Silas Marner
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| Author | George Eliot |
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| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Novel |
| Publisher | William Blackwood and Sons |
| Released | April 1861 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| ISBN | NA |
Silas Marner : The Weaver of Raveloe is a novel by George Eliot (the pen name of Mary Ann Evans) which was first published in 1861.
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[edit] Plot summary
The novel is set in the earlier years of the 19th century. Silas Marner is a weaver in an industrial town. He is also a highly thought of member of a little dissenting church. Silas is engaged to a female member of the church and thinks that his future happiness is assured. However, due to the betrayal of a fellow parishioner, who blames him for a theft that he did not commit, Silas is expelled from the congregation. He finds out later that his former fiancee married the man who had betrayed him. Later on, he goes to settle in the village of Raveloe, where he lives as a recluse who exists only for work and his precious hoard of money until that money is stolen by a son of Squire Cass, the town's leading landowner, causing him to become heartbroken. Soon, however, an orphaned child comes to Raveloe. She was not known by the people there, but she is really the child of Godfrey Cass, the eldest son of the local squire. Her mother, Molly, is secretly married to Godfrey, but is also of low birth and addicted to opium and alcohol. Molly attempts to make her way into town with the child to prove that she is Godfrey's wife and ruin him. However, on the way she overdoses on opium and freezes to death in the snow. The small child wanders from her mother's still body into Silas' house. Silas names the child Eppie (after his deceased sister Hephzibah) and her presence changes his life completely. Symbolically, Silas loses his material gold to theft only to have it replaced by the golden-haired Eppie. Later in the book, the gold is found and restored. Eppie grows up to be the pride of the town and to have a very strong bond with Silas, who through her has found inclusion in the town. Later, the childless Godfrey and Nancy Lammeter arrive at Silas' door, revealing the truth about Eppie's family and asking that Silas give Eppie up to their care. However, the decision falls to Eppie, who has no desire to be raised as a gentlemen's daughter if it means forsaking Silas. At the end, Eppie marries a local boy, Aaron, son of Dolly Winthrop, and both of them move into Silas' newly enlarged house, courtesy of Godfrey.
Ultimately, Silas Marner is a tale of familial love and loyalty, reward and punishment, and humble friendships.
[edit] Characters in "Silas Marner"
- Silas Marner – a weaver, protagonist
- Godfrey Cass – son of the local squire.
- Dunstan Cass – Godfrey's greedy brother.
- Molly – Godfrey's first wife who has a child by him. She dies leaving the child.
- Eppie – child of Molly and Godfrey who is cared for by Marner.
- Nancy Lammeter – Godfrey Cass's second wife.
- Aaron Winthrop – son of Dolly who marries Eppie at the end of the novel.
- Dolly Winthrop – mother to Aaron.
- William Dane – Silas' best friend at Lantern Yard who frames him for theft
[edit] Symbols
One of the main symbols Eliot creates to illustrate Silas's solitude is the loom. The loom is a place where Silas shuts out the existence of the community. Another is his "burden."
[edit] Major themes
In Silas Marner George Eliot combines humour and rich symbolism with a historically precise setting to create an extraordinary tale of love and hope. This novel explores the issues of redemptive love, the notion of community, the role of religion, and the status of the gentry and family. While religion and religious devotion play a strong part in this text, Eliot concerns herself, as always, with matters of ethics, and it is clear that for her, ethics exist apart from religion. On the surface, the book has a strong moral tract; the bad characters like Dunstan Cass get their just deserts, while the good, pitiable characters like Silas Marner are richly rewarded. Although it seems like a simple moral story with a happy ending, George Eliot's text includes several pointed criticisms on organised religion, the role of the gentry, and the impact of industrialization. It was written in the period during Industrial Revolution and may be a reaction against it.
The Epigraph to this novel is as follows:
"A child, more than all other gifts
That earth can offer to declining man,
Brings hope with it, and forward-looking thoughts."
WORDSWORTH
The novel begins with:
"In the days when the spinning-wheels hummed busily in the farmhouses-- and even great ladies, clothed in silk and thread-lace, had their toy spinning-wheels of polished oak--there might be seen in districts far away among the lanes, or deep in the bosom of the hills, certain pallid undersized men, who, by the side of the brawny country-folk, looked like the remnants of a disinherited race."
It ends with:
"O father," said Eppie, "what a pretty home ours is! I think nobody could be happier than we are."
Additional Excerpt:
"God gave her to me because you turned your back upon her, and He looks upon her as mine: you've no right to her!"
[edit] Literary significance & criticism
Recently, it has been studied in some secondary schools in the United Kingdom, United States and Ireland. It is also a part of the Cambridge A Levels syllabus in Singaporean junior colleges offering Literature courses.
[edit] Allusions/references to actual history, geography and current science
The tale was set in "the South Midlands," and the fictional Raveloe was based on the Warwickshire village of Bulkington. There are also correlations between locations in the book and the village of Inkberrow, Worcestershire. It is not known whether the relation is genuine, a coincidence, or deliberate naming by the locals. To the west of the village is Stone-Pits, and at the east side, a tree-lined drive leads to the entrance of the Red House.
[edit] Film, TV or theatrical adaptations
- Ben Kingsley played Silas Marner in a British-TV adaptation (broadcast in the U.S. by Masterpiece Theatre), with Patsy Kensit as a grown-up Eppie.
- Steve Martin wrote and starred in a 1994 movie adaptation of the novel, titled A Simple Twist of Fate.
- Bits and themes of this novel are borrowed in an episode of The Simpsons, "Moe Baby Blues", in which a lonely, almost-sociopathic man begins to enjoy life after saving the life of his friend's baby daughter.
- The novel is mentioned in the movie A Christmas Story as literature the children in Miss Shields' class are studying.
[edit] External links
- Silas Marner, online at Ye Olde Library
- Silas Marner, complete unabridged book at sparknotes.com
- Silas Marner Cliff Notes
- Silas Marner audio book at Librvox
