire
circumstances, which may follow her decision, she remains strict to her decision: "Yes l do--- l will confess everything.
While applying the moral standards to the above situation, we feel that Stephen and Maggie should have shown
more honesty and courage. When they discover that they are in love, their intention to marry Lucy and Philip in the
face of this discovery seems ignoble. When Maggie returns to ST. Ogg's and seeks Dr. Keen's advice. G. Eliot puts her
own words in his mouth. He thinks that “an ultimate marriage between Stephen and Maggie" would be the least evil.
Joan Bennet thinks "George Eliot is hampered by current moral assumptions and also by the traditional norms."
The decision made by Maggie and Stephen was to depend upon the retinal conception of virtue but Maggie falls back
upon the assumption that all self sacrifice is good. After burning Stephen's letter, she is left with nothing to wish for
except to join the majority and the author provide her with wish-fulfilling death through drowning.
We can sum up the above discussion by saying that all the objections concerning Stephen's character and his
relationship with Maggie in the book VI of the novel, are baseless. Leslie Stephen's argument that he is a "thing"
instead of a "man" and a "coxcomb" seems unjustifiable because the change in his character makes him courageous
to take the blame of the elopement upon him, and Maggie's love makes him more honest about his love and imparts
a moral and intellectual up righteousness to his character.
 SYMBOLISM IN “THE MILL ON THE FLOSS"
As a term in Literature, Symbolism is the use of symbols in writing; it means the use of one object to represent or
suggest another, For example, Scales are symbol for justice; Dove, for peace; Cross, for Christianity; Crescent, for
Islam; Journey, for life. The most important aspect that George Eliot has added to the novel is symbolism. She uses
one thing for the representation of something else. These symbols add allegorical and specific meaning to the novel.
Through these symbols, she enhances the beauty of the novel and emphasizes its tragic effect.
In the novel, "The Mill on the Floss" the river appears as a symbol the novel has become more complete and effective.
We are never allowed to forget the river and its influence. The "Mill" is a symbol of the economic life, sustenance and
prosperity. As the story moves with its course, one realizes that the mill assumes a central position in the affairs of
the town. The river imagery in “The Mill on the Floss”, merits close and sturdy because, the author's moral emphasis
is involved here. It also has artistic implications as regards the structure of the novel.
The main point of critical contention with regard to "The Mill on the Floss" is the ending in which Maggie drowns in a
futile attempt to save her brother Tom, from the flood water of the Floss. Many critics are inclined to regard this
event as George Eliot's way of extricating her heroine from a situation that had become too complicated for solution
in this novel. Cornelius Weygand thinks the tragic ending seems imposed. Baker sees the flood as “melodramatic
contrivance". F.R.Leavis states “The flooded river has no symbolic or metaphorical value." Henry Huston remarks:
"Maggie's death, since it seems to be brought about by her effort to save Tom, is quite in keeping with sacrificial
nature.
Actually, the drowning scene is so heavily foreshadowed throughout the novel that it seems almost artistically
impossible for the book to end in any other way. From the very first the reader finds Mrs. Tulliver perpetually
concerned lest her daughter should drown in the stream. We see Maggie, a little girl beside the river Floss in the habit
of wandering up and down along its bank. Mrs. Tulliver, her mother, seems too much worried and fears that her
daughter would die in the river. On one occasion, when Maggie is missing, Mrs. Tulliver expresses this same anxiety
to Tom, and on still another Tom is included in her fears.
The river is related to the legends of the area. One legend is that Ogg’s; a boatman rowed Mary across the river during
a time of storm. . Another legend is that when Dorlcote Mill changes hands, the river is supposed to become angry. So
the river becomes a symbol of fear of flood.
George Eliot takes the fullest advantage of the opportunity to foreshadow, in a subtle but unmistakable manner, the
final event, for her imagery, especially in describing Maggie's state of mind largely in terms of rivers and floods. In the
most significant images of this group, Maggie's passion for Stephen gradually becomes identified with the insistent
flow of fast moving river against which it eventually seems futile to fight. The river takes Maggie not only from St.
Ogg's but from all worldly pleasures, happiness, comforts and prestige. Its careless waves cause her separation from
Stephen, her brother Tom and her loving parents. At this point, it seems that Maggie was spiritually drowned; the
final scene is only the physical drowning.
Another symbol which is used in the novel is "The Mill". But it is not an independent symbol; it is run by the river and
so it is closely related to the river Floss. It is a symbol of sustenance and prosperity. It provides sustenance to Tulliver
family. When the mill is lost, the family is deprived of the basic needs. It also affects the whole family. Tom cannot
complete his studies and his sister has to try to get a job and earn money. Mr. Tulliver has to lose his life.
The very title suggests a symbolic significance for the "River Floss". The rush of the river symbolizes the rush of life
which sweeps along the soul. On a literal level, Maggie's whole life is affected by the quarrel regarding the water
rights. She is carried out to sea along the rivers with the man she loves but ought not to love. Of course, her end
comes in the "River Floss", thus the symbolism is complete. The river plays a material role in Maggie's life and one
gets the impression that she is swept along by a current of circumstances she can neither resist nor control.
The river carries us away from convention. Gradually it becomes the symbol of disaster firmly, moving across the
sunny landscape of Maggie's youthful hopes. It is then "The dark river that followed and moved like an understanding
sorrow." The river suggests fate or destiny, the presence of those mysterious, disturbing forces which influence
human life and bring about unexpected happenings. George Eliot is a psychological realist but behind this realism her
artistic vision could perceive the mysteries of fate. The river Floss is the visible embodiment of the author's sense of
the mysterious destiny. The river thus has a literal as well as symbolic significance in the novel. As N.J. Harvey
observes, "The river is centrally there as a literal fact, for it governs to a large extent, the lives and destinies of the
characters in the novel. It is at the root of ruin of the Tullivers.lt provides Bob Jakin with his livelihood. The river
provides terms to illustrate the inner life of the characters.
The river Floss "Flows for ever around and links the small pulse of the old English farms with the beatings of the
world’s mighty heart", says Robert Speight correctly observing the large dimensions created by the river. The river
