History Literature / Middlemarch

** Casaubon assumes that Will is getting cozy with Dorothea so that, in the likely event Casaubon dies first and Dorothea inherits all his money, Will can then get rich from ComfortingTheWidow. (He's wrong; while Will ''is'' in love with Dorothea, he has no notion of ever doing more than crushing on her from a respectful distance for most of the book.)

* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: [[spoiler: Farebrother]] doesn't try to come between Mary and Fred.

* SelfFulfillingProphecy: The codicil to Casaubon's will.

* DesperatelyLookingForAPurposeInLife: Dorothea Brooke's problem. The narrator suggests that SocietyIsToBlame, to a certain extent.

* GoldDigger: Rosamond Vincy is a subversion. What she originally expects to achieve through marriage is sophistication and an escape from provincial boredom rather than getting filthy rich. Her family are comfortably well-off (though by no means rich) and she repeatedly turns down suitors who are wealthier. It's flat-out poverty that crushes her spirit.

* WhatDoesSheSeeInHim: Both of Dorothea's marriages come in for this.

* TheFundamentalist: Bulstrode.

* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters

* TheHedonist: Rosamond and Fred Vincy. Fred manages to redeem himself; Rosamond, not so much.
** The lack of options that women had is a theme in the novel. Fred redeems himself with the offer of a useful job giving him a modest income. Rosamond is plunged into debt through her husband's decisions and can do little about it, though she tries with her limited means.
** Actually, no. Rosamond plays an active role in getting the Lydgates into debt; she's the one who wants an expensive house, expensive furniture, and resists any of Tertius' attempts to recover, going behind his back multiple times. She definitely does not "try with her limited means", and while this is definitely due to her extremely limited upbringing, she is extraordinarily selfish and is an example of how some women really reinforce gender stereotypes and roles in society.

** Mary Garth is perfectly honourable and well-mannered, but she is quite plain, and a proper English Rose has to be pretty.

** Rosamond was raised to be, and seen by most outsiders as, an archetypal English Rose: beautiful, gentle and virtuous, whereas inwardly she is shallow and selfish.
** Mary Garth is perfectly honourable and well-mannered, but she is quite plain, and proper English Rose has to be pretty.
** Dorothea is the one that comes closest to playing this trope straight, as she is at once beautiful, incredibly modest (in both senses of the word) and a seriously good person, but she is a bit too independent to be considered a completely decent lady in 19th century England.

* EnglishRose: All three main female characters are subversions. Rosamond was raised to be, and seen by most outsiders as, an archetypal English Rose: beautiful, gentle and virtuous, whereas inwardly she is shallow and selfish. Mary Garth is perfectly honourable and well-mannered, but she is quite plain. Dorothea is the one that comes closest to playing this trope straight, as she is at once beautiful, incredibly modest (in both senses of the word) and a seriously good person, but she is a bit too independent to be considered a completely decent lady in 19th century England.

* MayDecemberRomance: Dorothea and Casaubon.
** A bad idea. It is heavily implied that the December party is impotent.

* HeelFaceTurn: [[spoiler: Bulstrode]], after being shunned for [[spoiler: Raffles' death]], does try to put things right for Fred Vincy.

* GoldDigger: Rosamond Vincy is a subversion. What she originally wants is sophistication and an escape from provincial boredom. Her family are comfortably well-off but by no means rich and she repeatedly turns down suitors who are wealthier. It's flat-out poverty that crushes her spirit.

* EnglishRose: All three main female characters are subversions. Rosamond was raised to be, and seen by most outsiders as, an archetypal English Rose: beautiful, gentle and virtuous, whereas inwardly she is shallow and selfish. Mary Garth is perfectly honourable and well-mannered, but she is quite plain. Dorothea is the one that comes closest to playing this trope straight, as she is at once beautiful, incredibly modest and a seriously good person, but she is a bit too independent to be considered a completely decent lady in 19th century England.

* GoldDigger: Rosamond Vincy. She's badly disappointed.
** Not exactly. She wants sophistication and an escape from provincial boredom. Her family are comfortably well-off but by no means rich and she repeatedly turns down suitors who are wealthier. It's flat-out poverty that crushes her spirit.

Two television adaptations have been made, in 1968 and in 1994, and a film by Sam Mendes is in production.

* EnglishRose: All three main female characters are subversions. Rosamond was raised to be, and seen by most outsiders as, an archetypal English Rose: beautiful, gentle and virtuous, but inwardly she is shallow and selfish. Mary Garth is perfectly honourable and well-mannered, but she is quite plain. Dorothea is the one that comes closest to playing this trope straight, as she is at once beautiful, incredibly modest and a seriously good person, but she is a bit too independent to be considered a completely decent lady in 19th century England.

* EnglishRose: All three main female characters are subversions. Rosamond was raised to be, and seen by most outsiders as, an archetypal EnglishRose, beautiful, gentle and virtuous; but inwardly she is shallow and selfish. Mary Garth is perfectly honourable and well-mannered, but she is quite plain. Dorothea is the one that comes closest to playing this trope straight, as she is at once beautiful, incredibly modest and a seriously good person, but she is a bit too independent to be considered a completely decent lady in 19th century England.

* EnglishRose: All three main female characters are subversions. Rosamond was raised to be, and seen by most outsiders as, an archetypal EnglishRose, beautiful, gentle and virtuous; but inwardly she is shallow and selfish. Mary Garth is perfectly honourable and well-mannered, but she is quite plain. Dorothea is the one that comes closest to playing this trope straight, as she is at once beautiful, incredibly modest and a seriously good person, but she is a bit too "fervent" in her beliefs and ideals, and a bit too interested in "manly affairs" (such as managing her land, or science and learning) to be considered a completely decent lady in 19th century England.

* EnglishRose: All three main female characters are subversions. Rosamond was raised to be, and seen by most outsiders as, an archetypal EnglishRose, beautiful, gentle and virtuous, but inwardly she is shallow and selfish. Mary Garth is perfectly honourable and well-mannered, but she is quite plain. Dorothea is the one that comes closest to playing this trope straight, as she is at once beautiful, incredibly modest and a seriously good person, but she is a bit too "fervent" in her beliefs and ideals, and a bit too interested in "manly affairs" (such as managing her land, or science and learning) to be considered a completely decent lady in 19th century England.

** Subverted in Mary Garth's case as well: she makes it very clear to Fred Vincy that he has no chance with her if he continues reckless and idle.

* {{Doorstopper}}: It's 800 pages and the most exciting things that happens are the deaths of two characters, a provincial doctor's threatened disgrace and the coming of age of a idealistic young woman. That said, this troper thinks it's great.

* BreakTheHaughty: Bulstrode and Lydgate, in particular.

* GreedyJew: Possibly. Mr Dunkirk, the crooked dealer and Will's grandfather, is referred to as a "thieving Jew pawnbroker", though it's unclear whether the word "Jew" is merely [[ValuesDissonance being used as an epithet]] in this context.