The Mill on the Floss

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1860

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Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 1, Chapters 1-13

Part 2, Chapters 1-7

Part 3, Chapter 1-Part 4, Chapter 3

Part 5, Chapter 1-Part 6, Chapter 14

Part 7, Chapters 1-Epilogue

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

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Discussion Questions

Themes

Family Loyalty Above Individual Happiness

In The Mill on the Floss Eliot explores the contradictions between familial expectations, the influence of society, and the desires of the individual. Most of the conflicts in this novel are brought on by the issue of family loyalty over individual happiness. Although Eliot ultimately proves that family loyalty is important, she also warns her reader against ignoring the individuals that make up a family and community.

As the only son of the Tulliver family, it is Tom’s duty to continue the honor of the Tulliver name because if Maggie gets married, she will lose her identity as a Tulliver, and as a daughter, her opportunities are far fewer. Thus Tom is under pressure from his father to do well and advance the family’s interests. Tom is sent away to a school in which his natural curiosities and talents are repressed—in his experiences with Mr. Stelling, Tom puts family loyalty above his individual happiness. When his father’s financial ruin deals the Tullivers a difficult blow, Tom immediately embraces his new role as head of the family. He finds work that may be deemed beneath his station, knowing that his individual ambitions are unimportant when it comes to doing his duty. For years, Tom works hard for meager earnings, giving up his own social life and dreams. These years turn Tom into a myopic thinker, but he believes it is the sacrifice he must make to maintain the family. Tom ultimately does save the family, but at the expense of his own character development.

Maggie’s honor is another example of the conflict between familial duty and individual happiness. As a child, Maggie is criticized because she doesn’t look like the Dodson side of her family. Furthermore, she is a wild child who often gets in trouble for her impulsiveness. The Dodsons decide that Maggie’s childhood character flaws are indicative of her family name. Therefore, as a child she is immediately put under pressure to act like a proper girl so that she can avoid being an embarrassment to the family. Her father is the only adult who cares about Maggie’s individual happiness. When he dies, so does the belief that Maggie should be loved for who she truly is. As an adult, Maggie develops a friendship with Philip that turns into a romance, leading her individual happiness to threaten her relationship with Tom. Tom has internalized the importance of family loyalty so much that he refuses to entertain the thought that individuals within a family can be better than the reputation of that family. Philip would provide Maggie with a secure and happy life, but Tom is unable to see this because of his determination to harbor old resentments between families. Philip and Maggie’s potential for happiness is thwarted by family loyalty.

When Stephen ruins Maggie’s reputation, Tom takes it personally as a slight to the Tulliver name. He refuses to give Maggie refuge, twisting the idea of family loyalty. Tom believes that in turning Maggie away to her shame, he is defending the Tulliver ethos—but he is actually rejecting and betraying his own sister. Interestingly, the only family member who publicly defends Maggie is Mrs. Glegg, who believes in public honor and reputation more than anything. To Mrs. Glegg, a family must stay together even when they are in the wrong. Mrs. Glegg’s loyalty to Maggie presents a foil to Tom, highlighting how destructive his resentments have become.

Ultimately, Eliot believes in both individual happiness and family loyalty. Eliot uses Maggie’s character to show the reader that individual happiness is tied to family loyalty in a cycle of support and love. Eliot kills off Tom and Maggie in a tragic moment of a final embrace to emphasize the importance of not taking family for granted. Maggie and Tom die together, holding one another in a final ode to the family life that brought them together as children, before society intervened.

The Unpredictability of Life

In The Mill on the Floss there is only so much each character can do to exercise agency, especially when under societal pressures or unforeseen events. In this novel, Eliot demonstrates how life is unpredictable and makes society’s concerns superficial.

The first instance that demonstrates this theme is when the Tullivers lose their property to Mr. Tulliver’s failed lawsuit. The news of their swift financial ruin is a major blow to the family’s pride and sense of security. Moreover, the loss is total, which comes as a surprise to everyone. Mr. Tulliver then believes he can remortgage his property, but life again takes a turn: The financial backers are not in a position to support Mr. Tulliver, thus taking away his safety net. Tom is especially affected by this change because financial responsibility falls on his young and inexperienced shoulders, diverting him away from the education he was pursuing.

