Examine the significance of the rural landscape in Silas Marner.

This essay hasn't yet been marked by one of our teachers

You can view all our essays on George Eliot that have been Marked by Teachers

The first 200 words of this essay...

Examine the significance of the rural landscape in Silas Marner

George Eliot, the author of Silas Marner became dubious about her religious faith. This lack of faith is reflected in the absence of religious importance in Raveloe. The strong beliefs of Eliot's father and brother are similar to that of Dolly Winthrop's who, in relatively unreligious surroundings, is religious herself. The writing of prose allowed Eliot to escape from her depressed and physically unwell state, which was caused by her experience in London. Silas Marner is a tale which allows George Eliot to remember her childhood and evoke nostalgic feelings. When Eliot refers to Raveloe's 'dewy brambles and rank tufted grass,' she creates a picturesque scene of her past for the reader.

The setting of this story, in Victorian England amidst the industrial revolution contributes to the change in Lantern Yard. Victorian England saw radical changes which involved many people being left unemployed and when Silas returns, even a qualified weaver like him is not needed as 'Here and there a swallow, begrimed face looked out from a gloomy doorway at the strangers.' Suggesting that the revolution has turned people away from Lantern Yard and no one