Middlemarch watch-along: episode 7 (the end!)

[birdienl]

We're nearing the end of our time in Middlemarch...
And Lydgate seems to be nearing the end of his wits as he fights once again with Rosie about their dire financial situation. Rosie has written to Tertius' rich uncle, but the letter they get back is less than friendly... To blow off steam, Lydgate goes to the pub where he gets quite drunk and is dangerously close to loosing a large sum of money. Luckily Fred, who seems to have matured quite a lot since the last episode, is able to steer Lydgate away from danger.

Have some roles been reversed or what?

The next day, debt collectors come to the Lydgate household to pick up furniture. Rosie is devastated and tells Tertius she wants to go live with her parents again.

Then, an unexpected bit of good luck comes Lydgate's way: Mr. Bullstrode offers to help him with his financial difficulties and offers him 1000 pound! Lydgate has just been to see the very sick Raffles, who's staying at Bullstrode's house again and told him on no account can Raffles have any alcoholic drinks.

That moment when all your dreams and hopes crash...

The next morning, Raffles has died. Word about this reaches town and as the gossip spreads, both Bullstrode and Lydgate's reputations are in tatters. At a meeting of the hospital board, Bullstrode is asked to withdraw from all his public positions. Mrs. Bullstrode soon finds no-one wants to receive her anymore and in a touching instance of 'stand-by-your-man' she puts away all her jewelry and fancy clothes and goes to comfort Bullstrode (he really doesn't deserve her!)

When Dorothea gets word of Lydgate's situation, she wants to help him and she offers to talk to Rosie for him. But when she visits Rosie, she finds her in the arms of Ladislaw! Dorothea rushes home and is devastated.

No funny caption for this one. Great acting though!

Dorothea, being the woman she is, still goes to visit Rosie again and tells her she should not blame her husband at all. Rosie in her turn tells Dorothea that Ladislaw was only comforting her and made it clear he could love no-one but Dorothea.

Bullstrode leaves Middlemarch and offers the lease of his house to Fred and Mary. This means they can get married at once! Apparently their story has progressed quite some off-screen, which I think a pity. I would have loved to see some more of Fred's changing and growing and how he became 'worthy' of Mary.

Ladislaw visits Dorothea and they seal their love with a kiss. Celia is none too pleased with Dorothea marrying beneath her, but Dorothea tells her she's 'very fond' of Ladislaw.

A voice-over tells us how the stories of our Middlemarch-friends go on: Ladislaw becomes a politician, Lydgate and Rosie move to London and Fred and Mary lead a simple but happy life in Middlemarch.

A love so magical no words are necessary. Literally.

Quote(s) of the week:
Dorothea (to Lydgate): I can't believe this should happen to you. You meant to lead a higher life then the common and to find better ways.
Lydgate: Yes, I had some ambition. I thought I had more strength and mastery.

Voice-over: The growing good of the world is partly dependent on un-historic acts and on all those Dorothea's who live faithfully their hidden lives and rest in unvisited tombs.

Discussion questions:
- What did you think of the way the stories ended? Had you expected these endings at the start of watching Middlemarch?

The cutest couple of Middlemarch (IMHO)!

Comments

[ever-maedhros.livejournal.com]

I wasn't sure how the other couples would do, but I knew from the get-go that Ladislaw and Dorothea would end up together somehow, someway. As you said (snicker), theirs is a magical love that needs no words.

As for your cutest couple, they sure are good at dressing to match nicely! :)

[birdienl.livejournal.com]

It's a pity I can't remember anymore what I thought when I watched Middlemarch for the first time....

[ever-maedhros.livejournal.com]

How long ago did you first watch it, again?

[birdienl.livejournal.com]

I don't remember that either, well, not exactly ;-) But it must be around 6-8 years ago. And a little after that I read the book. So no real 'new' things for me in this re-watch, although I discovered a lot I had forgotten or never realized through the discussions!

[ever-maedhros.livejournal.com]

Oh, wow, that is quite a long time ago! No wonder it feels completely different watching for you now.

[litlover12.livejournal.com]

It's a long time since I read the book, but it seems to me that Rosie seemed more . . . human, somehow, in the adaptation. (Probably because of Davies putting in all those trademark bedroom scenes of his. :-D )

Which only made it all the more jarring and sad, of course, when she turned out to be so selfish and stubborn.

[birdienl.livejournal.com]

Rosie was one of those characters (Eliot pens more of those) that I don't really know what to think about. I can't really 'hate' her, but I don't feel completely sorry for her either, a lot of what she got was due to her own choices. But also due to the way she was brought up, I guess.