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14/Introduction
tropesprovideastartingpointforanalysingawiderangeof
socialandphilosophicalissues,fromtheJewishquestiontothe
natureofdestinyandfreewill.
Iwouldliketoarguethat,contrarytotheusualperception
ofGeorgeEliot,whoseworksHhavebecomesynonymouswith
classicalrealism”(Langbauer1990:200),sheoftenresorted
topopularliteratureformulasandmotifs.Thisfacthasbeen
reluctantlyassertedbyGeorgeEliot’scritics.Inaperceptive
studyofTheMillontheFloss,GeorgeLevineexpresseswhat
mightbetermedabenchmarkforsuchcriticalopinions:
ItiscurioushowsomanyofGeorgeEliot’snovels,howevermuch
thegreatbulkofeventstheyincludeareassertivelyordinary,
turnoneventswhichseemtocomedirectlyoutofmelodrama–
ArthurDonithorne’slastminuterescueofHetty,thefinalmeeting
ofBaldassareandTito,Grandcourt’sdrowningandMordecai’s
mysticalZionistvisions,therevelationofMrsTransome’srelationto
thelawyerJermyn.Itisperhapstoosimpletosuggestthatthissort
ofrefusaltofacethetotalimplicationofherownideasandofher
verytemperamentwastheresultofGeorgeEliot’sconsciouseffort
toprotectherreadersfromanyHlaming”effects.Obviously,George
Eliotdidseekmoralinthebleakestandmostamoralelementsofthe
world.(Levine1970:121-122)
ButneitherLevinenoranyothercritictodatehasdealt
comprehensivelywithwhatseemstometobethecruxofGeorge
Eliot’suseofpopularliteratureandmelodramaconventions,
namely,theroleofsuchmotifsinherwriting.3
Inmystudy,Iofferachronologicalstudyofromanticand
sensationalmotifsinselectednovelsbyGeorgeEliotandexplain
howtheyfunctionwithinherfiction.Ifocusonfournovelsthat
illustratesuccessivestagesofherexperimentswithpopular
3
TwobooksthatdrawatentiontomorepopularorsensationalaspectsofEli-
ot’swritinghavebeenpublishedsinceIcompletedmydissertationinDecember
2011.OneisRoyceMahawate’sGeorgeEliotandtheGothicNovel(Universityof
WalesPress,2013)–anexpandedversionofMahawate’sPhDdissertationfrom
2000thatIhadconsultedduringaresearchtriptotheBodleianlibraryin2006,
andtheotherisMaiaMcAleavey’sTheBigamyPlot:SensationandConventionin
theVictorianNovel(OxfordUniversityPress,2015),whoseChapter4,HDorothea’s
SimultaneousRemarriage”,containsaninterestingdiscussionofMiddlemarchin
termsofitsindebtednesstotheconventionsofthebigamynovelofthe1860s.
