Adam Bede

By George Eliot(1819-1880)
  Short summary
The main story revolves around the life and love of 
 Adam Bede, a carpenter of good and honest character.
 Adam is a practical head of his family, which includes
his father,
Thais Bede,
Who has taken to drink and has lost the respect of his son,
Lisbeth, the well meaning but weakly fussy mother and
Seth Bede, his brother, who is a Methodist.
Seth is in love with his fellow
Methodist, Dinah Morris.
Although, Seth has tried his luck with Dinah once yet tries
his luck once again.
Seth assures her that marriage will not prove a hindrance
in her religious duties.
Dinah respects him very much, but she does not accept
his proposal, because she feels that she should not marry.
However, she assures him that if she ever thinks of
marriage, he would be the first one. Poor
Seth is dejected but tries to find consolation in her
assurance.
 Adam is working in the workshop of Mr. Burge who
desires that Adam should marry his daughter. In that case,
he is ready to make him a partner in the business.
However, Adam is in love with the pretty nice of Poysers
named Hetty Sorrel.
Hetty is a woman of a very shallow nature. Moreover, she
has a soft corner for the heir of the village squire
namely Arthur-Donnithorne.
 Arthur is a childhood friend of 
 Adam. He is a good man but is of a weak moral character
and cannot resist the charm of Hetty. Unknown to
 Adam, Arthur and
Hetty meet in the woods in the cottage which
 Arthur has furnished for living. At a birthday party,
 Arthur has paid great attention to
Hetty, so that she started thinking to live a life of with
 Arthur and of the charms of that such a life would
provide. Naturally, the offer of 
 Adam now means nothing to vain Hetty. Arthur  and
Hetty are once surprised in the woods by Adam ,who
happens to pass that way just when two lovers are
bending down for a kiss.
 Adam Gets angry to see that he is being betrayed by his
best friend. He forces a fight on
 Arthur and knocks him unconscious. In fact, for a time it
appears to Adam  that he has killed
 Arthur. Adam insists that the affair must end at once. He
forces Arthur to write a letter to Hetty, in which he
informs her that their love-affair must not continue.
Hetty is shocked to find all her dreams turning to dust and
ashes. In this situation a proposal from
 Adam appears to her a best chance. Burge offers
partnership to Adam regardless of marriage with his
daughter .Adam is now in a position to support a wife and
makes a proposal to
Hetty .Hetty accepts him and an early date is fixed for
their marriage. All seems to be well for the major
characters, Adam, Arthur and Hetty, when a tragedy
strikes a swift blow which engulfs all of them.
Hetty discovers herself pregnant. She did not inform
anyone about this situation. On the pretext of inviting
Dinah for marriage,
Hetty leaves home. The object of her journey is
 Arthur, how has gone away with his regiment but has left
his address with her in case of an emergency. After a
tiring journey, she reaches the place but discovered that in
the meanwhile the regiment has moved to Ireland. At the
end of her resources, she at last decided to meet Dinah.
However, she unexpectedly gives birth to a child in the
house of a kind-hearted and God-fearing couple. She
leaves the place on the very next day. It is known later
that she placed the infant in a hollow under a tree and
covered it with grass and small pieces of wood. Later, she
comes back to look for the child, which, in the
meanwhile, has been taken away by a man who has seen a
small hand coming out of the grass. On reaching home, he
finds the infant to be dead. He informs authorities and
Hetty is arrested for child-murder. In Hays lope, this news
first reaches the priest,
Mr. Irwin.
In the meanwhile,
 Adam has been on the futile search for
Hetty. He, now, learns the bitter truth from
Irwin and also tells him that he knows about Hetty and
Arthur.
Hetty is tried for the crime of murdering her own child, is
found guilty and sentenced to death. She is saved from the
very verge of death by a hard won relief by Arthur. Her
punishment is changed into life imprisonment.
Dinah Morris succeeds in moving the hardened heart
of Hetty and obtaining a full confession from her. During
Hetty’s trial she comes in close contact with
 Adam and falls in love with him.
Seth despairs of success with
Dinah in his love-suit and asks Adam to try his luck with
her. Adam does so and is accepted. Hetty undergoes a long
imprisonment, is released but dies on her way home.
 Arthur decides to join the army and leaves Hays lope.
Q 1: 
Discuss merits and demerits of George
Eliot’s plot construction with special
reference to her novel “Adam Bede”.
Or 
What are the new trends that are
introduced by George Eliot in plot
construction in English novel writing?
Discuss with special reference to her
novel “Adam Bede”.
