Middlemarch Chapter Summary & Analysis - Prelude and Chapters 1-3 Summary

Prelude and Chapters 1-3 Summary

In a short prelude, the author describes the life of Saint Theresa, who struck out on her own with nothing but a younger brother and tried to improve the lives of others. The author points out that a great many good deeds go unnoticed. Moreover, even when the deeds draw attention, the people behind them receive little credit.

Middlemarch is not only an illustration of life in a small, country town in Victorian England, it is also the story of Dorothea Brooke, a young woman who does much good for the world and receives no recognition for her deeds.

George Eliot twists an elaborate tale in of the lives of Middlemarch residents. They enjoy good times, getting married and starting families; they also suffer hardships, in family betrayal and haunting pasts. Dorothea Brooke is an eighteen-year-old girl living with her uncle after the death of both parents. She marries a...
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