Status Updates From Middlemarch

It was a bit of whiplash to go from Dorothea’s story to Fred, Lydgate and the others. Now that I’m back on Dorothea and Casaubon, though, all I feel is frustration, and okay, a bit of compassion…. Dorothea is so keen to make Something of herself through her husband’s work that she sees value in his work that may not be there, feels affection that seems unrequited, and still has to put up with his jealousy.

you to be doing something else. You must have a pride in your own work and in learning to do it well, and not be always saying, There's this and there's that—if I had this or that to do, I might make something of it. No matter what a man is—I wouldn't give twopence for him whether he was the prime minister or the rick-thatcher, if he didn't do well what he undertook to do.

You must be sure of two things: you must love your work, and not be always looking over the edge of it, wanting your play to begin. And the other is, you must not be ashamed of your work, and think it would be more honorable to

Chapter 11, Page 94

Chapter 10, Page 83