Sharpie |1 Sharpie AP Literature Mr.

McFerren 8 February 2013 As Long As They Both Shall Live In traditional wedding vows, the bride and groom promise to be faithful in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad, in joy and in sorrow, and many other conditions. George Eliots Middlemarch depicts these trying times for the newly married couple Rosamond and Tertius Lydgate. Even as she describes these characters, Eliot makes thought-provoking social commentary. Eliot implements Rosamond and Tertiuss dialogue and disagreement to get her point across. The couple seems to be in dire financial straits in this passage. Rosamond contends that Tertius and she should move or ask for help from her father or Tertiuss friends. But Tertius stubbornly refuses. He shows proud condescension by stating, I insist upon it that your father shall not know unless I choose to tell him. While he understands that his Rosy is upset and her tears cut him to the heart, he is unsympathetic and firm in his decisions. Eliot again calls upon Tertiuss peremptoriness when she writes: Was it of any use to explain [to Rosamond]? Eliots implication here is Tertiuss sense of male superiority, which must have been evident in Eliots time, as she wrote under a male penname. Rosamond, in contrast to her husband, seems superficial, flimsy, and depthless as a character. She is described as a young creature who had known nothing but indulgence and whose dreams had all been of new indulgence, more exactly to her taste. She weeps over her husbands brief, unkind words. Eliot describes her inner turmoil over discovering Tertiuss pride

Sharpie |2 and arrogance: The thought in her mind was that if she [Rosy] had known how Lydgate would behave, she never would have married him. Rosamond is selfish, but not a malicious character. Here, Eliot uses Rosamond to comment on the women in her society. Eliot uses these two opposing characters to criticize the married couples she must have seen during the mid-1800s. Insightfully, she has realized and written about how this couple, and many others, prepared for the wedding, but not the marriage. But despite Eliots realistic view, perhaps she was also optimistic; Tertius says, We [he and Rosamond] shall weather it. There are many things this couple must learn about each other before their relationship can truly be amicable for as long as they both shall live.