However, the unpredictability of life is not always a bad thing. Maggie and Philip forge an unlikely friendship that develops into an even more unlikely romantic connection, surprising both of them. Philip is raised to believe that marriage and romantic love is not in his future because of his physical deformity. He is judged for his appearance and internalizes the idea that what is possible for other people’s happiness is not possible for him. But when he meets Maggie, they develop a friendship that transcends his deformity and the limitations of her social position. They meet on an equal intellectual level—a random acquaintance that changes both of their lives because they each finally meet someone who sees them for the person they are and not for the expectations projected onto them.

The flood is the ultimate moment in which Eliot evokes her theme on the unpredictability of life. The town of St. Ogg’s has been obsessed with the scandal surrounding Maggie, but the flood proves that society’s preoccupations with gossip and status are nonsensical in the face of nature. The flood is uncontrollable—no one can stop the flood, and no one can prevent it from happening. The flood forces Tom and Maggie back together, highlighting their rupture as a waste of valuable time. Tom and Maggie could not have known that they would die together in a flood, but it is this unpredictability that emphasizes the tragedy of Tom’s rejection of Maggie. They could have spent more time together, sharing their lives and love, but instead they allow society to intervene until it is too late.

The Patriarchal Oppression of Women

George Eliot wrote under a male pen name because her literature would not have been taken seriously in the 19th century had her identity as a woman been known. It is therefore unsurprising to see feminist themes in Eliot’s literature. In The Mill on the Floss, Maggie’s dilemmas are often caused by the societal pressures and unequal gender dynamics that surround her throughout her life.

As a child, Maggie is criticized for being clever. The adults surrounding her worry that her intelligence will get in the way of her adhering to societal norms and prevent her gaining an attractive prospect for marriage. In the 19th century, women had few options but to marry well. Therefore, her family’s concern about her wild manners, zest for trouble, and thirst for books is based on patriarchal norms that limit female autonomy. At a young age, Maggie is aware that adults don’t take her seriously, yet she still yearns for respect. Mr. Riley and Mr. Stelling embarrass her by dismissing her intellect, in spite of the fact she openly takes more interest in Tom’s studies than Tom himself does. Even Tom views her as nothing but a silly little girl. He teases her for thinking she’s smart, even though her intellectual capabilities are clearly more prominent than his own. Tom’s sexism is so ingrained that when he fails to succeed at school, he feels emasculated, as though being inferior to a girl is the worst thing imaginable.

In The Mill on the Floss, men are sometimes a threat to women but are also their only real avenue for support and refuge, highlighting the high degree of dependence women are forced to have upon men in Maggie’s society. When Stephen effectively kidnaps Maggie and tries to pressure her into marriage, Maggie is left vulnerable both to his advances and to the consequences that await her. Maggie turns to her brother for help when Stephen causes her irreparable shame, but he turns her away. Tom does not care that his impulsive actions might ruin Maggie, thinking only of his own reputation. To make matters worse, women have few places to turn to when they do become outcasts: Maggie has no choice but to turn to men for help. She finds this aid in Bob, who provides her with a home, and Dr. Kenn, who counsels her and defends her publicly to the detriment of his own reputation. This cycle of vulnerability and dependence keeps Maggie forever beholden to men’s whims, moods, and opinions.

Men are not the only characters who embody patriarchal norms. The other women in St. Ogg’s are threatened by Maggie’s unique beauty because they fear it poses a threat to their own courtships, marriages, and prospects. After the scandal with Stephen, the women in the town turn on Maggie, eviscerating Maggie’s character. While the men in St. Ogg’s seem more willing to feel pity for Maggie, the women decide that she is totally to blame for the scandal, even after Stephen admits his fault in the letter to his father. The female-on-female emotional abuse is based on the community’s internalization of patriarchal norms. It is easier for the women to blame Maggie for what happened between her and Stephen than to entertain the idea that Stephen could have ruined Maggie because Stephen is from a wealthy and powerful family; for everyone to maintain their social codes, they must take blame away from Stephen and find a scapegoat, reinforcing the pressures on women to uphold traditional feminine ideals.