 
 Answer: 
George Eliot 
is considered to be a revolutionary name in the field of
novel writing. She has been considered among the last of
Victorians but first in the modern novelist. Her modern
approach created a sensation in the literary circles. In the
hands of 
George Eliot 
novel undergoes a clear cut change. It is truly said that
from the time of Fielding to
George Eliot 
conception of the form of English novel remained
unchanged. One of the important changes introduced by 
George Eliot 
is that of providing a complex plot and psychoanalysis of
her characters. In “
 Adam Bede 
”she has very beautifully given the inner workings of 
 Arthur 
,
 Adam 
and
Hetty 
’s minds. She analyses their motives, mental process,
inner conflicts, their souls and development of their
characters. She dissects the soul of her characters and
brings out their inner struggle. In the earlier novels, the
plot was of straightforward nature and unity was only in
terms of the presence of hero. But, in the novels of 
George Eliot 
we come across the refined elements of the crafts of
fiction. The plot of “
 Adam Bede 
” is not well unified as that of 
“Mill on The Floss” 
and
“Middlemarch” 
, yet it shows the quality introduced by 
George Eliot 
.“Adam Bede ”does not have a loose plot to which we
were used to in the early novels of Jane Austen and
Dickens. The plot of this novel is skillfully put together
and we really appreciate the full magic of its story and see
that it is a great work of art. The plot is preconceived by
the author. The story unfolds the character as it proceeds
further. The story teller works her will on us because we
are convinced that these people and town or village
actually exists.When we read the suffering of the
characters, we indulge in the natural human tendency to
sympathize. In “
 Adam Bede 
” the events and the background are intermingled
perfectly. The evolution of the plot depends upon the
qualities of the characters as well as the opportunities
provided and restrictions imposed by the environment.
This is exactly what happens in “
 Adam Bede 
”. The opportunities and restrictions act and react so
impressively that the plot takes a lofty image in the eyes
of the readers.

 The full effect of 

 Arthur 
’s submission to the sensual appeal of 
Hetty 
’s charm and innocence and all that happens later on
depends upon the relationship of both the character to
each other and to the world. The pride and self-respect of
Poysers Hetty’s family, is established in reader’s mind by
the vivid () picture of their surroundings, their domestic
life and the performing of their church duties. All these
elements play a very vital role in the plot of “Adam Bede”
to cause a tragedy and enhancing the bitterness. It is the
social background and the standard of conduct that makes
it necessary for
Hetty 
to run away before the birth of illegal child. It is the
honour which creates a sense of affliction for
them.“Adam Bede ”deals with different aspects of human
life at different levels. Even
 Arthur 
cannot tolerate the shame that was brought due his
relation with
Hetty 
. Most of the action that we see in this regard provides us
the inner psyche of the characters and reveals the
importance of this form of honour. This special interest of
the plot is the whole novel. As famous critic
Gerald Bullet says,
“The dramatic strength of Adam Bede lies in the story of
Hetty, so strongly imagined and so honestly told, giving
the reader great psychological insight into the behaviour
patterns of the characters involved in special intimacy.
The sense of humanity, warm sense of rural comedy and
hustle and bustle of life is wonderfully amalgamated in
the main plot.” 
 Like all great novels, “
 Adam Bede 
” has also some flaws. Critics make thepoint that the end
of the novel is not that impressive as it should be. The
weakness of plot is mentioned on different levels. The
oppressive natureof 
 Adam 
and Dinah, the sacrifice of probability (
, and the untidy ending have often been mentioned in this
regard. But these minor flaws become pardonable when
we see that Georg Eliot was giving new trends in the field
of plot construction. This new experiment bound to have
some failure. In short, it can be safely said that “
 Adam Bede 
” has a very special chain of events which has been
marvelously arranged to build a forceful plot.
George Eliot 
’s effort is highly appreciable in this regard.
Q 2: 
Discuss George Eliot’s art of
characterization with special
reference to “Adam Bede’.
 Answer: 
In novel writing, like the dramatic art the significance of
characterization cannot be denied. Particularly the modern
novelists lay great emphasis on the true and forceful
delineation of characters. The great the quality
of characterization, the higher is the appeal of fiction
writing. This is exactly what we find in almost all the
great writings of 
George Eliot 
. She is rightly credited with introducing an almost
revolutionary change in the delineation and presentation
of characters. The novelists of later generation have
fully acknowledged the greatness of 
George Eliot 
in this regard.
D. H Lawrence 
, one of the most influential modern novelists pays tribute
to
George Eliot 
in the following words:
“It was she who started it all; it was she who started to put
all the action inside her characters.” 
George Eliot’s skill in characterization is now fully
recognized, though it is generally believed that this
mastery is exhibited only in
“Middlemarch” and more particularly in the
“Mill on the Floss”.
