Hart has degrees in English and creative writing and is the author of several books. In this essay, Hart examines the themes of Eliot's novel as they develop through a contrasting evaluation of the characters of Silas Marner and Godfrey Cass.

Some critics have dismissed Eliot's Silas Marner because it reads too much like a fairy tale. And true, there are many fairy-tale elements in the novel, but this is no reason to condemn it as lacking depth. Eliot uses the familiar story frame of fortuitous coincidence, clear-cut relationships between good and evil, as well as the novel's happy ending so as to avoid inventing a new kind of story structure. Using this simple form has allowed Eliot to concentrate on the themes she wants to explore. The fundamental form highlights Eliot's messages, making them stand out against the more basic background. Her point is not to...