Victorians! discussion

This is to discuss books 5 & 6 - The Dead Hand and The Widow and the Wife.

Oh good Lord, Celia told Mrs Cadwallader about the will provisio(book six). Why would she have told that busybody, lol!

Thalia wrote: "Oh good Lord, Celia told Mrs Cadwallader about the will provisio(book six). Why would she have told that busybody, lol!"

Celia is a blabber!

Of course, bless her simple soul, lol!

(Chapter 45) It is interesting to think that people were so skeptical of the new hospital and Lydgate's new ways. Mrs. Dollop's idea that Lydgate, with the new hospital, would "let people die, if not to poison them , for the sake of cutting them up"

The Burke and Hare couple seems not as unique when I found a documentary on the subject of how people would steal bodies or dig them up to bring them in for study. I would assume they were getting paid well for this. Was there no system of donating your body after you died for medical research at that time?

His new ways of examining his patients rather then the old way must have really startled people. It must have seemed quite a change to people who were rather used to the doctor looking at external elements rather then their own body.

I am curious to know if there is some writings out there on the subject of Mr St John Long, the (quack) who extracted fluid like mercury from the temples and was tried for manslaughter in 1830.
It mentions in my footnotes that George Elliot took copious notes from the Lancet on the subject. The Lancet I assume was a newspaper of the time?

Yes. I have been studying the complexities and afterlife concepts of victorian mourning. As soon as you get into the afterlife area of victorian myth the research is quite endless. I am always looking for more good books on the subject, as there is more then the surface to learn about. I almost tend to feel that there was a slight animist quality to Victorian mourning. (ie. dead ones hair kept, photos of dead relatives (children), etc)

I think the Victorian social practices along with contrasting daily conventions lend to a very complex interesting society to research. It is probably what makes it so odd. Though nowadays we have some 'silly' social practices as well, I am sure we could list them off.

Sandybanks wrote: "Thalia wrote: "Oh good Lord, Celia told Mrs Cadwallader about the will provisio(book six). Why would she have told that busybody, lol!"

Celia is a blabber!

"

i sometimes feel in reading this book that they are all blabbers. The amount of gossiping that goes on in the book is pretty thick.

I find the fact that Dorothea does not just speak her mind with regards to her true feelings is trying on this poor reader. :-) But alas, at least she is starting to head into the direction she meant to previously. It could have been worse. She could have been stuck for years.

Scott wrote: "Sandybanks wrote: "Thalia wrote: "Oh good Lord, Celia told Mrs Cadwallader about the will provisio(book six). Why would she have told that busybody, lol!"

Celia is a blabber!

"

i sometime..."

Well, it's a small town where everyone knows everybody. And many of them are idle or only engaged in part-time work by modern standards, so they have lots of time to gossip. :-)

I am at the part in the book with the town auction sale. I am trying my best to figure out the link between Raffles and Ladislaw... and also Raffles and Mr Bulstrode. I am sure I am going to find out soon? Nevertheless Raffles seems like a real scoundrel and one of the more 'evil' characters in the book. ;-).. but maybe more light will be shed on this?

Rosamond is starting to seem to me to be spoiled. She seems to only gravitate to people of position. They could be idiotic, brash, or anything else and that is all secondary to the position they hold and what it means to her. But I guess it was how she was schooled. Though I can't seem to put the blame on that, maybe it is just her character.

The poorer Middlemarch workers seem to be superstitious of the railroad coming in. Now, is this a rail line direct to London? Sort of like a commuter line for business traffic? Is this the first of its kind in the area?