Some new short thoughts on my recent read, George Eliot's "Adam Bede". Did Adam Bede really love Hetty Sorrel? The entire novel is built on the premise that he did. But he doesn't actively court her. Everyone in town has paired them off already as a couple, or at least a couple-to-be, and both Adam … Continue reading Hetty Sorrel and Adam Bede
In George Eliot's "Adam Bede," the titular character is a "sensible" man of high principles who falls in love with Hetty Sorrel, a superficial girl who does not love or understand him. He, in turn, loves Hetty but doesn't understand her. This is a common and very human situation, as Eliot observes with extended irony: … Continue reading Female beauty in Adam Bede
I've recently read George Eliot's first novel, "Adam Bede." It's a racier novel than I had come to expect, having read "Middlemarch" and "Silas Marner". Do people still speak of "racy" novels in this day and age? Well, I considered calling it straight-up sexy, but this is still 19th century Victorian literature, and it's still … Continue reading Lonesome Dove and Adam Bede
