In chapter twenty of Middlemarch, Dorothea Brooke realizes that she has made a serious mistake in marriage: "...for this new real future which replaced the The imagination drew its material from the endless minutiae by which her vision of Mr. Casaubon and his relationship as a wife, now that she was married to him, gradually changed with the secret movement of a watch hand in relation to this that she had been in her young girl's dream" (178). In contemplating the future of her relationship, Dorothea's shifting perspective is compared to the insidious movement of time measured on a watch. The “imaginary” hopes of Dorothea’s youth give her a more realistic mindset as she gains life experience. Thus, individuality is not fixed, but changes with the progression of time. Dorothea's vulnerability to time is underlined by the narrative's emphasis on her inner life, her attitudes rather than her actions. Judging Dorothea as a heroic figure whose ambitions are undermined by the inevitable passage of time, we might be tempted to read Middlemarch as a chronicle of defeat; this conclusion is unfair. In reality, George Eliot's creation of Dorothea Brooke is an attempt to create a viable epic hero. By tackling the problem of time, it is clear that Dorothea achieves the only type of heroism available to an intelligent human being who hopes to change the world: the heroism of happy compromise. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay Learning to compromise while living a fulfilling life is Dorothea's greatest challenge. In the Finale of the novel, the narrator says: "For there is no creature whose inner being is so strong that it is not greatly determined by what lies outside of it" (765-6 ). This seemingly simple statement is more problematic than it seems. Dorothea can only truly live her life as an “inner being”. Her circumstances may “determine” her actions, but the way she understands, justifies and structures these actions is through her own perceptions. Because time passes and she gains experience, she is able to give new meaning to the decisions she makes. The meaning she can give to her life choices is ultimately all that matters. An examination of his situation at the beginning of the novel further illuminates this theme. When we first meet Dorothea, she is nineteen years old, living under the roof of an uncle whom she regards with a certain “impatience” (4-5). If she wants to escape her roof, she needs a husband. In addition, she plans to improve the peasant houses located on the surrounding agricultural land. This desire to reform the world as a whole rules out the possibility that she would be content with a celibate, cloistered life. To carry out her plans, Dorothea needs power, capital and, to a certain extent, freedom. The only hope for these things lies in marriage. Furthermore, her knowledge of men is limited and, given the rigidities of the class system, her choice of a spouse is more nominal than real. It is therefore not surprising that Casaubon appears different and attractive compared to the other men at her disposal, namely her main suitor, the self-satisfied Chettham. Casaubon is a little older than her, and he is an intellectual and a scholar. Logically, it seems to be the best choice. Given Dorothea's lack of experience, can we blame her for marrying him? No, nor does it diminish the true goodness of his motivation. In fact, many less heroic women would probably accept Chettham, who is young,beautiful, rich and indulgent “a no-brainer”. Shortly after marrying Casaubon, Dorothea realizes that she made a bad choice. Interestingly, this is not implying that she should have accepted Chettham (as it might for Jane Austen), but simply that she is beginning to change her mind about Casaubon. The main focus of the narrative is on Dorothea's epiphany that she misperceived her husband's true nature. This epiphany is linked to her relationship to time as she undergoes a process of maturity through which she adjusts her ideals to the reality before her. Middlemarch suggests that we can no longer learn traditional epic forms; heroes who are not affected by time cannot teach us anything. In Dorothea's case, we can appreciate her changes because they are directly related to her growth over time. She can only learn the truth about Casaubon by living with him, through the gradually accumulated experience of everyday life. And if she remained “immutable”, Dorothea would simply be stupid. The error she makes with Casaubon is didactic, because it requires a readjustment of her values ​​and her way of seeing. However, what is heroic about Dorothea's choice to marry Casaubon lies in her intention: she sees him as a Miltonic figure, and marries him for that reason. The cognitive process by which, over time, she discovers that he is not the man she initially thought is what makes her story compelling. As Dorothea gets to know Casaubon, so does the reader; by identifying with our heroine's psychological coming-of-age, we learn a valuable lesson. Ultimately, Dorothea manages to derive satisfaction from her knowledge of the world and her situation within it. Although she never builds cabins, she falls in love with Will Ladislaw and, in doing so, finally manages to make sense of her life experience. The narrator says: “she felt the immensity of the world and the multiple awakenings of men to work and endurance. She was a part of this involuntary and thrilling life, and could neither watch it from her luxurious shelter as a mere spectator, nor hide her eyes in selfish complaints” (722). This moment is notable because it demonstrates Dorothea's ability to accept who she is while recognizing the importance of "multiple awakenings" and the "pulsating life" of the outside world. Sympathy towards one's neighbor is ultimately not actualized in the physical reality of the chalets. , but through a process of internalization. Therefore, specific actions prove less important to Dorothea than her overall ability to make sense of her life. Dorothea gives up her fortune and marries Ladislaw. This decision involves a compromise “giving up money that could have been used for social good” but it also makes Dorothea happy. When her sister objects that she will no longer have the means to build cottages, Dorothea replies: "I have never carried out a project before." (750). Is she a failure because she never builds cottages? Ruskin states that: “No great man ever stops working until he has reached his point of failure: that is to say, his mind is always far in advance of his powers of execution” (92 ). Dorothea reaches a “failure point”: she will never be able to carry out the plans for the cottages, but she herself is not a failure. Like Ruskin, the "great man", she tends to dream of things that she cannot actually solve - the fundamental human problem. We will never achieve everything we dream of because, as human beings, we are subject to time and, eventually, death. By realizing that it is sensitive to time which?