and Maggie together express George Eliot's "tragic vision of life."
Written and Composed By:
Prof. A.R. Somroo
M.A. English, M.A. Education.
Cell: 03339971417
 The Mill on the Floss
The Character of Bob Jakin:
In the novel, “The Mill on the Floss", George Eliot has introduced various male and female characters. Maggie is the
central female character of the novel while Tom, Philip and Stephen are some of the important male characters, but
there are various other male characters who stand as evidence to George Eliot's skill in characterization. So is the Bob
Jakin; who has been called by Elizabeth Drew "The only complete human being in the book".
In the novel, Bob Jakin is first introduced to us in book I chapter IV, when Tom, in his childhood, takes yap and joins
Bob Jakin on the river bank. Bob is presented as a poor and rough boy who, however, has a good knowledge of rat
catching, setting traps, climbing trees and finding out strange animals. He is in this chapter, going for catching rats at a
nearby barn. Bob tosses a coin in the air and asks Tom to call “heads" or “tails". Tom calls "tails" correctly but Bob lies
and will not give the coin. Tom fights against him and defeats him. Bob throws down the knife which Tom had once
given him, but would not take it. Bob picks it up and goes away.
Next, in book III, chapter VI, when Mr. Tulliver has lost his law suit and has been forced to sell all his possessions, Bob
Jakin, now a packman, visits them. He remembers the knife which Tom gave him once. Maggie comes and Bob shows
his liking for them by offering sovereigns which he had got as a reward for saving a mill from fire. Tom and Maggie are
touched by his kindness but refuse to take the money.
By reading this chapter we realize that Bob Jakin is an interesting character. He talks a great deal and his way of
talking is that of an uneducated person. He is a minor character but serves to portray the different aspects of human
nature. In spite of his low birth and poverty, he is generous and warm -hearted and thus a contrast to the Dodson’s.
Then we meet Bob in Book IV chapter III, when one day Bob arrives and entertains Maggie, he tells her about his trips
and show he saves materials by measuring shorter lengths of the cloth he sells on account of his broad thumb. Maggie
calls it cheating, but Jakin assures her that he does it only in the case of mean customers. He loves his dog Mumps and
advises Maggie to keep a dog too, saying “Have a dog, Miss!
They are the better friends than any Christian." He gives her some pictures books also. With a simple delight, he
opens up his large red handkerchief and reveals a superannuated, "Keepsake". Maggie is touched by this rare
example of kindliness. Later on, in Book VII, Chapter 1, he helps Maggie again at another crisis of her life. When she
returns from her journey or “elopement" with Stephen Guest, and Tom refuses to accept her, Bob allows Maggie and
her mother to lodge in his house. He ministers to her needs and makes no inquiries about her affairs. Bob's kindness
is unchanging, a repetition of simple acts of kindness. He is not intelligent and has crude ideas but makes up for this
by his original humour and the quality of his love.
Physically, Bob Jakin is a snub-nosed boy with curly red hair and a rather agreeable expression; his clothes are nearly
always tattered and his trousers rolled up so that he can wade into water at any time. When he was a little boy, he
was an authority on the habits and haunts of all the birds, reptiles and wild animals in the neighbor hood. His
business instincts showed at an early age, as he knew exactly where pets could be acquired cheaply and sold at a
good profit. These qualities make Tom spend a great deal of his time with Bob during the holidays, as he was an open-
air boy himself and liked the same pursuits. Maggie, at first, disliked Bob because he so often deprived her of her
beloved brother's company. In comparison with the Dodson’s, it is Bob's generosity which is emphasized.
Against their refusal to do more than the absolute minimum to help their sister and her family, though they can well
afford more, Bob offers Tom his entire capital with which he had planned to equip his peddler’s pack. Bob is the only
person who senses Maggie's loneliness and hunger for reading, and so brings her the package of second hand books.
But the main comparison and contrast is with Tom himself. Bob's business code is not strictly ethical; he uses his big
thumb to satisfy the yardage he sells to his miserly customers. His explanation to Maggie is that he cheats those who
cheat him. Instead of having rigid business rectitude and a cold heart like Tom, Bob takes great delight in his capacity
to get round the women with his tongue. The wonderful comedy of his duel with Aunt Glegg is here noteworthy. But
he has the warmest heart in the world of all those in trouble.
Bob Jakin is also a delightful comic figure. He provides plenty of humour in the novel. He talks a great deal; his flow of
words overwhelms Mr. Glegg who stood "Open mouthed with astonishment." He talks with "unembarrassed
loquacity" and declares that he would simply go crazy if he did not have his dog to talk to. His glib tongue is a great
help to him in his packman's job. His salesmanship is proved when he manages to sell the shrewd and thrifty Mrs.
Glegg, some of his wares in short measure. He makes enough money and feels he should marry but also thinks that
his dog Mumps may not like his wife. But when he does marry, his dog does not seem to mind. As he tells Maggie, his
wife is small in build, and Mumps "pretends" not to see her mostly, or else thinks she is not full grown. He feels his
responsibilities and would not get married until he could afford to provide his wife with a comfortable home.
In short, Bob Jakin is the most important character next to the Tulliver in the novel. He provides a contrast to the rest
of the cast. Low on the social scale, he is however, superior to the others in maturity of outlook and qualities of head
and heart even superior to Maggie as far as shrewd common sense is concerned. He does not have any illusions about
the society around him, but adapts himself to it without losing his integrity. He is the only truly fulfilled and creative
person we meet in the novel. He may be called a masterpiece of characterization. Elizabeth Drew is right when she
declares Bob Jakin "The only complete human being in the book."
 The Mill on the Floss
The Plot Construction:
According to most critics, George Eliot excelled in characterization. As far as plot is concerned, " The Mill on the
Floss'' is usually called a great "flawed novel". Although its plot construction is better than that of most of the
Victorian novels, it is not perfect. Some of the charges against the plot are: excessive biographical touch, artificial
situations, forced ending, disproportion, interruptions in the narrative, and digressions. Although the plot does not
fulfill the standard formula yet it shows the logical development of characters and ideas. The social environment and
incidents are well integrated. All incidents are put forward in a systematic order. They throw clear light on Maggie's
character. The story professes a gripping interest and nowhere is it allowed to become tedious. The movement of
story is rapid enough.