To some degree Eliot’s matchless skill is shown equally
well in “
 Adam Bede 
”, her first full length novel. Even here her characters are
made perfectly credible and their motives are fully
established. It has been mentioned by many critics that
she exposes all the complex feelings of spirit that strike at
the doors of disturb conscious. She describes the action
before it is committed. She reveals the actions when they
are taking shape into the hearts. When they are committed
their ugliness is exposed. For instances, the character of 
 Arthur 
is the best example of the change brought in by the
novelist herself. In portraying this particular character,
she lays bare all the conscious as well as semi-conscious
emotions which compel him to action. We see the
working of his inner most mind. The characterization in “
 Adam Bede 
” is absolutely vivid and memorable. In the words of a
modern critic,
“There is not a single character in the novel which is not
perfectly drawn, even if the portrait is but a sketch still it is
a true one. Even the character of Mr. Irwin, the person, is
very carefully drawn and plays a very impressive role in
the final predicament of Hetty. His religious learning has
made him a very sensible and caring figure. The
sufferings and agonies of humanity seem to him his
own sufferings. He extends full cooperation to anybody
who undergoes injustice, oppression and unfair treatment.
Even such a minor character finds full opportunity to
make a mark on the readers.” 
 The other critic, Hennery James and Gerald Bullet have
found some irregularities in the characterization in “
 Adam Bede 
”. For example, it is their belief that the major characters
like
 Adam 
and
Dinah 
do not arouse the desired interest. They also claim that the
character of Mrs. Poysers has been over praised. Both
these critics are unanimous
in their opinion that Hetty has been the
most successful creation of all the characters. Her
innocence, great interest inlife, her sharing capability, and
great interest in human psyche and her free and frank
attitude in all matters of life make her a very complete
character, the most suitable for the modern day
fiction. The whole gallery of characters, from major to
minor, has been beautifully projected to create desired
effect. The perfection and imperfection of the
personalities of different characters make a wonderful
sense of literary triumph by the great novelist. The peak
of characterization becomes self-evident when we glance
at the variety of characters, roles they perform and the
inner coordination that they exhibit at every level. The
psychological pattern of inner thinking is the hallmark of
special gift of characterization of 
George Eliot 
. The complex feelings keep on adding to the overall
effect and the thematic interpretations of the different
segments of the plot. The collective picture that emerges
out of this fine blend of action and characterization is a
gem indeed. No other novelist of 
George Eliot 
’s era can claim to have produced such marvelous
interlink and psychological treatment at such an artistic
level. Characterization is definitely a special feature of 
George Eliot 
’s art of novel writing, which is difficult to surpass . To
conclude, it can be said with absolute confidence that the
writing of 
George Eliot 
are full of unique characters which are larger than life.
The typical flavour of 
George Eliot ’s own personality gives colour and broader
dimension to her characters. The matchless characters are
the proud product of strong mind of the writer.
 Adam  , Hetty  ,
Dinah 
and few others testify this reality.

Q 3: 
Give a character sketch of Adam Bede.
 Answer: 
 Adam 
is an intelligent but not well educated rural carpenter who
feels thathe understands the nature of the things. For him
life is very simple and hebelieves that the world operates
according to certain mechanical principles whichnever
change. He also believes that one should spend one’s life
according tocertain principles of right conduct. He is an
unemotional person and believes thatone should always
do one’s duty no matter what the circumstances are. For
thisreason he is a sober young man, totally dedicated to
his work. He rarely doesthings for his own pleasure but
always tries to do the right thing in every situation.
Such a kind of attitude creates many fine qualities in him.
 Adam 
has a strong nature. He is brave and aggressive and does
not yield under pressure, because he thinks he knows
what right is. He is self-confident and expresses himself
honestly. His dedication to his duty makes him strong
willed and determined person. It also leads him to
approach problems in a logical forward looking way. All
in all, he is a very optimistic young man as novel opens.
He feels that he can handle any situation through positive
action. He feels that he is in control of himself and of the
course of his life. The deep study of novel reveals that
 Adam 
is somewhat immature. Even the experiences of life have
not changed his strict view point. As his reaction to his
father shows that he lacks sympathy for other people’s
weaknesses. He is dedicated to duty himself and he
expects others to have same attitude in life. He is thus
self-righteous and somewhat intolerant.His basic
aggressiveness is expressed through his violent attitude.
