Middlemarch | Style

Middlemarch Style

Epigraph and Allusion

Each chapter in Middlemarch begins with an epigraph that has relevance, sometimes ironic, to surrounding text. For example, the epigraph that heads chapter X is a quotation from Thomas Fuller: “He had catched a great cold, had he no other clothes to wear than the skin of a bear not yet killed.” This statement points humorously to Casaubon's vulnerability to criticism; he is so filled with suspicion and self-doubt he needs to use the prospect of writing a great work to compensate for his inadequacies. Thus, he uses the promise, writing a definitive work to bolster his self-image. He also holds himself above others by talking about a work he in fact will never write. The enormous demands of this magnum opus (or great achievement) are a screen or defense mechanism that insulates him from experiencing life directly and from being intimate with fellow human beings. Casaubon reads without overview,...
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