“The Mill on the Floss" is divided into seven books. First book is an introductory one and reveals the early life of
characters and their relations with one another. Second book describes Tom's experiences at school and the
beginning of an emotional attachment between Maggie and Philip. The third book describes the bankruptcy of Mr.
Tulliver and ruin of family resulting from it. The fourth book which is the shortest of all deals with Maggie's spiritual
distress and her attainment of mental peace as a result of her study of a book by Thomas Kempis. In the fifth book,
love affair between Maggie and Philip which leads to the quarrel between Tom and Maggie and Tom's stern
injunction that she would never meet Philip without his permission. The sixth book describes love affair between
Maggie and Stephen, her suffering, mental agony and her choosing the path of renunciation and self sacrifice. In the
final book reconciliation between brother and sister is brought about by flood and their death by drowning.

The structural disproportion is a serious defect in “The Mill on the Floss". The Author has sustained the plot in an
artistic way up to the end of the fifth book. When she reaches the last portion of the novel, she fails to handle it
properly. This is a point at which artistic side of “The Mill on the Floss" becomes inferior to other artistic novels of
George Eliot. Some critics are of the opinion that the novel should have been finished at the end of the fifth book and
that remaining two books are superfluous. We also notice that novel lengthened because the author falls in love with
Maggie whom she has identified with herself. When George Eliot goes with anew love affair of Maggie and Stephen
Guest, the situation goes beyond her control. Now there were two ways for the author either to prolong the novel to
a greater extent in order to handle the situation properly and to show the reader who wins Maggie, Philip or Stephen,
or to end the novel abruptly, and this she has done. This is why the final section of the novel seems forced, unnatural
and melodramatic. George Eliot herself has admitted this charge and has expressed her regret.

