Middlemarch is considered by some to be the best novel in the English language. It was originally published as a serial novel in the early 1870s, with one of the eight books being published every two months. The novel was wildly successful and built on fame George Eliot had already created for herself with her previous works, such as Silas Marner. Middlemarch, like Eliot's other work, is considered a Victorian novel.
Eliot creates a portrait of an entire town through interwoven stories of a number of townspeople. The novel is set between 1829 and 1832 and incorporates political and social attitudes of the time. Themes of progress and change run throughout the book. Middlemarch also...