Middlemarch Society and Class Quotes

How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Book.Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #4

Less superficial reasoners among them wished to know who his father and grandfather were, observing that five-and-twenty years ago nobody had ever heard of a Bulstrode in Middlemarch. (2.13.1)

Even though Mr. Bulstrode is a rich and powerful banker in Middlemarch, and therefore an important member of Middlemarch society, certain people still think of him as a newcomer. Unlike old Middlemarch families, like the Vincys, Bulstrode is an outsider even after twenty-five years. No one knows who his "father and grandfather were."

Quote #5

One can begin so many things with a new person! – even begin to be a better man. (2.13.4)

This passage points out the possibilities of forming new relationships: you can reinvent yourself when you meet new people, so you always have the potential to become "a better man."

Quote #6

I at least have so much to do in unraveling certain human lots, and seeing how they were woven and interwoven, that all the light I can command must be concentrated on this particular web, and not dispersed over that tempting range of relevancies called the universe. (2.15.1)

The narrator uses the metaphor of the social "web" again here – the "threads of connection" must be "unravel[ed]" to show "how they were woven and interwoven." This suggests that we're all related to everyone else in some complicated way. It's like "six degrees of separation."