Jane Austen’s Art of Characterization

Jane Austen’s Art of Characterization

Introduction: Jane Austen’s real talent is revealed much through her wonderful capacity for characterization. Like Shakespeare, she presents her characters truthfully and realistically. She is sensitive to every small nuance of manner and behavior and any deviation from the standard. The range of her characters is narrow and she confines herself to the landed gentry in the country-side. Servants, laborers and yeomanry rarely appear and even aristocracy is hardly touched upon. When she deals with aristocracy, she satirizes them such as Lady Catherine in P&P.

Her Characters are never repeated: despite such a narrow range. Not a single character has been repeated in any of her six books. The snobbishness of the Vicar, Mr. Collins in P&P is unlike that of Mr. Elton, the Vicar in Emma. Similarly, there is a great difference between the vulgarity of Mrs. Bennet and that of Mrs. Jennings. Macaulay declares that her characters are commonplace, ‘Yet they are all as perfectly discriminated from each other as if they were the most eccentric of human beings.’

State different psychological habits and emotions of Darcy, Elizabeth, Jane, Mrs. Bennet.

Her characters - individualized yet universal: Jane Austen has so comprehensive and searching a view of human nature that she invests them with a universal character. Her characters are universal types. Thus, when Mr. Darcy says, ‘I have been selfish all my life in practice but not in principle’ he confesses the weakness of high minded dominating males in every age and climate. Wickham represents all pleasant-looking but selfish, unprincipled and hypocritical flirts. Mr. Bennet is a typical cynical father. These qualities of Austen’s characters make them universal and individualized.

Realistic portrayal of her characters: Her characters impress us as real men and women since they are drawn to perfection. They are never idealized. Even her most virtuous characters have faults. Jane Bennet, being a virtuous and sweet-nature girl, never thinks ill of others. This makes her lack proper judgment. Elizabeth, herself is a conventional heroine. She has faults of vanity and prejudice. Her mother, at a such a high level of responsibility as a mother, exhibits vulgarity and indecorous manners. Darcy and Lady Catherine’s manners reflect aristocracy so realistically. The impartiality with which Jane Austen depicts her characters imparts a touch of  realism and volume to them.

Her characters are three-dimensional: Her world of reality is never disturbed for all its romances, elopements and dejection because of the convincing reality of her characters. Her characters are three-dimensional portraying various human traits.  Collins doesn’t commit suicide when her proposal is rejected by Elizabeth, but settles down with Charlotte. Darcy shows his unexpected trait after his proposal is rejected. The psychological and realistic portrayal of her characters is what makes them according to David Ceil, ‘Three-dimensional’. The characters come alive in flesh and blood as it were because of their realistic portrayal. Jane Austen reveals her characters dramatically through their conversations, their actions, and their letters or gradually through a variety of point of view and this adds to their three-dimensional effects.

Characters revealed through conversations: She makes very careful use of conversations. Thus, the dialogue between Elizabeth not only reveals effectively the antagonism between the two of them, but also the intelligence of the both. Collins and Lydia are revealed through their letters. And we learn of Elizabeth Bennet, the most striking of Jane Austen’s heroines through her speech and actions and the remarks of such people as Mr. Darcy, her father and Miss Bingley.  Thus, in the first chapter of P&P the vulgarity and stupidity of Mrs. Bennet and the sarcastic humour of Mr. Bennet have already been revealed in their dialogues. The characters of Austen frequently gossip with one another about other characters. This makes the plot even more gripping, realistic and touching.

Revealed through comparison and contrast: Lady Catharine balances with Mrs. Bennet. Wickham serves a contrast while Bingley a foil to Darcy. Elizabeth with Jane. In P&P, Elizabethechoes Austen’s own sense of humor and ironic wit and the ability to laugh at whims and inconsistencies, but it is preposterous to assume that Jane Austen herself suffered from such prides and prejudices. The sympathy and partial identification help Jane Austen in delineating the character faithfully.

