Romola discussion

Anyone else think that this book was one of Eliot's best? I thought that the slow decline of Tito was outstanding. His decision to stay with Romola instead of seek his father eventually led to his complete estrangement of her (and from the better parts of himself). The changes in Romola were also well done. You see her change from one extreme to the next, all accompanied by Eliot's brand of explicit character mining. I also thought that Savonarola had a complexity to him that was really very profound. I'd rate it higher than Tolstoy's Napoleon from War and Peace.

I think it is so curious that this book isn't rated much higher. I would say that in the exploration of explicit theme, Romola sits higher than any other Eliot book. (Although I can't speak for Felix Holt, I haven't read it yet.) Yet I've read books about her that skip completely over this book.

Why is it not as well liked?

Honestly, I had never heard of Romola. It is on my reading list now. I absolutely loved Middlemarch, and I enjoyed Mill on the Floss as well. I actually took notes while reading Middlemarch, just writing down quotes that seemed so wise. If I could go back in time and have dinner with dead famous people, George Eliot would definitely be on my list. I'll read Romola and get back to you!

Eliot's anti-Catholic stance really ruined this book for me. There were moments when I wanted to throw the book across the room. (And I'm not even Catholic.) I also felt that Romola herself was an anachronism - I was never convinced that she was a 15th century Florentine.

Alex wrote: "Eliot's anti-Catholic stance really ruined this book for me. There were moments when I wanted to throw the book across the room. (And I'm not even Catholic.) I also felt that Romola herself was an ..."

Interesting opinions! Can you elaborate? I didn't find anything in the book that I thought was anti-Catholic (and my mother was raised Catholic, so I'm pretty sensitized to it).

How is Romola herself an anachronism? Her situation reminded me of Milton's daughters or Margaret of Valois (all of the 16th century). I thought her research was exhaustive, not only into that time period, but taking into account the Old Roman period that Romola was raised to emulate.