Middlesex (novel)

Middlesex is a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Jeffrey Eugenides published in 2002. The book is a bestseller, with more than three million copies sold by May 2011. Its characters and events are loosely based on aspects of Eugenides' life and observations of his Greek heritage. It is not an autobiography; unlike the protagonist, Eugenides is not intersex. The author decided to write Middlesex after he read the 1980 memoir Herculine Barbin and was dissatisfied with its discussion of intersex anatomy and emotions.

Primarily a coming-of-age story (Bildungsroman) and family saga, the novel chronicles the effect of a mutated gene on three generations of a Greek family, causing momentous changes in the protagonist's life. According to scholars, the novel's main themes are nature versus nurture, rebirth, and the differing experiences of what society constructs as polar opposites—such as those found between men and women. It discusses the pursuit of the American Dream and explores gender identity. The novel contains many allusions to Greek mythology, including creatures such as the Minotaur, half-man and half-bull, and the Chimera, a monster composed of various animal parts.

Middlesex

Middlesex (/ˈmɪdəlsɛks/, abbreviation: Middx) was an administrative county in southeast England that is now mostly part of Greater London, with small sections in neighbouring counties. It was established in the Anglo-Saxon system from the territory of the Middle Saxons. The historic county included land stretching north of the River Thames from 3 miles (5 km) east to 17 miles (27 km) west of the City of London with the rivers Colne and Lea and a ridge of hills as the other boundaries. The largely low-lying county, dominated by clay in its north and alluvium on gravel in its south, was the second smallest by area in 1831.

The City of London was a county in its own right from the 12th century and was able to exert political control over Middlesex. Westminster Abbey dominated most of the early financial, judicial and ecclesiastical aspects of the county. As London grew into Middlesex, the Corporation of London resisted attempts to expand the city boundaries into the county, which posed problems for the administration of local government and justice. In the 18th and 19th centuries the population density was especially high in the southeast of the county, including the East End and West End of London. From 1855 the southeast was administered, with sections of Kent and Surrey, as part of the area of the Metropolitan Board of Works. When county councils were introduced in England in 1889 about 20% of the area of Middlesex, along with a third of its population, was transferred to the new County of London and the remainder became an administrative county governed by the Middlesex County Council that met regularly at the Middlesex Guildhall in Westminster, in the County of London. The City of London, and Middlesex, became separate counties for other purposes and Middlesex regained the right to appoint its own sheriff, lost in 1199.

Middlesex (electoral district)

Middlesex (also known as Middlesex—London—Lambton) was a federal electoral district represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1968 to 1979. It was located in the province of Ontario. This riding was created in 1966 from parts of Lambton West, Lambton—Kent, Middlesex West and Middlesex East ridings.

It consisted of: (a) the north-central part of the City of London bounded by Adelaide Street on the west, Clarke Side Road on the east by, and Cheapside Street on the south;

(b) in the County of Middlesex, the Townships of Adelaide, Caradoc, Delaware, Ekfrid, Lobo, Metcalfe, Mosa, West Nissouri and West Williams, Westminster, North Dorchester (excluding the Village of Belmont), East Williams (excluding the Village of Ailsa Craig), and the Township of London (excluding the part of the Township lying south of the Fanshawe Road and bounded on the east by Crumlin Road and on the west by Clarke Side Road); and

(c) in the County of Lambton, the Town of Forest and the Townships of Bosanquet and Warwick.

Middlesex, Vermont

Middlesex is a town in Washington County, Vermont, United States. The population was 1,731 at the 2010 census.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 39.9 square miles (103.2 km²), of which 39.7 square miles (102.7 km²) is land and 0.2 square miles (0.5 km²), or 0.53%, is water.

History

The town of Middlesex was granted by royal charter on June 8, 1763, by New Hampshire colonial governor Benning Wentworth. The town takes its boundaries from Waterbury, incorporated the previous day, and Worcester, which received its grant the same day as Middlesex. The source of the town's name is uncertain but it is supposed Wentworth, or a staff member, chose the name for its location between Waterbury and Worcester. Another possibility would be that Wentworth chose Middlesex to seek favor from English nobleman Charles Sackville who held the title Lord Middlesex until 1765, when he became Duke of Dorset.

The town remained largely undeveloped through the period of the Vermont Republic and early Vermont statehood, with settlements in the village and Putnamville. The Putnam family were among the first settlers of the town. Seth Putnam was elected first town clerk in 1790; brothers Isaac and Jacob Putnam were elected town surveyors.