Elizabeth: Jane Austen said of her heroine, “I must confess that I think her as delightful a creature as ever appeared in print”. To create a charming heroine is one of the rarest achievements in fiction. Jane Austen’s liking is borne out by the countless other readers who have fallen in love with her for more than a hundred and thirty years. A.C. Bradley wrote, “I am meant to fall in love with her and I do”. Her charm arises to a great extent from her intricacy, her intellectual complexity. She is profound and perceptive with the ability to discern people and situations extraordinarily well. She comprehends the merits and demerits of the Bingleys almost at once; she knows Mr. Collins to be an affected fool and judges Lady Catherine at the first meeting.  She understands her family is conscious of the vulgarity of her mother. She has the ready gift of repartee and a perfect command of epigrammatic expression. She is not intimidated by Lady Catherine to her enquiry whether Darcy had made a proposal to Elizabethand she answers, “Your ladyship has declared it to be impossible”. Despite all these characteristics, Elizabeth is not an idealized or perfect heroine of a romantic novel. She is prone to errors and mistakes of every day life. However, she learns from her mistakes and tends to correct them. It is true that Elizabeth blinds herself absurdly because of prejudice. Thus, her intelligence, high spirit and courage, wit and readiness, her artistic temperament and her ability to laugh good-humouredly at herself is the specialty of Elizabeth. Indeed, the popularity of the novel rests on the brilliant portrayal of its charming and captivating heroine.

Darcy: to many readers and critics, the great blot on the book is the author’s portrayal of Darcy. To all appearances, there are two Darcys that we meet in P&P, the Darcy in the first half of the play – proud, cold, haughty and unfriendly and the Darcy of the second half – warm, loving and considerate, kind, hospitable and eager to please. These seeming incorrigible aspects of Darcy’s character are taken to be a failure on part of Jane Austen’s art of characterization. Jane Austen was in her early twenties when she wrote P&P, so this failure is as a result of her immaturity. However, critics believe that Darcy is a credible character and has these incorrigible aspects as a result of our misread Darcy’s character along with Elizabeth.  Darcy is proud in the beginning. He acknowledges his own. At Netherfield, he tells Elizabeth, “My opinion once lost is lost forever”. And finally his proposal to Elizabeth at Hunsford parsonage is more eloquent on the subject of pride than of tenderness, but he is sensitive, intelligent and complex. He is not morally blind either and recognizes the vulgarity of ill-manners of the Bingley sisters and is as much embarrassed by Lady Catherine’s behavior as he had been by Mrs. Bennet’s vulgarity.

Jane & Bingley: At first glance, it is Bingley and Jane that capture our attention as the main characters and become the center of attraction for every one. Elizabeth says of Jane, “You are too good. Your sweetness and disinterestedness are really angelic.” Jane is a foil to Elizabeth. She, however, enjoys the admiration of both Elizabeth and Darcy and highlights their pride and prejudice. Similarly, Bingley is only a foil to the more forceful personality of Darcy despite all his cheerfulness. The Jane-Bingley romance also presents a contrast to the turbulent relationship of Darcy and Elizabeth. Their relationship is based upon harmony arising out of a similarity of natures.  Jane and Bingley are both characters, not intricate or complex.

Conclusion: Jane Austen’s major characters are intricate; however, there are some failings. Darcy is real and convincing, but appears only in scenes with Elizabeth. The minor characters are usually flat but they also develop when we meet them. Thus each of these wide range of characters are multi-dimensional with a mix of the good and bad qualities, exhibiting strong individual idiosyncrasies and traits, at the same time typical of universal human nature.  

Jane Austen – a Moralist, Satirist & Humorist in Pride and Prejudice

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Jane Austen – a Moralist, Satirist & Humorist in Pride and Prejudice

Introduction: In P&P Elizabeth tells Darcy, “Follies and nonsense, whims and inconsistencies do divert me. I own, and I laugh them whenever I can.” Jane Austen shares this comic vision with her favorite heroine. A.C. Bradley rightly points out in his book, A Miscellany: “Jane Austen’s favorite attitude we may even say her instinctive attitude is that of the humorist. The foibles, illusions, self-contradictions, of human nature are a joy to her for their own sake”.

