Be forewarned: even though this section is entitled "Dreams, Hopes, and Plans," we'll be discussing plenty of things that are small-scale, low-key, and (truth be told) pretty dang boring. No one wants to climb Everest here.
In Adam Bede, there are plenty of dreams that aren't nearly as grandiose as the great expectations that Arthur has to live with. The entire community is counting on him to usher in better times. But plenty of characters—Lisbeth, the Poysers, Seth—just dream of living secure and simple lives. Not an ambitious desire, but a desire that, for Eliot, seems dignified nonetheless.
Questions About Dreams, Hopes, and Plans
- Lots of characters—including Seth, Arthur, and Hetty—have thwarted or unfulfilled dreams. What's the deal with this pattern? Is Eliot fundamentally pessimistic? Is she morbidly fascinated with failure and misfortune? Or is something else going on?
- Do any characters have dreams, hopes, or plans that seem silly or misguided? Does Eliot's narrator condemn these characters or feel compassion for them?
- Does Adam seem satisfied with his fate at the end of the novel? Do you think he's in for anything new or exciting later in life, or is his period of new hopes and dreams pretty much over?
Chew on This
Characters such as Lisbeth Bede and Old Mr. Poyser have desires that appear small or trifling. But instead of mocking these characters outright, Eliot portrays them with affectionate humor in order to show that such having small, silly desires is a part of being human.
Although Adam is not a perfectly virtuous character, he does give Eliot a means of showing how idealism, imagination, and action can be reconciled in one person. Paradoxically, the most ambitious dreamer in Adam Bede is also a model pragmatist.