Sometimes, he seems to feel that violence is the most
honest and practical way to solve the problems. As he
feels in control of his situation, he is a proud and self-
centered man. He is the one who clings to his own
opinion and insists on getting his own way. The negative
features in his personality emerge most clearly in his first
reaction to
 Arthur 
when he comes to know about the love affair between
 Arthur 
 and
Hetty 
. His passions get out of hand and he tries to solve his
problem in the most direct possible way by taking
physical revenge on
 Arthur 
and then forcing him to write to
Hetty  about terminating the relationship. At this point his
pride has even corrupted his good qualities and he refuses
to forgive
 Arthur 
. The regret that
 Adam 
feels for having knocked
 Arthur 
down is the first steptowards maturity. He realizes that he
has done something rash which serves nouseful purpose
and which cannot be retracted (
 ‫ﭩﮨ ﮯ‬
). From this point, under theinfluence of Dinah, Mr. Irwin
and his own experience, he begins to soften. Hebecomes
acquainted with “irremediable evil” at
Hetty 
’s trial. It is the sort of situation which he cannot control or
set right. This places him in a dilemma andhe solves it by
accepting the imperfect situation and by extending
sympathy to
Hetty 
and
 Arthur 
. In short, he becomes humble and instead of judging
people’sbehaviour by his own standards, he treats them
well in spite of their faults. Hisself-righteous and
intolerance fall away and he realizes that doing right
impliesacting in a loving way whether people come up to
his notion of proper conduct ornot. The pride which has
isolated him from others vanishes and he accepts hisown
and his nears limitations. After a great struggle, he is able
to put othershappiness before own, even to forgive the
man he had considered his enemy.
 Adam 
’s personality is consistent throughout the novel. His
values simply shift as he grows more mature and realistic.
At the end, he is still strong but nowhis strength founded
on acceptance of the world as it is. He has come to see
thatit is more important to love than to be technically right
in any given situation.
 Adam 
is thus Eliot’s primary illustration of the way in which a
man can developwhat according to her standard is proper
self understanding. He becomes moralinstead of
moralistic and evolves gentleness. In short,
 Adam Bede 
is a perfectly round character and grows steadily
throughout the course of the novel.
Q 4: 
Give a character sketch of Dinah
Morris.
 Answer: 
 To most of the readers sweet pity of 
Dinah 
seems distasteful. It seems liketoo much of a good thing.
But this reaction is based on an unhistorical view of
thecharacter, it is not valid (
 ‫ﮯ‬ ‫ﮯ‬
).
Dinah Morri 
s’s style of speech seems quiteodd to the modern reader
but this was a fact that such type of speech wascommon in
18
th
century. The reader of 21
st
century finds it unnatural but
George Eliot 
was creating a historically accurate picture and this should
be kept in mindwhile judging her characters.On the other
hand, this wrong reaction to Dinah’s character is quite
valid.Most critics of the world urge that
Dinah 
is not a realistic character. She is anideal and a perfect
woman who has no fault. Perhaps she is the
personification of abstract (
‫ا‬‫ ﮨ‬
) goal of Eliot’s ethical system. There are perfect no
women in theworld, nor there likely to be.
Dinah 
is rather clearly inhuman in her piety.Without any doubt
Dinah 
is a good woman. She is completely dedicated tothe
Lord’s work. Wherever she encounters suffering, she tries
to alleviate it. Shehas spent her whole life in deeds of
charity. Dinah’s piety is not an abstract one.She preaches
what she believes and practices what she preaches.
Through longexperience she had discovered how to
comfort people and bring them to God. Inthe course of
novel, she had a good effect on everyone she comes in
contact with.
Dinah 
is also entirely humble. She considers herself as the
servant of the people.She is a working woman and no task
is too mean for her. She visits afflictedpeople in prison
and in their simple cottages and she shares their hard life
withthem.
 The close study of the novel makes it quite evident that
she is absolutely selfless. She never allows any thought of
her own comfort to interfere with theperformance of her
duty. She looks upon her own desires as temptations
whichmust be restricted. She always places God before
man and other people beforeherself. And finally she is
totally benevolent.
Dinah 
never does anything which isnot likely to have good
effects. She has no dislikes and she treats everyone
withrespect and sympathy. No one in the novel
disapproves her behaviour. She isuniversally praised by
all who know her.Dinah gives up her life of taking care
and preaching when she marries
 Adam 
. But, she takes this step only after assuring herself that it
is God’s will andher basic personality does not change at
all.
Dinah 
remains at the end what shewas at the beginning. She was
a morally perfect woman with the face and bearingof an
angle and the heart of a saint. To conclude, we may say
that
George Eliot 
has presented
Dinah 
as asymbol of womanly virtue and as a very caring
character. She is affectionate,cooperating, sympathetic
and very tender hearted. We learn from different partsof
the novel about her generosity and large-heartedness.
Every critic has shownhis appreciation for
Dinah 
for her harmless nature and her appealing personality.
George Eliot 
has certainly presented a larger than life character in the
figure of Dinah. The readers have naturally great regard
for her. Her personality gives avery sober colour to the
entire action of the novel. The inner piety of the
novelistreflects through the noble character of Dinah.
Q5: 
Discuss the local colour and comic
relief in Adam Bede.