Whenever her characters deviate from the standard code, they become butts of ridicule. The incongruities and inconsistencies of human behavior are the subject matter of P&P, but Jane Austen’s humor is never cynical. She observes these human follies are a pleasant and ridiculous aspect of life which is not seriously harmful.. Jane Austen was a moralist, an eighteenth centurymoralist. In some respects she was the last and finest flower of that century. She was born a few years later than Wordsworth, Coleridge and Scott. When she died, Byron was famous and Shelley and Keats had already published. She belongs to the period known as the Romantic Revival or Revival of Imagination, but these don’t suit her. Her Novels belong to the age of Johnson and Cowper. 

Humor in P&P: of her novels, P&P makes us laugh a lot. Jane Austen had a peculiar fondness of the people who make a fool of themselves. The absurd side of a matter usually struck Jane Austen first. Lydia excites laughter with her flippant and reckless behavior; Marry makes us laugh with her inappropriate and high flowing speeches. Darcy is absurd in his pride and so isElizabeth in her prejudice. Miss Bingley is absurd in her dotting upon Darcy, in agreeing upon all his opinions. Charlotte Lucas is absurd in a choice of her husband. Jane is absurd in her judgment and Bingley in his simple-mindedness.

Humor in comic situations and language: Mrs. Bennet provides the most amusement – the protestations she makes to her husband about her frequent nervous breakdowns, her unending boasting to establish to establish a social position and her vulgarity and follies.  Collins is another pompous character. He as the knack of overdoing every thing. The scene in which he proposes to Elizabeth is one of the greatest comic scenes of the novel. His reasons for marrying are absurd; so is his cocksureness that he will be accepted. He interprets Elizabeth’s rejection as encouragement. The exchange of congratulations between Mrs. Bennet and Mr. Collins is particularly amusing. Mr. Bennet’s wit and attitude to his family cause amusement as also Lady Catherine’s exaggerated pride and pomposity. It is not only characters, but also language which excites laughter. Mr. Bennet’s wit and sarcastic remarks are particularly comic. When he is told of Elizabeth’s refusal of Mr. Collins, he says, “An unhappy alternative is before you, Elizabeth from this day you must be a stranger to one of your parents. Your mother will never see you again if you do not marry Collins and I will not see you again if you do.” Much of the humor in the novel is a result of irony. Prof. Chevalier remarks, “The basic feature of every irony is a contrast between appearance and reality.”  Irony being an instrument of revealing the difference between appearance and reality is always a source of amusement. As an Ironist, she stands unique among many writers. Irony is the very soul of Jane Austen’s novels and P&P is steeped in irony of them, situation, character and narration. “It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.” The very sentence is tinged with humor and inverted irony. As Dorothy Van remarks, “What we read in it is its opposite – a single woman must be in want of a man with a good fortune.” The moment we understand the implied irony of the first sentence, we are in the comic world of Jane Austen. The irony gives interesting twists to the story.

