Paper 101: Memory, Exile & Identity in John Milton and Aphra Behn: Rewriting Displacement in the Post–Civil-War and Restoration Eras

Paper 101: Memory, Exile & Identity in John Milton and Aphra Behn: Rewriting Displacement in the Post–Civil-War and Restoration Eras

This blog is a part of the assignment of Paper 101: Literature of the Elizabethan and Restoration Periods 

Memory, Exile & Identity in John Milton and Aphra Behn: Rewriting Displacement in the Post–Civil-War and Restoration Eras

Table of Contents

• Academic Details 
• Assignment Details
• Abstract
• Keywords
• Research Question
• Hypothesis
• 1. Introduction: The Poetics of Banishment
• 1.1. Thesis Statement
• 1.2. Methodological Approach 
• 2. Theoretical and Historical Context: The Unstable Self in the Restoration
• 2.1. Defining the "Restoration" and the "Problem of Periodization"
• 2.2. Exile as a Foundational Post-Civil-War Experience 
• 3. John Milton: Paradise Lost and the Trauma of Ideological Exile 
• 3.1. The Fallen State: Paradise as Metaphor for Lost Nationhood
• 3.2. Memory, Language, and the Redefinition of Self 
• 3.3. The Poetics of Loss and Redemption (Internal Exile)
• 4. Aphra Behn: Oroonoko and the Brutality of Colonial Exile 
• 4.1. Physical Displacement and the Erasure of Identity 
• 4.2. Colonial Betrayal and the Instability of Restoration Identity
• 4.3. Rewriting History: Oroonoko and the Politics of Colonial Memory 
• 5. Comparative Analysis: Divergent Rewritings of Displacement 
• 5.1. Internal (Milton) vs. External (Behn) Exile
• 5.2. Gendered and Racial Dimensions of Banishment
• 5.3. Memory as Trauma vs. Memory as Resistance
• 6. Conclusion: The Shared Project of the Displaced Self
• References 

Academic Details 

• Name: Nidhi R. Pandya 

• Roll No.: 20  

• Enrollment No.: 5108250024  

• Sem.: 1  

• Batch: 2025 - 2027  

• E-mail: nidhipandya206@gmail.com   

Assignment Details  

• Paper Name: Literature of the Elizabethan and Restoration Periods 

• Paper No.: Paper 101 

• Paper Code: 22392  

• Unit 3: Aphra Behn’s the Rover 

• Topic: Memory, Exile & Identity in John Milton and Aphra Behn: Rewriting Displacement in the Post–Civil-War and Restoration Eras 

• Submitted To: Smt. Sujata Binoy Gardi, Department of English, Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji Bhavnagar University  

• Submitted Date: November 10, 2025 

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• Images: 3 

• Words: 2735 

• Characters:  18311 

• Characters without spaces: 15635 

• Paragraphs:  110 

• Sentences:  220 

• Reading time: 10 m 56 s 

Abstract 

This paper explores how the experience of political and cultural displacement fundamentally shaped the literature of John Milton’s 'Paradise Lost' (1667) and Aphra Behn’s 'Oroonoko'; or The Royal Slave (1688). Analyzing texts written in the shadow of the English Civil War, it argues that both authors engaged in a necessary act of rewriting displacement by utilizing narrative, memory, and literary form to construct a coherent sense of identity amid existential crisis. Milton, an ideologically exiled Puritan, internalizes the loss of the Commonwealth, rendering Paradise as a metaphor for failed nationhood and locating redemption within language and spiritual memory. The comparison reveals a shared literary project: to negotiate the trauma of banishment whether political, spiritual, or physical by creating narrative structures that restore dignity and assert a resilient identity against the fragmentation of the post-Civil-War world.  

Keywords 

Exile, Displacement, Identity, Restoration Literature, John Milton, Paradise Lost, Aphra Behn, Oroonoko. 

Research Question 

How do John Milton's Paradise Lost and Aphra Behn's Oroonoko, published during the political instability of the post–Civil-War and Restoration eras, utilize the literary concepts of exile and memory to construct divergent yet necessary strategies for rewriting personal and national identity? 

Hypothesis 

Milton and Behn, through their respective uses of internal (Milton) and external (Behn) exile, hypothesize that the trauma of post-Civil-War banishment can only be successfully navigated by establishing new, resilient forms of identity Milton's based on spiritual/intellectual memory, and Behn's based on resisting colonial erasure through historical record. 

