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https://doi.org/10.29013/EJLL-19-4-64-67
Nahi-Zade Sabina, Postgraduate student, School of Foreign Languages East China Normal University E-mail: [email protected] Zhu Xiao Ying, Professor, East China Normal University, School of Foreign Languages Shanghai, China
THE ISSUE OF THE IMPOSSIBILITY OF SELF-REALIZATION OF WOMEN IN THE NOVEL "THE MILL ON THE FLOSS"
Abstract. Works by George Eliot (1818-1880), characterized by a deep and delicate psycholo-gism, primarily in the creation of female images, occupies a prominent place among the largest creators of the Victorian novel. The novel "The Mill on the Floss", 1860 is marked by the maturity of the artistic manner, deep and subtle psychologism. The plot is based on a deeply dramatic situation. The Tulliver family, the owners of a mill on the Floss River, connects two hereditary lines: The first line is inherited by the heroine of the novel Maggie Tulliver, the second is her brother Tom.
Keywords: George Eliot, Victorian novel, The Mill on the Floss, female character.
George Eliot was among those representatives flect life as it was imprinted in his mind" [4, P. 355].
of the English intelligentsia who were greatly im- All her arguments are nothing more than a passion-
pressed by the global changes taking place in science. ate defense of objectivity in art, a demand for docu-
The correspondence of Eliot, her diaries and press mentary accuracy as a condition for the true veracity
appearances, not to mention works of art, eloquently of the image. Objectivity, rejection of the author's "I",
speak of how eagerly she absorbed everything new strict documentary, postulated by the writer, were in
that was discovered almost every year in science dur- full compliance with the requirements of "scientific".
ing her maturity and creative activity (1856-1880). In her understanding of the artist's tasks, there are
Close communication with people such as Lewes, those principles that are inextricably linked with the
Huxley, Owen and Spencer was of great importance idea of naturalistic aesthetics - physiology and em-
in the development of her thoughts. So, the ground phasis on heredity. But they go into subtext, taking
for its acceptance of philosophical positivism in its into account all the same Victorian ideas, which both
Spencer aspect was prepared by this huge interest in the writer herself and her philosophical teachers had
science. Eliot readily accepted Spencer's thesis about to reckon with. "The writer did not dare to expose
the effect of the external environment on the body physiological processes and organic connections as
passively perceiving this effect. The theories of the the French did, unrelated to these traditions," notes
philosopher formed the basis of the writer's thoughts Ivasheva. "Eliot does not talk about the physiologi-
precisely at the time when she embarked on the path cal conditioning of the characters that he draws, but
of artistic creation. The artist, argues Eliot, should this conditioning is emphasized in the text of her
present to the reader casts of his observations, "re- books" [4, P. 357]. Indeed, speaking about Eliot's
naturalism, about her understanding of the biological conditioning of human behavior and character formation, a very significant circumstance should be taken into account: she was a representative of the English version of naturalism, brought up not only in the spirit ofVictorianism, but also in the spirit of the Puritan traditions of English thought.
The novel "The Mill on the Floss", 1860 is marked by the maturity of the artistic manner, deep and subtle psychologism. The plot is based on a deeply dramatic situation. The Tulliver family, the owners of a mill on the Floss River, connects two hereditary lines: passionate, dreamy Tullivers, living mainly following internal impulses (father's line), and rationally minded, practical, but hard-hearted Dodson (mother's line). The first line is inherited by the heroine of the novel Maggie Tulliver, the second is her brother Tom. Maggie's ferocity and impracti-cality determine her tragic fate - expelled by Tom from the house (she "compromised" herself in his eyes with a careless walk with the young man), Maggie dies, saving her unworthy brother on the river during the flood. It is significant that Maggie's character begins to appear in the early years - it is the complexity of her childish nature that determines the tension of further development and the choice of her life path, the heroine's deeply dramatic conflict with her environment and family, of which Maggie "breaks out", flouting all the rules and regulations perceived by her family as eternal and unchanging. It is very remarkable, in our opinion, that the work begins as a novel of education, the formation of the personality of a hero (Bildungsroman), and, as you know, such a literary form has traditionally been associated with the growth and spiritual development of a male character; here a female representative becomes a protagonist, which fundamentally changes the situation. The upbringing novel presupposes the affirmation of the value of an individual personality, its right to self-determination; by the middle of the Victorian era, the recognition of the importance of these values for women is becoming very relevant.
It is through comparing and contrasting the brother and sister in "The Mill on the Floss" that can be traced which factors determine the growth and development of Tom and Maggie.
Already initially, the children of Tulliver are significantly divided. Tom, being a representative of the "stronger sex", is aware of his own superiority and tells Maggie: "I've got a great deal more money than you, because I'm a boy. I always have half-sovereigns and sovereigns for my Christmas boxes because I shall be a man, and you only have five-shilling pieces, because you're only a girl" [1, P. 32]. Thus, since childhood, children have not been equal, their further fate and social roles are deliberately distributed, women are assigned (gender asymmetry, as we have repeatedly emphasized, traditional for Victo-rianism) a subordinate position, both in the family and in society.
Tom and Maggie are fundamentally different, which is emphasized by the entire course of the story. While Tom is a typical Dodson (he is stubborn, mentally limited, self-confident and straightforward), Maggie (in her originality, talent, and unwillingness to obey the rules) is a copy of her father, "offspring of Tulliver".
Making an attempt to trace the formation and development of Maggie's character and personality, the writer depicts the heroine's inner world at different periods of her life, indicating that already in childhood Maggie has a trait that will sharply appear in her character when she becomes an adult: selfless, reaching for self-sacrifice devotion in friendship, in affection, in love, moreover, "the need of being loved, the strongest need in poor Maggie's nature" [1, P. 34].