Irony – the foundation of humor: (Thematic Irony) Elizabeth tells Bingley that intricate characters are the most amusing. But Andrew Wright points out that “on the ironic level P&P concerns itself with intricacy and simplicity as those terms apply to personality. Each has its virtues and each its defects.” This type of thematic irony runs through all her novels. (Irony of Situation ) P&P is much deeper in this type of irony. Darcy says that Elizabeth is not handsome enough to tempt him, but we relish in his statement when he propose to her. He removes Bingley from Netherfield because he considers it prudent to forge a marriage with the Bennet family, but he himself ends up marrying the second Bennet sister. Collins proposes to Elizabeth when her heart is full of Wickham and Darcy proposes to her when she hates him most. Elizabeth tells Collins that she is not the type to reject the first proposal and accept the second but does exactly this when Darcy when he proposes to her second time. The departure of militia from Meryton was expected to put an end to Lydia’s flirtations, it brings about her elopement. Lady Catherine in her attempts to stop Elizabeth-Darcy marriage only hastens it. (Irony of Character) Irony of character is even more prominent than that of situation. It is ironical that Elizabeth who prides herself on her perception is quite blinded by her own prejudices and errs badly in judging intricate characters. Wickham appears charming and noble, but is ironically an unprincipled rogue. Darcy appears proud and haughty, but ironically proves to be a gentle man when he gets Wickham to marry Lydia by paying him. Darcy is critical of Bennet’s behavior, but ironically his aunt is no different.

Jane Austen’s moral purpose: She is indeed a classic novelist.  Every thing shows a delicacy of touch, a sense of balance, a sever reasonableness, a harmony of the mind in which intellect is paramount.  There is no unrestrained emotion or excess of passion as in the Romanticism. There is hardly any description of nature as in Wordsworth, Coleridge and Keats. Even if there is a mention of a place or nature, it is too brief. There is apathy towards the peasants and other lower classes. In P&P, there is no reference towards the peasants, servants or workers. This is totally unlike the age of Romanticists who glorified poor characters. Thus Jane Austen is more akin to the eighteenth century than the nineteenth century both in the choice of a subject and in her technique and excellent skill and precision in craftsmanship. She owed much more to Fielding. Her novels represent a feminization of Fielding’s. In her own way, she adapted and carried further Fielding’s dramatic method of presenting action through a succession of short scenes and dialogues. Jane Austen like Fielding is a moralist and satirist.

Her Moral Vision: The chief aspect of Jane Austen’s eighteenth century sensibility is the moralistic bias of her vision. As Walter Allan comments, “She is, with Dr. Johnson, the most forthright moralist in English, and the authority which comes we feel, from vast experience of life, a massive common sense, and an integrity determined to face all the facts of life without seeking refuge in illusion is hers too. ” Indeed, there is no hint of idealizing or romanticizing her characters. All her characters are perfect, but share common human follies and faults.  Pope’s dictum, “Know thyself!”  underlines the theme of each of her work. (Briefly state the developing and changing situations of pride etc. in the novel and also analysis of major characters).  Her moral concern though unobtrusive, is ever present. The marriages of Lydia-Wickham, Collins and Catherine and of the Bennets serve to show by their failure the propriety of Darcy-Elizabeth marriage. There is also condemnation of the moral irresponsibility of Mr. Bennet and his family. Her eighteenth century moral concern of man in relation to society is also evident in P&P. However, a complacent adherence to accepted social attitudes is not what Jane Austenemphasizes. Though P&P is a comedy, but it is a very serious one. She exposes the absurdities of her characters to a moral purpose. Lord David Cecil points out that, “Jane Austen is profoundly moral” and describes her world view point as moral-realistic. There is always a moral and ethical element in her novels. As Andrew Wright suggests that on the didactic level, her novels can be taken as the broad allegories in which sense, sensibility, pride and prejudice and a number of other virtues and defects are set forth. In P&P, Lady Catherine’s snobbery is ridicule, Mr. Collins pretentiousness is mocked at, and Darcy’s pride and Elizabeth’s prejudice are ridiculed. As A.C. Bradley says, “There are two great distinct strains in Jane Austen. She is a moralist and humorist. Her view of life is comic; nevertheless there is a profoundly moral and ethical strain to it.” Since as ironist has to be a detached observer of life, Leonie Villard and Marvin Mudrick conclude that Jane Austen is merely an amused and attentive spectator and she doesn’t seek to interpret life and doesn’t have any moral vision. But Andrew Wright says, “Irony in her hands is the instrument of moral vision.” Thus, in her moralistic vision, in her emphasis on organic unity of society, in her style and craftsmanship, in her diction and in her avoidance of romantic elements such as individualism and beauty of nature, she is truly the last exquisite blossom of the eighteenth century. 