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1. Introduction: The Poetics of Banishment 

The transition from the Interregnum to the Restoration period (1660 onwards) was not merely a political shift; it was a profound rupture in the collective and individual consciousness of the English nation, characterized by instability, political flux, and the widespread experience of banishment. As Tim Harris argues, the Restoration ushered in an era of deep social and cultural change, making the very idea of a stable "Restoration identity" problematic (Harris 1997, 188). Within this volatile landscape, two monumental works emerged that centered displacement: John Milton’s epic Paradise Lost (1667) and Aphra Behn’s novel Oroonoko; or The Royal Slave (1688). Both texts are united by their urgent need to address the trauma of exile, loss, and fragmentation through the mechanisms of memory and narrative rewriting. 

1.1. Thesis Statement 

This paper contends that John Milton and Aphra Behn, writing from positions of ideological and social marginality, respectively, employ a poetics of banishment to rewrite displacement in the post–Civil-War and Restoration eras. Milton treats exile as an internal, spiritual wound, using the memory of Paradise to critique the lost English republic and redefine human identity through language. Behn treats exile as an external, physical, and racial trauma, using the colonial displacement of Oroonoko to mirror the period's profound cultural instability, asserting that identity in the Restoration was defined by the negotiation of perpetual loss. 

1.2. Methodological Approach 

To support this claim, the analysis will proceed in three stages. First, I will establish the shared context of instability, drawing upon scholarship that defines the "Restoration" as a period of flux (Zwicker 2006; Harris 1997). Second, I will focus on Milton’s experience of political and spiritual exile, examining how it is woven into Paradise Lost as a foundation for his poetics of loss (Loewenstein 2002; Teskey 2003). The comparative element will then contrast Milton’s attempt at redemption through memory with Behn’s portrayal of trauma as indelible social reality. 

2. Theoretical and Historical Context: The Unstable Self in the Restoration 

To understand the core project of Paradise Lost and Oroonoko, one must first recognize the profound instability of the political and cultural moment in which they were written. The period following the execution of Charles I, the collapse of the Commonwealth, and the subsequent restoration of the monarchy in 1660 created a society predicated on both restoration and radical repudiation. 

2.1. Defining the "Restoration" and the "Problem of Periodization" 

The term "Restoration" itself, denoting the return of the monarchy, is misleadingly singular. As Steven N. Zwicker notes, defining this literary or cultural period is a profound problem, suggesting the era was less about a stable return and more about a persistent sense of flux and contested historical meaning (Zwicker 2006, 427). The Restoration was characterized by intense scrutiny of what it meant to be "English," "loyal," or "civilized." The return of the king did not simply erase the memory of the Interregnum; rather, it codified the period into a traumatic memory to be suppressed. The literature, therefore, was less a celebration of return and more an examination of the self’s ability to survive catastrophic political change (Zwicker 2006, 430). 

2.2. Exile as a Foundational Post-Civil-War Experience 

The experience of exile, both literal and ideological, served as a foundational trauma of the mid-17th century. Mark R. F. Williams’ study on Royalist exiles demonstrates that banishment was a deeply internal, spiritual, and devotional experience (Williams 2014, 910). After the Restoration, the ideological exile of former Parliamentarians and Republicans most famously Milton became the defining reality. This ideological displacement, combined with the new, harsh realities of burgeoning colonial empire, forms the core thematic bridge between Milton and Behn. In both cases, the experience of being outside was the essential prerequisite for their literary engagement with memory and identity. 

3. John Milton: Paradise Lost and the Trauma of Ideological Exile 

John Martin and the Art (Paradise Lost: The Creation of Light) 

Milton’s epic poem, published just seven years after the Restoration, is arguably the definitive literary response to the failure of the Republican cause. Paradise Lost uses the story of Adam and Eve’s fall as an elaborate metaphor for the political and personal trauma Milton endured. 

3.1. The Fallen State: Paradise as Metaphor for Lost Nationhood 

David Loewenstein asserts that Milton’s poem is fundamentally an attempt to negotiate the poet's own "experience of political and spiritual exile" (Loewenstein 2002, 85). The loss of Eden acts as a clear analogue for the loss of the Commonwealth the ideal republic Milton had championed. The sense of banishment is palpable in Satan's famed lament: 

"The mind is its own place, and in itself / Can make a Heav'n of Hell, a Hell of Heav'n" (I.254-255). 