 Answer: 
As a literary term, local colour refers to description of life
and character inparticular locality. The customs of the
people, their speeches, their particular way of looking at
things is presented to the reader often in a slightly
sentimentalizedor desirous way. Dickens and Bret Harte
are probably the best knownpractitioners of this
type.Comic relief is familiar term which needs careful
examination. An authorwants to relive the intensity of the
serious plot-line by inserting comic charactersor
situations. These entertaining devices help keep the
reader’s interest lively andbalance out the fictional picture
of the half tragic, half comic world. Probably, themost
famous comic relief in English literature is the knocking
at the gate in

 
 

“Macbeth”, where sight of drunken porter relaxes the

audiences after the murderof Duncan. Eliot uses both
these devices in “Adam Bede”. In a strict sense mostof
the novel is full of local colour. The settings and the
speeches of the characters belongs to a specific time and
place. But certain characters function almost entirely as
local colour figures. These people are actually the part of
the novel’sbackground. They provide a concrete
atmosphere in which central action of thestory takes
place. Mr. Poyser is a typical Warwickshire farmer and
Mr. Benexemplifies the typical attitude of the
Warwickshire town labourer of his days.Eliot gives a lot
of attention to the habits and customs of the local
people.For example, most of chapter 6 and 18 describes
what ordinary people did andsaid on ordinary days in the
Warwickshire countryside in 1800. The picturespresented
at different levels of the village life are relevant and
realistic. They are afrank and representation of the
functioning physical world of that time. Parts of book 3,
especially chapter 25 on the games at the
 Arthur 
’s birthday party showhow people celebrate an important
event. We find the local custom of the harvestsupper. The
sections of the novel which concentrate on developing
local colour serveother purposes as well. For example, in
book 3 we see calm prevails before thestorm. Eliot builds
up suspense by talking of minor matters, while delaying
theexplosion of the inevitable conflict. We see that
suspense is created in chapter 53while
Dinah 
thinks over
 Adam 
’s proposal from different angles. These events
alsoprovide the much needed comic relief. It is no
accident that the relatively lighthearted portion of the
novel comes after the grim conflict between
 Adam 
and
 Arthur 
. This has been done deliberately to minimize the
emerging tension. Thus local colour and comic relief
work hand in hand in “
 Adam Bede 
”.
Eliot 
is determined to write a realistic novel about common
people, dig hermemories of childhood and creates a
specific concrete world. She projects it in avery
sentimental way and takes delight in the charming
presentation of rural folk.Eliot does not forget that one
important function of the novelist is to entertain. Soshe
provides us something to laugh at by describing the real
life pattern of thevillage people. To conclude, it can be
said that the entire novel is full of local environmentand
there is no dearth (

) of comic relief. These two vital elements of the
noveladd beauty and comprehensiveness to the novel
writing of 
George Eliot 
. Herquality does not make
 Adam Bede 
laborious (
 
), boring or unattractiverather local colour and comic relief
should be taken as very strong plus point of the novelist.
Q 6: 
Discuss George Eliot as a modern
novelist.
 Answer: 
George Eliot 
has a distinction of being regarded as the first modern nov
 
elistin the real sense of the word. She introduced a
conception of novel which is still acontinuing effect on
the current pattern of novel writing. The main reason of
herfame is that she is first modern novelist in
English. The first period of the English novel begins with
Fielding and ends with Trollope. The second period is of 
Henry James 
and
Meredith.
Third periodstarted with
George Eliot 
and is hardly over today. Though, she was not
arevolutionary genius like Emily Bronte, yet her mode of
writing and her personaltemperament were cautious (
 ‫ط‬    
) and scholarly. Her books do have a shadow of his
predecessors as she learnt a lot from them. Although, her
mode of writing wasvery much like Victorian yet there
are some important differences as well. Though, she does
not break the old tradition which she inherited, yet she
alteredits fundamental characteristics. She used the old
formulas but used them for anew purpose. Her creative
impulse gave her a new inspiration.Even
George Eliot 
has used some of the literary ingredients as used by earlier
Victorian novelists but she gives them totally different
value. For instance,the theme of 
“Middlemarch” 
involves a description of the social life as elaborateas that
of 
Trollope,
but this description is not her chief interest in writing
thestory. The farm life in “
 Adam Bede 
” is there to provide an occasion for telling thestory. The
significant feature that makes
George Eliot 
a modern novelist is theseparate scene and characters. The
things which have primary importance for theVictorian
novelists have secondary importance for Eliot.
George Eliot 
’s novels do not consist of a number of characters
withhaphazard (
‫ہ‬      ‫ا‬
) plot imposed on them in order to keep them together.
The plotdid not arise from the characters, except in the
case of “Vanity Fair”.
George Eliot 
started the idea of characters and situations. She did not
intend to followthe standardized formula. Hence, she
developed something which was quitedifferent from the
accepted Victorian notion of a plot. There was no
marriage, nohappy ending and no characters according to
the Victorian conception of heroand heroine.