Jane Austen’s limited world

Jane Austen’s limited world

Jane Austen’s Word: a reading of Jane Austen’s novels shows that her materials are extremely limited in themselves. Her subject matter is limited to the manners of a small section of country-gentry who apparently never have been worried about death or sex, hunger or war, guilt or God. Jane Austen herself referred to her work as “Two inches of ivory.” In a letter to her niece, Jane Austen wrote, “Three or four families in a country village is the very thing to work on.” Those three or four families are the mind we knew intimately – the landed gentry, the upper classes, the lower classes, not only the industrial masses, but also the agricultural laborers.

Narrow setting: P&P like her other novels has a narrow physical setting. The story revolves around Netherfield, Longbourn, Hunsford Parsonage, Meryton and Pemberley. There is no reference to nature itself. It is a literary irony that at a time when writers like Wordsworth, Coleridge, Shelly, Byron and Keats were discovering external nature. Jane Austen imprisoned her characters indoors. Her settings are the drawing rooms, ball rooms, parks and gardens of a civilized leisure class. She allows nothing terrible to happen, sometimes, elopements are introduced. Another limitation of her novels is the feminization of her novels. Men do not appear except in the company of women. Women play a dominant role in her novels. These limitations have occasioned some scathing criticisms on her works. H.W. Garrod complains of the monotonous uniformity of her materials. He says, “A drab scenery, the worse for use, a thin plot, unfashionable cut and a dozen or so stock a characters.”

Limited Range and theme: She is a novelist of a very limited range, but still her art is perfect. David Cecil tells us that Jane Austen’s limitations stemmed from her choice of themes. He further said, “This nature of her talent, imposed a third limitation on her, it made her unable to express impulsive emotions directly.” She doesn’t express emotions directly. The world of P&P is a limited world of Netherfield, Longbourn, Hunsford and Pemberley and it is entirely placid with no instance of violence and bitterness. There are no frightful or pathetic scenes of death. Even the elopement is settled down before it can cause agitation. However, if these instances are stretched to mean that Jane Austen lacks emotions as Charlotte Bronte says, “she ruffles her readers by nothing vehement, disturbs him by noting profound … her business is not half so much with the human heart  as with the human eye, mouth, hand and feet”, this will be injustice to her works. Wordsworth admitted that her novels were a copy of life, but the light of imagination was totally absent so they hardly interested him. Villard and Marvin conclude that she doesn’t have any moral concern.

Emotions socially controlled in a framework: Jane Austen’s themes in all her novels are love, marriage and courtship. It is impossible that emotions can be kept out of such topics. Jane-Bingley and Elizabeth-Darcy relationships are all examples of passions and emotions. The passions do appear in her novels; they must be controlled and concealed in Jane Austen’s world. It is a test of character that he is overwhelmed with emotions, but he doesn’t distress other people by a display of feelings. Norman Sherry says that she deals with emotions which are experienced in a social framework. Jane Austen believed in the organic unity of the society and therefore, the individual must not display his passions but subordinate it to the larger purpose of society. The characters in her novels thus experience emotion and strong feelings but they are brought under the control of reason. Periods of solitude and contemplation are the habitual reactions of her heroines to moments of stress. The alternative is exercise or occupation.

Psychological delineation of characters: Her novels are profound in the psychological delineation of characters. She is able to capture superbly the subtlety of thoughts and reflexes of her characters. The refusal of the dance and the elopement of Lydia are all examples of psychology of characters. There are other emotions, not of course wild and uncontrollable.Jane Austen successfully gives emotions such as envy, jealousy, cunning, hypocrisy, pride, vanity and conceit.

Virginia Woolf’s remarks: Jane Austen is the mistress of a much deeper emotion than appears on the surface. Thus, in her limited world, she proves to be the widest and most meaningful with lots of abundance of emotions and passions.  