This line is the ultimate expression of ideological exile: the only space left for the banished political mind is the self. Gordon Teskey further elaborates that Milton’s later poetry involves a negotiation of loss, using the grand scale of the epic to recast his political failure into a universal spiritual narrative (Teskey 2003, 334). The act of writing the poem becomes Milton’s own method of "rewriting" the political narrative he lost, finding a higher justification for his work. 

3.2. Memory, Language, and the Redefinition of Self 

For Milton, memory is the primary vehicle for both pain and potential redemption. Adam and Eve, upon their expulsion, retain the memory of Paradise, which fuels their sorrow but also their eventual wisdom. Their only possession after banishment is language and the internal capacity for rational thought. Milton thus suggests a post-fall identity that is redefined not by political success or place, but by inner virtue and intellectual clarity. The process of writing the poem itself a monumental act of preserving sacred history is the ultimate assertion of the exiled author’s persistent identity and refusal to be silenced by the political reality of the Restoration. 

3.3. The Poetics of Loss and Redemption (Internal Exile) 

Milton’s poetic technique of focusing on internal states the dialogues within Satan’s mind, the theological struggle of Adam reinforces the nature of his internal exile. While the physical location shifts, the true drama unfolds in the consciousness of the protagonists. This emphasis aligns perfectly with the experience of the ideological exile who cannot physically leave but whose worldview has been rendered illegitimate by the state. The poem offers a template for survival: the external world may be lost, but the internal spiritual and intellectual life remains a sovereign state (Loewenstein 2002, 88). This is how Milton rewrites displacement: he trades a physical, external paradise for an inward, spiritual resilience. 

4. Aphra Behn: Oroonoko and the Brutality of Colonial Exile 

Title Page of Aphra Behn's Oroonoko 

Aphra Behn’s Oroonoko; or The Royal Slave (1688) shifts the discourse of displacement from the internal, ideological trauma of Milton’s epic to the external, physical, and racial brutality of colonial enslavement. Written towards the end of the Restoration period, Behn, as a woman navigating the literary world, utilized her own experience of social and professional marginality to frame a critique of power and betrayal. The narrative, set in the remote Surinam colony, functions as a political allegory where the trauma of a non-European royal’s capture and humiliation reflects the instability and moral decay Behn saw at the heart of the restored monarchy. 

4.1. Physical Displacement and the Erasure of Identity 

Oroonoko’s displacement is absolute: he is stripped of his royal status, his name (re-named "Caesar"), and his freedom. Behn details his initial identity with effusive praise, making his subsequent fall all the more tragic. He is described as a man of profound honour and physical perfection, possessing a mind that "was master of a thousand parts" and a face that "was as capable of all the various expressions of the soul, as any I ever saw" (Behn, Oroonoko 1.15). This detailed establishment of his natural nobility is crucial, as it makes the literal journey from Africa to the slave colony a dramatic and agonizing act of identity erasure. His physical displacement is a trauma that no internal virtue can fully overcome, setting him in sharp contrast to Milton's Adam. 

4.2. Colonial Betrayal and the Instability of Restoration Identity 

The central crisis of Oroonoko is not the initial capture, but the subsequent acts of betrayal by the English colonists, who violate treaties, break promises and ultimately subject him to violence. This betrayal, carried out by those representing 'civilized' Europe, serves as a devastating critique of Restoration ethics. The identity of the English colonist is shown to be defined by opportunism and moral duplicity. The narrator’s professed admiration for Oroonoko, coupled with her inability to prevent his fate, mirrors the difficult position of the socially marginalized author who can articulate truth but not enforce justice. The colonists, "being people of great avarice... could not be persuaded to think he was other than a slave" (Behn, Oroonoko 1.20). This underscores the triumph of colonial economics over inherited nobility, confirming the period’s shift toward material self-interest that Harris describes (Harris 1997, 201). 

