Commentary on the Opening 40 Lines of the Novel Silas Marner by George Eliot
Commentary on the Opening 40 Lines of the Novel Silas Marner by George Eliot
In the opening forty lines of her novel, George Eliot introduces the reader to the lifestyles of 19th century workers, peasants and villagers within the Victorian society in England. She starts unfolding the story of a local enigmatic linen-weaver who’s alienated from society by his appearance which is shown through the use of certain dictions. The extract has a fairytale quality to it which foreshadows a typical fairytale story meaning there will be an upcoming conflict which will be resolved near the end of the novel as the characters live “happily ever after”. Rhetorical questions and the diction also aid in the foreshadowing of a conflict between the linen-weavers and the villagers. With these elements, George Eliot has been successful at writing an intriguing introduction that connects with the reader, creates enigmas, offers background information of the setting as well as society and most importantly foreshadows a conflict.
When a novel starts with “in the days when” (l.1) or “in the early years of” (l.41), it usually remind us of a fairytale and it is possible for it to be interchangeable with “once upon a time”. Such phrases suggest that this novel is a fairytale because of such fairytale qualities. Often a story of such kind has elements and ideas that are implausible because they are highly exaggerated even thought they might be amusing and interesting. Silas Marner possesses such elements and ideas. One example is the existence of the “alien-looking men” (l.7) in the “village of Raveloe” (l.43). This is a strange metaphor because we don’t know what aliens actually look like and whether or not they exist so the author is comparing the men to creatures that only exist in media world which is what fairytales do. When coming across this concept of “alien-looking men”, it quickly reminds the readers of the Disney story “Beauty and the Beast” because there is a similar contrast of beautiful and normal people against unwonted people in this novel. In the opening sentence of the novel, we are first introduced to “great ladies clothed in silk and thread-lace” (l.2) and then to “pallid undersized men” (l.5) that [look] like the remnants of a disinherited race” (l.6). It is possible that the main character Silas Marner falls in love with one of the ‘great ladies’ and the conflict is that people are afraid of him because of his appearance and he cannot be accepted by society nor by the ladies. This contrast also shows the different social classes in the Victorian society; from pale and weak linen-weavers who weave for a living to impressively dressed ladies who weave just for fun. The conflict could include the problems between the different social classes and how hard it is for Silas Marner to get the attention of the middle-class lady. This is all part of the background information that an introduction to a novel must have so that the reader gets familiar with the context of the story. The novel not only has a fairytale opening but it also has a fairytale ending. Coincidently the last sentence of the novel is “what a pretty home ours is! I think nobody could be happier than we are.” This ‘happily ever after’ ending gives us another justification that the novel can also be categorized as a relatively modern fairytale. Most importantly this is how George Eliot can connect with the readers because it is something that the readers are accustomed to and familiar with.