“The Mill on the Floss” 
ends badly and has no hero at all. In
“Middlemarch” 
there is no central figure of any kind and main interest is
dividedbetween four separate groups of characters and
none of them approaches the
conventional heroic type. Moreover, as the action of the
story arises logically fromthe characters, those strokes of
fortunate, coincidences, sudden inheritance, longlast wills
which the main material are in ordinary Victorian plot, are
totally absent. The great novels of earlier period had
mainly been written for theentertainment of middle
classes. Their subject matter was limited. But for
George Eliot 
the novel was medium for the discussion of serious
problems. Eliot is adistant landmark in the history of the
English novel. She does not regard novel asentertainment.
In her hands novel becomes a fit vehicle for the highest
art as wellas profound criticism of life. She regards
individuals more important than society. The society must
come forward to add to the happiness of the individual. It
mustnot bring hurdles in the path of individual
aspirations.In short, we see that from every point of view
George Eliot 
can be regarded as thefirst real modern novelist in English
literature. Her plots, her social technique,her
psychological insights and her own special flavour of
liberated personality makes her true representative of
modern version of novel.
Q 7: 
Discuss George Eliot’s realism.
Or 
What are the biographical elements in
“Adam Bede”? 
Or 
Discuss the dear reader technique of
George Eliot in “Adam Bede”.
Or 
Discuss Eliot’s psychological approach
in “Adam Bede”.
 Answer: 
George Eliot 
has been considered as the intellectual novelist. For
every intellectual novelist realism is necessary, but for
Eliot it is a creed and ambition.She declares her stories as
“a criticism of life”; hence she draws her stories
fromactual life. She draws her own model and deals
everything with devoted and
sincere truthfulness. Whereas, such truthfulness is missing
in Dickens andFaulkner, rather there is an air of
artificiality in their work. Eliot says:
“Falsehood is so easy, truth is so difficult.” 
But for writer like Eliot’s intellect, it is very difficult to
create falsehood.In Eliot’s time, the “dear reader”
technique was widely used. The methodderives from the
conception that since fiction was literally (
‫ﮟ‬  
) untrue hencewas a deception and morally unhealthy. 18
th
century writers, especially Defoetook pains to insist that
their novels were real account of true
happenings.Although, 19
th
century gradually came to accept fiction as fiction, the
custom of speaking directly to the readers would do
persisted. It took novel another forty  years to take its
place as a serious art form. Through out “
 Adam Bede 
”, Eliot pretends that it is a true story. She takesthe
position of one who is merely recording events as heard
by her. Almost all thebackground of her stories arises
from her early childhood memories of theWarwickshire
countryside. For this reason she says that her novels are
her“experience of life”. Though there is great contribution
and blend of imagination, yet description have a warmth
and colour of memory.In “
 Adam Bede 
” events of the story take place in 1799 i.e. about half
acentury before it is written, yet
George Eliot 
shows such a clear picture of past,that to many older
people it reminds the era of their early years or
childhood.Hays lope world is as true as any village in
England.Eliot draws her characters from real life. In “
 Adam Bede 
” she describes that
Dinah Morris 
is a pen picture of her own Methodist aunt, Mrs. Samuel
Evans. Though, her aunt is not like
Dinah 
in her softness and beauty, yet the main ideais taken from
her. Even the main theme of the story i.e. confession and
executionof a woman, on murdering her child, is taken
from account of a similar incidentby Eliot’s same aunt.
Thus she tries to make it more real by using original
story.It is said that her character of 
 Adam 
, resembles Eliot’s father very closely.Her power of
observation goes hand in hand with her memory
andimagination. It is her deep observation of people’s
behaviour in daily life, whichmakes her character more
close to reality. Mrs. Poyser represents true wit
andhumour of a pure countrywoman of that time. It is said
that she had somecharacteristics of Eliot’s mother.
Through
 Arthur 
Eliot bitterly satirizes thegeneral behaviour and customs
of landlords.Eliot also depicts the ‘psychological realism’
in her novels. She has deepinsight in her human nature
and she unveils its weaknesses. Her stories define a
certain ‘moral conflict’ of human life; the conflict of duty
and desire, of heart andhead, of mind and soul. The inner
world of her characters is more important toher than the
outer one. She skillfully penetrates to the inner-self of her
characterand thus exposes them.Eliot’s keen observation
of human nature is also visible in the minorincidents of
the novel. For instance, man’s natural selfishness is
revealed throughvarious characters. As when
Hetty 
resolves to forgive
 Arthur 
, it is also for thesake of her own salvation (
‫ت‬   
). Another example of Eliot’s intellect and insight
inhuman nature is shown in the marriage of 
 Adam 
with Dinah. It expresses mannatural instinct to escape
from pain and suffering, and that every passion lossesits
intensity with the passage of time.Eliot has been criticized
on grounds of exaggerating in some cases. Anobjection is
raised that she has made
Hetty 
’s sufferings prolonged and acute (
‫ﮩ‬
), and she does not deserve such extremely harsh
treatment. The reason mightbe so that being a moralist;
Eliot could not spare even the slightest moral lapse inher
female characters. Another, objection is that
“she has made Adam and Dinah” too good to be true” 
. Their excessive goodness makes them unreal. Butthis
was done by Eliot with a definite aim to reject the popular
notion of her timethat all men and women are mere
temptress (
‫ا‬ ‫و‬ ‫ﮯ‬‫ا‬   ‫م‬   ‫ے‬  
).In short,
George Eliot 
’s wisdom, intellect and imagination do not go forfrom
reality. Her insight into human nature brings the very
truth about ourselvesin front of us also. It is her trait
which differ her from other Victorians and makeher first
in the queue of modern novelists.