The beauty of a novel depends not only on the beautiful beginning and systematic development of its events but also
on a well-thought catastrophe. The best ending of the novel is that which is not sudden and illogical. The ending of "
The Mill on the Floss" look defective because the author has treated Maggie's childhood and adolescence too fully to
allow herself the necessary space to prepare the tragic climax.

Some defects in drawing of Stephen Guest are a contributory cause of dissatisfaction with the end of the novel. He is
introduced at a very late stage whereas the other main characters have been known to the reader since their
childhood. He never wins the sympathy and attention of the reader. He is a coxcomb and insensitive egoist as
compared with Philip. It seems to be the intention of George Eliot to show the development of better things in
Stephen's nature under the influence of his love for Maggie. But this remained in the mind of the author and could
not find expression on the paper. Moreover Stephen finds himself in love with Lucy. She is exactly the sort of woman
he admires. But then he chooses Maggie who is in many ways opposite to that sort of woman. Again, Maggie's
behaviour in this part of the novel is also unconvincing.

Her relations with Philip have gradually developed in the first part of the novel but now she is suddenly attracted by
the physical charm of Stephen Guest. Stephen, as described in the novel, is far from being physically charming to the
reader. This is an artistic failure to carry the reader along with Maggie at this point. Readers are also unable to
understand how and why Maggie is attracted towards Stephen Guest. We are told by the author that Maggie is a
character essentially noble but liable to great error. But it is not clear whether Stephen has made spell on her or she
herself was inclined towards him. Whatever the case may be, she comes under his spell and agrees to go alone with
him on the boating expedition. Then she refuses to marry him and insists on coming back. This fact confuses the issue.
Her decision to come back cannot save Lucy and Philip from misery of knowing that they have been deceived. This is a
sacrifice which is of no advantage to either party. Even from moral point of view it does not seem noble. Stephen is to
marry Lucy and it is expected that Maggie may marry Philip. But in spite of that they think they love each other.

The story is often held up because the author interrupts with the passages of philosophical comments on the
incidents or psychological analysis of characters or description of scenes. Description of town of St. Ogg's is the best
example of such passages which are most organically related to the main plot. The family life of Glegg and
characterization of Bob Jakin are essential to the plot construction. The flood scene in which reunion of estranged
brother and sister occurs is also objected by the critics.

The introduction of flood can be justified on some grounds but the timing of flood and reunion of brother and sister is
arbitrary and melodramatic. The flood can be justified on the grounds that it has been hinted at through the novel.
Frequent image of water, constant fear of Mrs. Tulliver about Maggie's drowning and the legendary background of St.
Ogg's--- all make it possible. But so far as the timing of flood is concerned, it is not correct. It seems that flood is an
outcome of Maggie's prayer. The union of brother and sister is somewhat ridiculous. In this scene Maggie comes back
from Mud port but Tom refuses to accept her. They remain adhered to their characters. Tom is still conventional and
Maggie is still the creature of her instincts. The idea of their union is still unconvincing. It is union for the sake of
union. It is union of ideas or characters. It is emotionally satisfying that Maggie should attempt to save Tom's life and
brother and sister should be in each others arms. But we are unable to feel this union convincing and this thing mars
and confuses the matter.
In spite of the defects pointed out by various critics, we cannot call “The Mill on the Floss" a great "flawed novel".
This has thematic unity. Every thing is centered on the theme which is spiritual development of Maggie Tulliver.
George Levine has rightly remarked that the novel “gains its coherence from a unified vision." Elizabeth Drew asserts;
“lf--- the conclusion of a subjective fantasy is the solution which strikes a false note, the creative achievement of the
whole stands firm." The plot of “The Mill on the Floss" does not follow the standardized formula; even then, it has
better qualities. It has a good sequence of events, logical development of events, and good characterization.

Written and Composed By:

Prof A.R. Somroo
M.A. English, M.A. Education
Cell phone: 03339971417