Maggie is an outstanding personality, thinking, subtly feeling, possessing a rich imagination, partly a romantic worldview, able to examine any everyday subject from a different angle, see in it an unusual, hiding behind the ordinary. Not only the mind, but, above all, the subtlety of emotions, the peculiar openness and sensitivity in the perception
of the environment, the emphasized individuality, distinguishes it from other characters in the novel; Since childhood, Maggie has been breaking free of what is "accepted" and "usual". Mrs. Tulliver (incidentally, a typical representative of the patriarchal way of England, sharing all the prejudices and stereotypical norms of society), concerned about Maggie's willfulness and inconstancy, connects her complex character with genealogy. Thus, Mrs. Tulliver directly connects the bad (in her opinion) character traits and low mental abilities with dark skin. She would like Maggie to have "our family skin".
Deeply and subtly depicting various shades of mood, behavior, reaction to those around Maggie Tulliver, George Eliot throughout the story focuses on the existence and direct influence on the character of the heroine of those forces that "fettered" her and did not allow her personality to develop freely. All that Maggie does, the way she acts, is the result of her upbringing and exposure to the environment in which she grows. Even escaping from an environment of limited, selfish and selfish relatives, she, remaining influenced by Victorian norms and traditional education, does not dare to go all the way in her desires and stops halfway. All her actions are deeply controversial, following Victorian morality, traditional upbringing in the framework of "decency" comes into constant conflict with her nature, natural naturalness, passion, impulsivity.
Maggie is aware of the "inequality", gender inequality that exists in society, and it's not only about gender differences (a strong intuitive beginning, the ability to quickly perceive and imitate women and courage, strength, energy in men), but, first of all, Victorian system of education, which, putting pressure on the development of personality, its formation, denies the woman the possibility of further self-realization. The heroine is deeply disappointed with the perception of gender.
Despite the implementation of one or another of the problems that is not characteristic of the Victorian novel, George Eliot as a whole followed the
Victorian literary canon, and the Victorian novel traditionally turned to the emotional side, with the goal of exciting and touching the reader. In "The Mill on the Floss," one cannot help but point out the presence of complex hidden tricks that the author uses to create deeply emotional scenes that contribute to the most complete depiction of the image of the main character, the disclosure of her psychology.
It is significant that Maggie Tulliver, who has virtually no access to education and a cultural level, nevertheless has deep intellectual and emotional needs, which are inherent in her very nature. One of the proofs of this is her reaction to the book of the monk Thomas a Kempis.
When Maggie is growing up, the situation is complicated by another problem: the framework of the Victorian novel cannot offer the heroine - and any middle-class woman as a whole - no useful work, no decent work.
The main character does not have the ability to "match" the educated (gebildete) main male character. Maggie Tulliver is at a crossroads again - marriage or death (it is here that the author puts into action the heroine's refusal from a love story). Thus, if we exclude marriage, then the only way out is death.
Such a completion of the novel entailed a large number of comments and interpretations, often based on disappointment in the inability of the writer to lead Maggie to a well-defined decision regarding her own future. In our opinion, the death of Maggie and Tom can be interpreted in different ways: the flood and confrontation between the elements of Tom and Maggie symbolize the destruction of a limiting society; Maggie's struggle, combining martyrdom and heroism, is fully consistent with the "internal" struggle of the heroine with the "natural" forces in herself; the death of Maggie and Tom as the personification of the reconciliation of male and female principles. In our opinion, such a finale once again demonstrates the hopeless situation, the insoluble situation, of a woman who has no significant future, and the heroine escapes from everyday life,
from the real world in which she exists, with the help of water flows, which it's quite symbolic - the water "purifies" Maggie, "washes away" everything from her that restrained her natural forces (upbringing, which forced her to be submissive and submissive, moral norms that fetter her consciousness, behavioral stereotypes that she was forced to follow) and prevented self-realization.
It should be noted, that the novel contains a very remarkable description of the heroine's feelings, illustrating subsequently the insurmountable contradiction in her mind between her inner desires and needs and the impossibility of their fulfillment in reality. Thus, the suppressed "internal" intellectual and sexual female energy, as the heroine develops personality and self-consciousness, cannot be kept within certain frameworks imposed by society, and is transformed into a destructive, vengeful and triumphant symbolic image of the water stream that "purifies" Maggie of everything that restrained her, and, at the same time,
bringing death, due to the inability to be realized in the real world. In addition, Maggie has her own code of honor, follows her own religion, a kind of religion in the name of duty, however, performing what she considers a duty, the heroine often hesitates, and it is these fluctuations that lead her to death. Thus, in the novel "The Mill on the Floss", the central one is the conflict between the personal protest of the main character and public morality (Maggie's opposition to her environment, the environment in which she exists), resolved in favor of the latter. The heroine's life is limited, but she doesn't take any decisive actions to change her, and she builds the behavioral model in accordance with her own martyrdom. Maggie Tul-liver, spiritually gifted by nature, strives and is able to achieve a lot, but she has nowhere to apply her talents. Tormented by the contradictions of her own nature, she does not take any decisive action to change her own destiny, and in the final, the only possible outcome of her life is death.
References:
1. Eliot G. Middlemarch / G. Eliot.- London: Penguin Books Ltd, 1994.- 795 p.
2. George Eliot: Family History: in 6 vol. / ed. by K. Hughes.- [S. 1.]: Routledge/Thoemmes, 2000.
3. George Eliot and Europe / ed. by J. Rignall.- Aldershot: Scolar Press, 1997.-239 p.
4. Ивашева В. В. «Век нынешний и век минувший...»: Английский роман XIX века в его современном звучании / В. В. Ивашева.- 2-е изд., доп.- М.: Худож, лит., 1990.- 479 с.