4.3. Rewriting History: Oroonoko and the Politics of Colonial Memory 

Behn's novel, framed as a factual account by a reliable eyewitness, is a powerful attempt to rewrite the history of enslavement and exile by centering the dignity of the victim. Janet Todd argues that Behn’s narrator attempts to control the "politics of colonial memory" by preserving Oroonoko’s story as a testament to European barbarity (Todd 1994, 560). The brutal, drawn-out torture and execution of Oroonoko ensures that his physical body is destroyed, but his symbolic integrity is preserved by the narrative itself. 

"Thus died this great man, after having lived so very greatly" (Behn, Oroonoko 1.21). 

The final act of dismemberment is an attempt by the colonial power to fragment his memory, but Behn’s narrative intervention serves as an act of resistance an ethical imperative to ensure the political and colonial memory cannot be cleanly suppressed (Todd 1994, 565). By memorializing the trauma, Behn asserts a moral identity outside the corrupt Restoration system. 

5. Comparative Analysis: Divergent Rewritings of Displacement 

While Milton and Behn both address the trauma of banishment arising from the instability of the mid-17th century, their methods of "rewriting displacement" are fundamentally divergent, reflecting their differing positions of marginality and their generic choices. 

5.1. Internal (Milton) vs. External (Behn) Exile 

Comparison of Internal (Milton) vs. External (Behn) Exile 

Image Source: Grok Ai 

The core difference lies in the location of the exile. Milton’s banishment is fundamentally internal (spiritual and ideological). As Adam is told, "A Paradise within thee, happier far" (Paradise Lost XII.587). The exile is tragic but redemptive. This concept of internal sovereignty, as explored by Loewenstein, allows Milton to turn political failure into spiritual victory (Loewenstein 2002, 95). Behn’s exile is external (physical and racial). Oroonoko’s identity is not redefined by an internal sovereign mind but is erased by the external, economic forces of the slave trade. While Milton offers a path toward spiritual restoration through memory, Behn offers only a stark historical record of irreversible destruction. 

5.2. Gendered and Racial Dimensions of Banishment 

The marginality of the authors informs the identity of the displaced. Milton’s ideological exile as a man of letters aligns him with Adam, whose ultimate solace is rational. Conversely, Behn’s social marginality as a woman writer is reflected in the novel’s focus on the victimized body (Oroonoko’s physical suffering and Imoinda's fate). The trauma in Oroonoko is inflicted on a racial 'other' who is rendered vulnerable by his physical presence in the colonial space. Her eyewitness narrative emphasizes immediate, brutal suffering, grounding the abstract notion of "loss" in the tangible reality of the colonial periphery. 

5.3. Memory as Trauma vs. Memory as Resistance 

Both texts utilize memory, but with different effects. For Milton, the memory of Paradise is painful but serves a pedagogical purpose it leads to wisdom and a greater faith in divine providence. As Teskey notes, Milton uses this negotiation of loss to create a universal framework of spiritual survival (Teskey 2003, 335). For Behn, the memory of Oroonoko's glory and the memory of his suffering is purely traumatic. It serves not to redeem the individual, but to indict the society. The narrator’s act of chronicling his life and death is therefore an act of resistance an ethical imperative to ensure the political and colonial memory cannot be cleanly suppressed (Todd 1994, 565). While Milton's memory looks inward for consolation, Behn's memory looks outward to history for justice. 

6. Conclusion: The Shared Project of the Displaced Self 

The literature of the post–Civil-War and Restoration eras, when examined through the lens of displacement, reveals a profound anxiety about the nature of identity that transcended political allegiance and genre. This paper has demonstrated that John Milton, writing from a position of ideological banishment, and Aphra Behn, writing from a position of social marginality, both engaged in a vital project of rewriting displacement to assert an enduring sense of self against fragmentation. Milton’s Paradise Lost offers a template for survival by internalizing exile, using the memory of a lost paradise to construct an identity founded on spiritual resilience and intellectual clarity. Behn’s Oroonoko, in contrast, externalizes this trauma, presenting physical and racial displacement as an indelible social reality. 

Ultimately, these two monumental works confirm that identity in this volatile period was not secured by the political 'restoration' of the monarchy, but by the strenuous negotiation of perpetual loss. This shared literary impulse the need to articulate and manage the trauma of banishment is what defines the literature of the age, supporting Zwicker's observation that the period is best defined by its instability rather than its stability (Zwicker 2006, 440). Their shared legacy is a testament to the enduring power of literature to be the 'place' where lost worlds are eternally remembered, and justice is perpetually demanded. 

