'''Silas Marner: The Weaver of Raveloe''' is a
novel by
George Eliot (the pen name of Mary Ann Evans) which was first published in
1861.
Plot summary
The novel is set in the earlier years of the
19th century. Silas Marner is a weaver in a small religious community, Lantern Yard. He is also a highly thought of member of a dissenting chapel. Silas is engaged to a female member of the church and thinks that his future happiness is assured. However, due to the betrayal of a fellow parishioner, who blames him for a theft that he did not commit, Silas is expelled from the congregation. He finds out later that his former fiancée married the man who had betrayed him.
Later on, he settles near the village of Raveloe, where he lives as a recluse who exists only for work and his precious hoard of money until that money is stolen by Dunstan Cass, a dissolute son of Squire Cass, the town's leading landowner. The loss of his gold drives Silas into a deep gloom, although a number of the villagers endeavour to help him.
Soon, however, an orphaned child comes to Raveloe. She was not known by the people there, but she is really the child of Godfrey Cass, the eldest son of the local squire. Her mother, Molly, is secretly married to Godfrey, but is also of low birth and addicted to opium and alcohol. On a winter's night, Molly tries to make her way into town with the child to prove that she is Godfrey's wife and ruin him. On the way she takes opium, becomes disoriented and sits down to rest amid the snow, child in arm. Her child wanders from her mother's still body into Silas' house. Upon discovering the child, Silas searches for its mother and finds Molly - a woman unfamiliar to him - dead. Silas decides to keep the child and names it Eppie, after his deceased sister Hephzibah. Eppie changes his life completely. Symbolically, Silas loses his material gold to theft only to have it replaced by the golden-haired Eppie. Later in the book, the gold is found and restored. Eppie grows up to be the pride of the town and to have a very strong bond with Silas, who through her has found inclusion in the town. Later, the childless Godfrey and Nancy Cass arrive at Silas' door, revealing the truth about Eppie's family and asking that Silas give Eppie up to their care. However, the decision falls to Eppie, who has no desire to be raised as a gentlemen's daughter if it means forsaking Silas. At the end, Eppie marries a local boy, Aaron, son of Dolly Winthrop, and both of them move into Silas' newly enlarged house, courtesy of Godfrey.
Ultimately, Silas Marner is a tale of familial love and loyalty, reward and punishment, and humble friendships.
Characters in "Silas Marner"
★ Silas Marner – a weaver,
protagonist
★ Godfrey Cass – son of the local squire.
★ Dunstan Cass – Godfrey's greedy brother with a penchant for alcohol and manipulation.
★ Molly – Godfrey's first wife who has a child by him. She dies leaving the child.
★ Eppie – child of Molly and Godfrey who is cared for by Marner.
★ Nancy Lammeter – Godfrey Cass's second wife.
★ Aaron Winthrop – son of Dolly who marries Eppie at the end of the novel.
★ Dolly Winthrop – mother to Aaron; godmother to Eppie.
★ William Dane – Silas' best friend at Lantern Yard who frames him for theft
Symbols
One of the main symbols Eliot creates to illustrate Silas's solitude is the
loom. The loom is a place where Silas shuts out the existence of the community. Another is his "burden."
Money
Money is also a momentous symbol in the book. Before Eppie comes along it is his gold coins which are his prized possession.
Fortune
The way that Silas Marner comes across his gold coins and Eppie have one thing in common. They both cross his path in a fortuitous way. (The gold is left by Godfrey's brother, Dunstan, before he dies and Eppie escapes from her dying mother's grasp when she was young). Eliot chooses to make this a theme in the book because she wanted to show that fortune favours those who are good hearted (like Silas Marner) over those who have not been good (Godfrey Cass)
Major themes
In ''Silas Marner'' Eliot combines humour and rich symbolism with a historically precise setting to create an extraordinary tale of love and hope. This novel explores the issues of redemptive love, the notion of community, the role of religion, and the status of the gentry and family. While religion and religious devotion play a strong part in this text, Eliot concerns herself, as always, with matters of ethics, and it is clear that for her, ethics exist apart from religion. On the surface, the book has a strong moral tract; the bad characters like Dunstan Cass get their just desserts, while the good, pitiable characters like Silas Marner are richly rewarded. Although it seems like a simple moral story with a happy ending, George Eliot's text includes several pointed criticisms on
organized religion, the role of the gentry, and the impact of industrialization. It was written in the period during
Industrial Revolution and may be a reaction against it.
Literary significance & criticism
Recently, it has been studied in some
secondary schools in the
United Kingdom,
United States and
Ireland. It is also a part of the
Cambridge A Levels syllabus in Singaporean junior colleges offering Literature courses. In India, notably in Calcutta, it is offered as part of the Advanced English course.
Allusions/references to actual history, geography and current science
The tale was set in "the South Midlands," and the fictional
Raveloe was based on the
Warwickshire village of
Bulkington. There are also correlations between locations in the book and the village of
Inkberrow,
Worcestershire. It is not known whether the relation is genuine, a coincidence, or deliberate naming by the locals. To the west of the village is Stone-Pits, and at the east side, a tree-lined drive leads to the entrance of the Red House.
Film, TV or theatrical adaptations
★
W. S. Gilbert's ''
Dan'l Druce, Blacksmith'' (1876) takes its initial situation - the arrival of a child into a miser's life - from ''Silas Marner'' (as noted in the libretto), and has a somewhat similar ending, although the middle section is entirely new.
[1][2]
★
Ben Kingsley played Silas Marner in a British-TV adaptation (broadcast in the U.S. by ''
Masterpiece Theatre''), with
Patsy Kensit as a grown-up Eppie.
★ The children's literary dog series ''
Wishbone'' also has an episode with an abridged adaptation for the younger set.
-
Felix Holt -
Middlemarch -
Daniel Deronda
★ The 1994 film "Léon" aka "The Professional" was loosely based on Silas Marner. It starred Jean Reno as an Italian hitman in New York City who takes in a 12 year old girl (played by Natalie Portman) whose family is murdered next door. The film also starred Gary Oldman and Danny Aillo.
★
Steve Martin wrote and starred in a
1994 movie adaptation of the novel, titled ''
A Simple Twist of Fate''.
★ Bits and themes of this novel are borrowed in an episode of ''
The Simpsons'', "
Moe Baby Blues", in which a lonely, almost-sociopathic man begins to enjoy life after saving the life of his friend's baby daughter.
★ The novel is mentioned in the movie
A Christmas Story as literature the children in Miss Shields' class are studying.
★
Adrian Hodges has written an upcoming, 90 minute
[3] adaptation of ''Silas Marner'' for
ITV1[4].
★ The 2007 film ''
Black Snake Moan'', starring
Samuel L. Jackson and
Christina Ricci, is also (loosely) based on ''Marner''.
See also
★
George Eliot -
Scenes from Clerical Life -
Adam Bede -
The Mill on the Floss -
Romola
External links
★
''Silas Marner'', online at
Project Gutenberg
★
''Silas Marner'', online at
Ye Olde Library
★
''Silas Marner'', complete unabridged book at
sparknotes.com
★
''Silas Marner'' Cliff Notes
★
''Silas Marner'' audio book at
Librivox
References
1. ''Illustrated London News''. November 18, 1876, page 476
2. W. S. Gilbert, A Classic Victorian & His Theatre, , Jane W., Stedman, Oxford University Press, 1996, ISBN 0-19-816174-3 p.141
3. http://www.theagency.co.uk/docs/clients.pdf
4. http://www.thecustard.tv/cominguppage3.html
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