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Chapter1.Blondesvs.brunetes/23
MillontheFloss.Idwellespeciallyonthethirdvolume,consisting
ofBook6HTheGreatTemptation”andBook7HTheFinalRescue,”
wheretheinfluenceofromanceandmelodramaisthemostevident.
Somecriticshavealreadypointedoutthatthepalpablydiscordant
toneofthefinalvolumecomesfromEliot’sdeploymentofmotifs
andcharactertypesfromgenresasdiverseastheromanticnovel
andclassicaltragedy.2
Inthefirstsectionofthischapter,Iamalsogoingtodiscuss
theparallelsbetweentheplotofTheMillontheFlossandthose
ofvariouspopularnineteenth-centurynovels.HSillyNovelsby
LadyNovelists”demonstratesthatshewaswellawareofthe
stereotypesandformulasofpopularfictionandthatfactgivesus
licensetoanalysethepossibleinfluencethatthepopularnovels
shereviewedhadonherownwriting.Furthermore,thereare
twoearlynineteenth-centurynovels,CorinneandThePirate,that
arementioneddirectlyinTheMillontheFlossinconversations
betweenMaggieandPhilipWakem.Theseexplicitreferences
indicatethatGeorgeEliotwantedherreaderstoseethesetexts
asacontext–oracontrast–forherownwriting.Andfinally,
becausesomecontemporaryreviewsofthenoveldiscovered
importantplotparallelswithMrsGaskell’sTheMoorlandCottage
(1851),thisisalsoanalysed.Inthissection,IalsorefertoEliot’s
firstpublishedworkoffiction,ashortstoryentitledHTheSad
FortunesoftheReverendAmosBarton,”whichcanbeseenas
apreludetoTheMillontheFloss.
Thesecondsectionofthischapteranalysesthecharacterization
ofMaggieTulliver.MaggieremainsoneofGeorgeEliot’sbest
lovedheroinesandshehasreceivedafairshareofcritical
interest.3AsBarbaraHardypersuasivelyarguesinTheNovels
2
FortheelementsofromanceinTheMillontheFlossconferAlexanderWelsh’s
classicHGeorgeEliotandtheRomance”(1959:241-254)andSusanRowland
Tush’sGeorgeEliotandtheConventionsofPopularWomen’sFiction:ASeriousLit-
eraryResponsetothe“SillyNovelsbyLadyNovelists”(1993).GeorgeEliot’sin-
debtednesstothedevicesofclassicaltragedyinthisnovelistracedbyBarbara
HardyinTheNovelsofGeorgeEliot(1985).
3
IlonaDobosiewicz’sAmbivalentFeminism:MarriageandWomen’sSocialRolesin
GeorgeEliot’sWorks(2003)containsacomprehensivediscussionofcriticalap-
proachestoallEliot’sheroines.
