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Description
In this programme Barbara Hardy discussess the character of Dorothea in 'Middlemarch' and in particular the influence upon her fateful choice of Casaubon as 'historian, guide and husband'. The prog...ramme deals first with Dorothea's character and aspirations before the wedding journey to Rome, then with the journey itself and its meaning both for Dorothea and in the novel. Then the relevance of Dorothea's experience to other characters and the way in which the Roman episode influences the shape and balance of this novel of English provincial life is discussed. The argument is illustrated by material filmed at Arbury Hall near Nuneaton, near where George Eliot was born, and by dramatised readings from the novel.
In this programme Barbara Hardy discussess the character of Dorothea in 'Middlemarch' and in particular the influence upon her fateful choice of Casaubon as 'historian, guide and husband'. The prog...ramme deals first with Dorothea's character and aspirations before the wedding journey to Rome, then with the journey itself and its meaning both for Dorothea and in the novel. Then the relevance of Dorothea's experience to other characters and the way in which the Roman episode influences the shape and balance of this novel of English provincial life is discussed. The argument is illustrated by material filmed at Arbury Hall near Nuneaton, near where George Eliot was born, and by dramatised readings from the novel.
| Module code and title: | A302, The nineteenth century novel and its legacy |
|---|---|
| Item code: | A302; 07 |
| First transmission date: | 28-04-1973 |
| Published: | 1973 |
| Rights Statement: | |
| Restrictions on use: | |
| Duration: | 00:23:43 |
| + Show more... | |
| Producer: | John Selwyn Gilbert |
| Contributors: | Simon Albury; Michael Anderson; Jill Balcon; Barbara Nathan Hardy |
| Publisher: | BBC Open University |
| Keyword(s): | Arbury Hall; Dorothea; Nuneaton; Rome |
| Footage description: | Jill Balcon reads passages from the Penguin edition of 'Middlemarch', pp. 29-30, pp. 49-51 which describe the person and character of Miss Brooke. Film is used to recreate passages read. Barbara Hardy briefly describes the original conception of Middlemarch, and discusses the importance of Dorothea Brooke to the novel. The background and activities of the country gentry to which Dorothea belongs as well as the status of women in 1820-30 are described. Shots of women's activities at home ca. 1820-30 in contemporary engravings are shown. Barbara Hardy classifies the novel as both sociological and psychological, and continues to point out the importance of Dorothea to the novel as a whole. Barbara Hardy discusses in detail, over shots of the ruins of Rome, the cultural and emotional shocks suffered by Dorothea on her wedding visit to Rome. The importance of the episode to the novel is described. Over frescoes in Rome extracts from 'Middlemarch ', pp. 238-239 are read. Barbara Hardy describes in detail the contrast between Dorothea's character at the time of the visit to Rome and what, in symbolic terms, Rome represents. A brief passage from 'Middlemarch' is read over shots of frescoes by Raphael to point up an observation by Barbara Hardy on the nature of the marriage between Casatubon and Dorothea. Barbara Hardy expands on the importance of the Cupid and Psyche story to the episode of Dorothea's marriage to Casaccbon. Over shots of Roman statuary p.225 of Middlemarch is read out. Barbara Hardy continues her exposition of the contrast between Rome and its history and art and Dorothea's previous attitudes and experience, and her present experience in marriage. Jill Balcon reads pp. 306-308 of the Penguin edition of 'Middlemarch'. The scene is reenacted, voice over film. Barbara Hardy describes the subsequent changes in temperament that can be seen in the character of Dorothea and identifies parallels between the experience of the fictional character and George Eliot's own experience. She goes on to give reasons for the view of 'Middlemarch' as a novel of greater breadth and depth than those of a mere study of English provincial life. |
| Master spool number: | 6HT/71051 |
| Production number: | 00525_3076 |
| Videofinder number: | 618 |
| Available to public: | no |