Q 8: 
Discuss George Eliot as a moralist.
Or 
“Adam Bede” is dramatization of
ultimate best in man.What is your
opinion? 
Or 
 Adam Bede learns through pains. His
knowledge of suffering makes him the
man of high standing. Do you agree? 
  Answer: 
In her youth,
George Eliot 
came in contact with intellectual figures of herage. When
her vision widened, she lost faith in Orthodox (
‫ا‬‫ر‬،  ‫ﭩ‬‫ﮦ‬‫ا‬
) Christianity,and after that she could not believe in the
supernatural concepts and immortality of human soul
throughout her life. For this reason she has been accused
of beingagonistic (
‫ا‬‫و‬ ‫ﮯ‬‫ﮨر‬ ‫ر‬ ‫ﮯ‬ ‫ٔﮯ‬ ٔ‫ا‬‫ﮍ‬
) and atheist (
،‫د‬ ‫ﮯ‬
). But she never appears as anatheist in her stories, only
her approach to religion is intellectual. She could
notbelieve in dogmatic parts of religion, but she had faith
in its ethical preaching.She was concerned with only
moral aspects of religion. Her standards of right
andwrong were exactly those of the puritans (
‫ہ‬  ‫ا‬
). Her spiritual values werebased on human values, not on
the Bible. She believes that anyone leading avirtuous life
enjoys real happiness and is essentially contented with
life.Some critics have claimed that
George Eliot 
could not be a moralist, as sheherself was immoral in her
life. She was living with Lewis without marriage. But,if
we consider through the views of human values, she did
not commit any immoral act. Lewis’ wife had left him
and
George Eliot 
wanted to console himand second marriage is not allowed
in Christianity.Like Fielding, Eliot also wrote with
definite purpose, which was to
“inject the moral” 
into people. However, her concept of morality was quite
different fromthat of Fielding. In fact, she wanted to vex (
 ‫ﮦد‬‫ر‬‫ز‬
) or reshape the consciousnessof the individuals to reform
the whole society. For this reason, she used hernovels as a
platform for moral preaching. She gave psychological
insight of hercharacters, thus making them more lifelike
and acceptable. She thought them hermorality through
their sufferings and experiences. Her moral belief is clear
fromher following statements:
“Our deeds determine us as much as we determine our
deeds”.
Egoism is the central idea of her novels. She describes
how an egoisticcreates problems for himself as well as for
others. In
“Adam Bede” 
, she strikes atthe feudal egoism in the character of 
 Arthur 
. He wanted to overcome his flawsbut it was an inborn
quality, which brought the catastrophe in the novel.
George Eliot 
stresses on the balance between the interests of the self
andthat of the other selves. She thinks that no one can be
moral, unless he breaksthe prison of the self. She wants
people to look upon the sufferings of the peoplearound
them and pity them. She feels that even the weakest
person hassomething to be admired. According to her, no
one get ultimate happiness unlesshe maintains content
relationship with human beings.
She believes that sufferings are essential for the
development of personality,because sufferings mould a
man. Through the medium of sufferings an
egoisticmatures. She shows her characters suffers and
learns a lot.
 Adam 
’s sympathiesare widened through his sufferings and his
feelings of self-righteousnessgradually lessen.
Hetty 
also regenerates and matures through her sufferings.She
wants people to maintain emotional self-control. Passions
shouldalways be under the control of reason, as
sentimentality destroys man and bringshis downfall. In
“Adam Bede” 
 
 Arthur 
’s and
Hetty 
’s sentimentality brought theirtragedy and to which there
was no remedy.Eliot in her stories lay stress on
absoluteness (
‫و‬ 
) of duty. To her, oneshould not compromise on duty at any
cost.
Hetty 
does not care for her duty towards her uncle and aunt and
in her vanity goes far away. That’s why shesuffers.Eliot
thinks that endurance and renunciation (
‫ر‬‫ا‬‫د‬ ‫د‬
) are necessary forhappy and successful life.