Marriage as a theme in Pride and Prejudice

Marriage as a theme in Pride and Prejudice

Points to be used with the above material: “It is a truth universally accepted that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.” The opening line of the novel can be taken as the theme sentence of each of her six novels. Give a summary.

Marriage – an important social and economic concern: Marriage was an important social concern in her time and she knew the disadvantages of being single. Charlotte Lucas giving the reasons for the acceptance of Collins, says, “I am not romantic you know.

I never was. I ask only a comfortable home, considering Mr. Collins’ character, connections and situations in life, I am convinced that my chance of happiness with him is as fair, as most people can boast on entering the marriage state”.  An unmarried woman could only take care of other children as Jane herself did as there were no other provisions for them in industry,commerce and business. P&P dramatizes the economic inequality of the women of the time. Marriage was the only occupation available to women in Jane Austen’s time.
Importance of Correct Judgment: There are seven marriages in P&P all of which showed the requirement of a good and bad marriage. Marriage should be based on correct judgment.  Marriage is not treated as a romantic end here; rather it is dealt with a depth, variety and seriousness to highlight good marriages based on mutual understanding, love, good sense and respect

Adam’s education and Growth to Maturity though a process of suffering

Adam’s education and Growth to Maturity though a process of suffering

Introduction: Critic after critic has expressed that Adam is too good to be sure. It is said he is a perfect human being, GEORGE ELIOT’s ideal, fully matured and enlightened from the beginning. But the truth is otherwise. A moment’s reflection shows that he is proud, hard and self-righteous with little sympathy for ordinary sinners like most common people. As a matter of fact, the novel traces that process by which he gradually sheds his faults – of his education, enlightenment and maturity though a process of suffering and love and becomes a complete man towards the end. The process of his education occupies the center of the novel.

Hard, Proud and Self-righteous: There can be no denying the fact that Adam is hard and self-righteous. In the first chapter we are told, “The idle tramps always felt sure they could geta copper from Seth; they scarcely ever spoke to Adam” This is a flaw, if not serious one, in Adam’s innocence, his confidence that he is righteous and soft for every one. He doesn’t knowingly wrong any one, but he doesn’t hesitate to hurt. He is convinced of the clarity of his vision and his understanding, “I’ve seen pretty clear, ever since I could cast up a sum.” The process of his education and self-realization starts from the encounter between Arthur and Hetty (give details). George Creeger says, “Adam may be intelligent, diligent, loyal and trustworthy, but he is not yet a matured man. This is so because head overweighs the heart. He is stern, stiff and harsh, intolerant, huffy and humorless. He gradually learns the ropes of life.” The reason is that Adam is not fully involved emotionally with either his father or Arthur. Therefore, he can neither participate in their plight nor understand it. What is necessary for Adam is that he should get his heart-strings bound round the weak and erring, but their inward suffering. Precisely, such an emotional involvement exists for Adam in his relationship with Hetty. The relationship is not a rational one; rather it is a passion which overmasters him. Adam’s heart-strings are bound fast to Hetty. 

His suffering: As a result of his emotional involvement, Adam suffers and learns to share the suffering of others. He suffers when he thinks that Hetty has run away to Arthur to avoid the approaching marriage and he suffers still more when he learns that Hetty has been arrested for her child-murder. He suffers from deep spiritual anguish, but his response is different from that of Hetty where she sank into passivity and inaction and he behaved the otherwise and lusts for revenge. Hetty’s hardness is due to selfishness, so she has no will, but Adam’s hardness is due to pride she he remains active.

