Autobiographical Elements

(In The Mill On The Floss )

George Eliot‘s early memories of places and persons have been
closely woven into the fabric of the novels. “The mill on the floss”
is an autobiographical novel and the novelist has put more of
herself in this novel than in any other novel. “The mill on the floss”
is the spiritual autobiography of Marry Ann Evans & the history of
Maggie Tulliver is the history of Marry Evans also W.R Nicoll
goes to the extent of saying ,
“ So long as George Eliot is read , wise readers will turn to “The
Mill on the Floss” as the best , the trust & the most authoritative
account of her own complex character.”
infact Maggie’s struggles are her author’s transposed into
fiction.
Importance Of Autobiography:
Psychologically every person wants to lead a smooth life. But
those who receive a tragedy after tragedy in life essentially want
to have some catharsis by shedding some drops of tears.
These tears can be of various types. It may be some saltiest
water from the eyes or may be the use of saltiest ink on pages.
George Eliot does not drop the dew drops from her eyes
because she does not want to be laughed at. She adopts
another method to get rid of the constant burden of mind. For
this purpose she creates some characters in her novels which
are the real projection of G. Eliot‘s life.
Resemblance in early life:
There is a close parallel between the characters & life stories of
Marry Evans & Maggie Tulliver. Emotionally & spiritually,
Maggie is identical with Mary ann. Maggie like her creator, has
the intellectual potentiality for which the environment into which
she is born does not provide much courage. She has desperate
need for affection and intimate personal relations. Maggie is the
fullest revelation we can have of George Eliot in her youth. To
Mrs. Tulliver, Maggie seemed “half an idiot” in some ways- for if
she sends the child upstairs for something, Maggie forgets what
she had gone for, and would “ sit down on the floor in the
sunshine and plait her hair and sing to herself like a bedlam
creature …..” The practical, house proud Mrs. Tulliver cannot
appreciate Maggie and sighs “It seems hard as I should have
but one girl and her so comical “. Similarly Mary Ann Evans had
unmanageable hair & was no comfort to her mother in house
work either. Mary Evan’s father Robert‘s true English nature
and temper are reproduced in Mr. Tulliver and like Maggie.
Mary Ann also was the favourite of her father. Marry Ann
adored her brother Isaac as Maggie her own (Tom). Their
romping, fishing , excursions, their pudding and puffs & cakes
are almost the same . Isaac also had an untidy playtime very
like Bob Jaken of the novel.

Similarity in location:
“The mill on the floss” is a “master piece of memory”. In the
sense of clerical life she had made use of the stories relating to
early domestic circle. She now took herself for a heroine and
scenery is supposed to be in Lincolnshire and the town of St
Ogg ‘s is said to represent Gainsborough. But her native district
still supplies the detail. The “Round pool” to which she had
gone on fishing are expeditions with her brother and the “Red
deeps” which had been a favourite haunt’ are transported from
Griff to Dorlcote mill. The attic to which Maggie retires in the mill
is the attic to which George Eliot had retired in her father’s
house.

Resemblance in families:
There is a close parallel between the family of Mary Ann &
Maggie Tulliver. The writer tells us her history in detail and
gives us the correct information about her aunts and uncles.
Mary Ann‘s mother was one of the four sisters of the Pearson
family and their social and financial superiority and snobbery
provide the material for the portrayal of the four Dodson sisters.
Robert had three children Christiana the first daughter, Isaac
the son & Mary Ann the youngest. The sort of life led by Isaac
and Mary as a boy & girl is almost like that of Tom & Maggie in
the first two books. I
n portraying the character of Lucy, the author resembled her
own sisters Christiana who was neat & pretty quite a contrast to
Mary Ann.

Resemblance in nature:
There is a close affinity between Maggie’s nature and that of
Mary Ann Evans, Maggie‘s nature is impulsive like her creator.
Mary Ann had troubles with her rebellious locks & dresses
similar to those of Maggie. Books like “The Pilgrim‘s Progress”,
” History of the Devil‘s”, & Aesop’s fables “ were the favourites
of Mary Ann as with Maggie. The mental sharpness, the
clinging affectionateness, the ambition, the outlook beyond the
present , the religious & moral pre occupations, the thirst for
knowledge, the spiritual & moral conflicts, the passionate high
thinking , love of music and everything truly beautiful , these are
common to both Maggie & Mary . Like Maggie , Mary too used
to speculate that as she was younger the smaller fish would
come to her fish in road and bigger to Tom’s .George Eliot
speaks for Mary Ann when she says in the novel ,
“ It’s a wonderful subduer, this need of love – this hunger of the
heart …..as peremptory as that other hunger by which nature
forces us submit to the joke & change the face of the world”
It is even said that Marry Ann had an adventure with gypsies as
Maggie runs away with gypsies in the course of novel. Mary
Ann doted on Issac just as Maggie does on Tom.

Resemblance in love affairs:

“The Mill on the Floss” is an experience re- lived by a woman
approaching the maturity of her powers “ which makes it
sometimes glows like an October sunset and sometimes
tremble like a daffodil in an April breeze”.
Mary Ann Evans’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, the fifteenth century author of “ Imitation of Christ” .
There was a constant struggle between her head and heart ,
convention & emotion. Marry Ann was passionately attracted
towards George Lewes who was a married man. She defined
her family‘s wrath and lived with Lewes though unmarried to
him. The action led to her alienation from her brother Isaac. It
has a close parallel to tom’s reaction to Maggie’s affair with
Stephen. But here reality departs from art because Maggie
renounced Stephen Guest as a lover who did not legitimately
belong to her W.R Nicoll asserts that “The Mill on the Floss” is
“the best , the truest and the most authoritative account of the
novelist ‘s own complex character”.

Resemblance in Drowning Incident:

Death by drowning had also been a part of Mary Ann’s life. Her
grandfather George Evans died by drowning. She had seen
people crying in the cruel clutches of flood. In “The Mill on the
Floss” she had delineated the same situation when Maggie &
Tom are swallowed by the flood.
Winding up the discussion, we can say that the novel “The Mill
on the Floss” is a direct representation of the writer’s most
intimate characteristics. But to call novel wholly
autobiographical would be wrong. It is mainly the first two
volumes of the novel that can be called a “ spiritual
autobiography” of Mary Ann Evans. A .W ward observes that
George Eliot has “poured most abundantly the experiences of
her own life when it had still been one of youth & hope.”