The Mill On The Floss

The novel is set in the period of George Eliot’s own childhood, in the pre-railway, pre-industrial age, with its settled and secure order, and patterns of life and trade inherited from the earlier period. Tom and Maggie, the principal characters, are the children of the honest hut ignorant and obstinate Mr. Tulliver, the miller of Dorlcote Mill on the Floss. Tom is prosaic youth, narrow of imagination and intellect, animated by conscious rectitude and a disposition to control others. Maggie, in contrast, is highly strung, intelligent, emotional, and, as a child, rebellious. Her aspirations go beyond the complacent, provincial world in which she lives, and her situation as a clever female in a man’s world indirectly reflects that of the author herself. The conflict between Maggie and her brother, Tom a conflict between romance and reason, daring and caution, rebellion and acceptance helps creating a work that explores the full moral complexities of human choice and action. The novel shows author’s mastery of narrative art, her broad range of understanding, and her profound sense of artistic purpose.