Regeneration through Agents:

 At this crisis in his life there is yet the possibility for regeneration through a human agent exercising the power of love. Adam’s suffering is indeed a precondition for his regeneration. The agent is a double one. Mr. Irwine and Bartle Massey are both fully matured men. They do what they can to help Adam in his misery. Sensing in him a potential for violence and a desire to take revenge on Arthur, they seek to divert him. Irwine uses the power of reason, arguing that to injure Arthur will not help Hetty and that passionate violence will lead only to another crime. Adam agrees, but it is not full acceptance. The full acceptance is brought about by Bartle Massey. The scene takes place in Stoniton and Adam comes here to comprehend the necessity for compassion and forgiveness in life and thereby achieves what GEORGE ELIOT calls an awakening to “full consciousness” and participates in a kind of symbolic supper. Before relating the latest news of Hetty’s trial Bartle says, “I must see to your having a bit of the loaf. I must have a bit and a sup myself.  Drink a drop with me, my lad.” At first, Adam’s feelings are bitter for his own sufferings and his is first in his revenge, but as Bartle speaks, his hardness melts and he gradually declares that he will go to the court and stand by Hetty. Adam also took a morsel and drank some wine sent by Mr. Irwine and stood upright again looked more like the Adam Bede of the former days.

Education through Suppers: GEORGE ELIOT was an intellectual and philosophical novelist and is much influenced by the views of Feuerbach whose The Essence of Christianity she translated into English.  Feuerbach points out the religious significance of water, wine and bread. For him these agents are sacred. Water is sacred for it reminds us the common factor between the rich and the poor. So water is symbolic of our oneness with nature. This is the symbolic significance of baptism. Wine and bread are material though provided by nature; demonstrate man’s superiority over the low creatures. Hence, the sacrament of baptism in which only water is used is for the children, the immature and the Lord’s Supper in which wine is drunk and bread is taken is for the mature and the grown-up, symbolic of his manhood, of his distinction from the animals. Hunger and thirst destroy man’s humanity, taking of bread and wine restores to him his humanity. This truth is symbolically demonstrated in the novel through suppers which restore to Adam his humanity, his mental and moral powers conducing to his social, personal and moral education. In the first supper, Adam finishes the coffin which his father has failed to complete. He refuses to eat the food that his mother offers to him, but allows his hungry dog to devour his. Soon he calls for light and a draught of water and admits that he is getting very thirsty. Adam works on, unaware that the intoxicated father to whom he feels to superior has died a watery death. The symbol of water like the parallel between man and dog is designed to remind Adam of his origin from Nature, “an origin which we have in common with plants and animals.” Adam’s ignorance of the second rule manifests itself at the supper which takes place during the young Squire’s birthday feast. Adam sits upstairs at the Squire’s table, no longer drinking water, but the rich Loamshire ale. He accepts a toast in which Arthur Donnithorne, the seducer of Adam’s bride, wishes him to have “sons as faithful and clever as himself.” The irony is obvious. Proud of his new capacity as keeper of the woods, Adam must still learn that his full humanity can only be celebrated though his distinction from nature. Arthur and Hetty, the natural creatures he surprises in the woods he keeps, force upon him that suffering which alone can elevate man above the lower creatures. The last and the most significant supper in this symbolic sequence marks the attainment of maturity on Adam’s part.

Regeneration & Maturity of Adam through love: Adam’s decision to stand by Hetty, an expression of his old love for her and his new willingness to involve his life with the suffering of others, has two consequences. It leads to his being able to forgive Arthur and it makes him capable of a new sort of love. He realizes that truth that “Love doesn’t exist without sympathy and sympathy does not exist without suffering in common”. For many the love which subsequently grows between Dinah and Adam (as well as their marriage) seems an anti-climax.  While granting that GEORGE ELIOT has some difficulty in focusing that conclusion. Henry James, “I cannot agree that it is an artistic weakness. Without is one is left with two of the principal figures – Adam and Dinah still incomplete human beings. They have suffered in common. They have in common the painful memories of Hetty; such common suffering gives rise to mutual sympathy. Love follows such sympathy and it is in the fitness of things that they should come together and get married.” This love leads to the fulfillment of his personality, and the process of his growth and maturity is completed. There is now a full integration of head and heart.