 Adam 
remains unsatisfied, when he is rash andintolerant but
becomes calm and peaceful when he regenerates and
through hissufferings and learns to endure others.
Dinah 
is also a symbol of endurance andpatience.Eliot believes
in the justice in life. According to her, virtuous people
live acontented life and a sinner or an immoral man is
sure to meet his fate (
،‫ر‬
).She is sure that one can’t escape from the consequences
of one’s own actions.Even the smallest sin will have its
punishment, though not immediately, yet intimes to come.
Hetty 
and
 Arthur 
both are example of her that belief.In the end, it can be
said that Eliot preached the religion of morality.However,
her approach to moralization was aesthetic (

) and not conservative(
 ‫ا‬
). She linked ethics with aesthetics. In fact, ethics were
driving force of hernovels. In short, she was definitely a
moralist like any other novelist and hernovels were a
“criticism of life”.
Q 9: 
What is Methodism? Is “Adam Bede”
a propagation of this religious
phenomenon? 
 Answer: 
Methodism may be defined as “a movement of reaction
against the apathy (
‫د‬ ‫ﮦد‬،‫ﮩ‬‫د‬
) of the Church of England that prevailed in the early part
of 18th
 century. John Wesley, who was a student at Oxford and
took holy orders in 1725,founded this movement.
Methodist society was formed in 1729 when a few
youngmen at Oxford came together under his leadership.
Their object was thepromotion of piety and morality. The
greatest success of this movement wasamong the lower
classes. When the Methodist movement strengthened,
lady preachers were appointed to meet the need. First
Wesley Conference was held in1744, in which women
were allowed to preach but later they were restricted
topreach. In the beginning, this movement worked under
the established church,but as the society grew, it became
more independent. However, separation wasmade after
the death of Wesley in 1791.“
 Adam Bede 
’ was published in 1859, but the story of the novel takes
placein 1799. This was the time of most stirring (
‫ﮯ‬‫ا‬‫و‬ ‫ﮯ‬‫د‬‫ه‬
) events all over the world.Civil war was fought in United
States, in Italy there raised the Movement
of Independence, Japan came out of self-imposed
isolation, Russia freed heroccupied areas, and France fell
to internal strife. But Hays lope in England, inwhich the
action of the novel takes place, remains unaffected by all
these events.In “
 Adam Bede 
”, the famous religious movement of the time,
Methodism, isdiscussed.
Dinah Morris 
, who is one of the most devoted and firm
Methodist,represents this movement. She is a very
influential preacher and her sermonsshow the
characteristics of Methodist preaching. Her first
appearance in the novelis in a sermon at Hays lope. This
sermon has a purely Methodist appeal. At firstthere is an
emphasis on God’s love for poor, then there is a call for
repentanceover the sins and in the end there is warning
against worldly vanity. This speechis very much similar
to one of the speeches of Wesley. This speech creates a
moving affect on the audience. However, by and large,the
people of Hays lope remained unaffected by Methodism,
while people of Snowfield are more receptive (
‫ا‬‫و‬ ‫ﮯ‬ ‫ل‬
) of it.
Dinah 
is an example of the most sincere type of Methodist. She
has a softnature and has great sympathy for the sinners.
Her chief aim is to know the willof God and to follow it.
She consults the Bible before taking any crucial
decision.Hence, she rejects
Seth 
and accepts
 Adam 
after consolation.Dinah’s Methodist spirit also appears on
two occasions. First one is whenshe visits Lisbeth Bede to
console her on her husband’s death. With her
soothingwords and manners, she helps Lisbeth to regain
her self control.
Dinah 
gets thishealing touch through her Methodist learning.
The other occasion comes when
Dinah 
meets
Hetty 
in prison and makesher confess.
Hetty 
has no concept of the agony of soul. She fears only for
thesuffering of the body. But
Dinah 
makes her feel the physical presence of God withthem.
She urges
Hetty 
, “To put a new fear within her-the fear of her sin.
Thus,because of Dinah’s efforts and prayers,
Hetty 
realizes the sufferings of her soul,confesses her crime and
repents on her sin. The novel also presents the tolerant
attitude of the established churchtowards
Methodism. Through a short speech at the end, it is made
clear that
Dinah 
is not goingto preach anymore. It is because the Second
Wesley Conference has forbidden thewomen to preach. It
was felt that women preachers did more harm than
goodnesswith their preaching. But
Dinah 
does not belong to that group of women. She is asymbol
of purity and a force of good. Moreover, much of the
story involvesMethodism and hence it progresses through
Dinah. However, Eliot is moreconcerned with the
psychology of the characters and their moral choice.
Shewants to moralize the people and Dinah’s Methodist
approach also highlights themoral elements to be
developed in the people.