Silas Marner (Themes)

About the Author:

Mary Ann Evans (22 November 1819 – 22 December 1880; alternatively Mary Anne or Marian^[1]), known by her pen name George Eliot, was an English novelist, poet, journalist, translator and one of the leading writers of the Victorian era. She wrote seven novels: Adam Bede (1859), The Mill on the Floss (1860), Silas Marner (1861), Romola (1862–63), Felix Holt, the Radical (1866), Middlemarch (1871–72) and Daniel Deronda (1876). Like Charles Dickens and Thomas Hardy, she emerged from provincial England; most of her works are set there. Her works are known for their realism, psychological insight, sense of place and detailed depiction of the countryside.

Introduction:

Silas Marner the weaver of Raveloe is the third novel by George Eliot. It was published in 1861. An outwardly simple tale of a linen weaver, the novel is notable for its strong realism and its sophisticated treatment of a variety of issues ranging from religion to industrialisation to community.

Plot:

Silas Marner covers a long span of time — over thirty years. However, concentration within this span limits the time actually portrayed to three relatively short periods. The first of these, the time on which the book opens, shows Silas living his lonely existence at Raveloe. This period is followed by a flashback to the time fifteen years earlier when he was driven from Lantern Yard. The time then skips quickly back to its original point, settling on a November afternoon. The events between then and New Year's take up the first portion of the book, although the narrator briefly mentions some events that follow as Silas begins to raise Eppie.

Sixteen years are then jumped over, and the results of the early events are seen. The intervening years are filled in mostly by the narrator or by conversations between characters. There are only a few brief dramatic portrayals of events during those years — for example, Godfrey and Nancy's discussion about adopting Eppie. After the past is brought up to date, the time remains at the same Sunday on which this portion of the book opened, until the main plot considerations are disposed of (for example, Dunstan's disappearance, Godfrey's relationship to Eppie, and Eppie's future). Some events occur after that — Silas goes to Lantern Yard a few days later, and still later Eppie is married — but they are treated very briefly.

Themes:

Themes are simply ideas that Eliot develops in the course of the novel. It should be remembered, however, that what a good novel says is not detachable from the way it says it. The meaning is a part of the style and structure, and themes cannot be set out in so many pointed quotations. Meanings and attitudes are expressed through the whole work of art, and they must be studied as a part of it.

The major theme of Silas Marner is of course the influence of "pure, natural human relationships," but there are several others. Some of these are never the subject of a direct statement, but constant repetition brings them to the reader's attention, and the novel draws some sort of conclusion about them. One of these themes is the function of religion in society. Another is the use of custom and tradition. There is a more direct consideration, focused on Nancy, of the extent to which "principle" should predominate over sympathy in human relationships. This is closely connected to the question of indulgence versus discipline in human life, as exemplified by the home life of Godfrey and of Nancy.

A theme may be mentioned only indirectly and yet be quite explicit in its meaning. One such in Silas Marner is the effect of industrialization on English society in the nineteenth century. Lantern Yard after the factory has been built is a grimy, dark place full of unhealthy people. There is a sharp contrast between the grim unfriendliness of Lantern Yard and the community spirit of Raveloe, between Silas' life as a spinning insect and the fresh air of the open fields.

 Themes:

Themes are simply ideas that Eliot develops in the course of the novel. It should be remembered, however, that what a good novel says is not detachable from the way it says it. The meaning is a part of the style and structure, and themes cannot be set out in so many pointed quotations. Meanings and attitudes are expressed through the whole work of art, and they must be studied as a part of it.

The major theme of Silas Marner is of course the influence of "pure, natural human relationships," but there are several others. Some of these are never the subject of a direct statement, but constant repetition brings them to the reader's attention, and the novel draws some sort of conclusion about them. One of these themes is the function of religion in society. Another is the use of custom and tradition. There is a more direct consideration, focused on Nancy, of the extent to which "principle" should predominate over sympathy in human relationships. This is closely connected to the question of indulgence versus discipline in human life, as exemplified by the home life of Godfrey and of Nancy.

A theme may be mentioned only indirectly and yet be quite explicit in its meaning. One such in Silas Marner is the effect of industrialization on English society in the nineteenth century. Lantern Yard after the factory has been built is a grimy, dark place full of unhealthy people. There is a sharp contrast between the grim unfriendliness of Lantern Yard and the community spirit of Raveloe, between Silas' life as a spinning insect and the fresh air of the open fields.

Conclusion:

George Eliot’s Silas Marner brilliantly combines the  apparently conflicting aspects such as realism and the air of a fairy tale. Silas Marner is a tale of love and overcoming setbacks. In the beginning of the novel, the protagonist, Silas, loses his friends, his faith, and his fiancé when he is framed for theft. Exiled, he moves from Lantern Yard to the idyllic English country side of Raveloe, a farming community.