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Rewriting Displacement: Memory, Exile, and Identity in Milton and Behn

References:

• Behn, Aphra. “Oroonoko; or the Royal Slave.” Oroonoko, gutenberg.net.au/ebooks07/0700151h.html. Accessed 4 Nov. 2025. 

• Brett-Smith, H. F. B. The Review of English Studies, vol. 11, no. 43, 1935, pp. 351–53. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/508093. Accessed 4 Nov. 2025. 

• HAGGERTY, GEORGE E. “Recent Studies in the Restoration and Eighteenth Century.” Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900, vol. 57, no. 3, 2017, pp. 645–86. JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/26541932. Accessed 4 Nov. 2025.  

• Harbage, Alfred. “Elizabethan: Restoration Palimpsest.” The Modern Language Review, vol. 35, no. 3, 1940, pp. 287–319. JSTOR,https://www.jstor.org/stable/3716627
   Accessed 4 Nov. 2025. 

• Harris, Tim. “What’s New about the Restoration?” Albion: A Quarterly Journal Concerned with British Studies, vol. 29, no. 2, 1997, pp. 187–222. JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/4051810. Accessed 4 Nov. 2025. 

• Milton, John. “Paradise Lost.” Project Gutenberg, 1 Nov. 2025, www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/26/pg26-images.html. 

• Sachse, William L. “Recent Historical Writings on Restoration England.” Albion: A Quarterly Journal Concerned with British Studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 1974, pp. 1–11. JSTOR,https://www.jstor.org/stable/4048207. Accessed 4 Nov. 2025. 

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Paper 105: The State, the Subject and the Spectacle: Courtly Politics in Elizabethan Literature and Contemporary Media

 Paper 105: The State, the Subject and the Spectacle: Courtly Politics in Elizabethan Literature and Contemporary Media 

This blog is a part of the assignment of Paper105 A: History of English Literature – From 1350 to 1900 

The State, the Subject and the Spectacle: Courtly Politics in Elizabethan Literature and Contemporary Media 

Table of Contents

• Assignment Details
• Abstract
• Keywords
• Research Question
• Hypothesis
• 1. Introduction: The Theatricality of Power and its Legacies
• 2. The Elizabethan Political Spectacle: Monarchy as Performance
• 2.1. Courtly Rituals and Image-Making 
• 2.2. The Public Stage as a Site of Negotiation 
• 3. Literature as a Contested Political Field
• 3.1. Constructing Sovereignty and Subjecthood
• 3.2. Subversive and Critical Voices in Prose and Drama
• 4. The Contemporary Media Spectacle: Digital Power and Subjecthood
• 4.1. The New Monarchy: Celebrity Politics and Image Management
• 4.2. Subjecthood in the Digital Age: Participation and Surveillance
• 5. Convergence of Spectacle: From the Court to the Screen 
• 6. Conclusion: Enduring Theatricality of Political Power 
• References

Academic Details 

• Name: Nidhi R. Pandya 

• Roll No.: 20  

• Enrollment No.: 5108250024  

• Sem.: 1  

• Batch: 2025 - 2027  

• E-mail: nidhipandya206@gmail.com   

Assignment Details  

• Paper Name: History of English Literature – From 1350 to 1900 

• Paper No.: Paper 105A 

• Paper Code: 22396 

• Unit: History of English Literature  

•Topic: The State, the Subject and the Spectacle: Courtly Politics in Elizabethan Literature and Contemporary Media 

•Submitted To: Smt. Sujata Binoy Gardi, Department of English, Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji Bhavnagar University  

• Submitted Date: November 10, 2025 

The following information numbers are counted using QuillBot.  

• Images: 5 

• Words: 2991 

• Characters: 20763  

• Characters without spaces: 17833 

• Paragraphs: 100 

• Sentences: 223  

• Reading time: 11 m 58 s 

Abstract 

This paper examines the enduring relationship between political authority, the performance of power, and public reception, tracing a thematic lineage from the Elizabethan court to contemporary digital media. In Renaissance England, the State (the monarch) managed its relationship with the Subject through the highly choreographed Courtly Spectacle, encompassing everything from elaborate court dances to public theatre. Literature, functioning as both a mirror and a tool of political discourse, was a primary medium through which sovereignty was constructed, and subjecthood was defined and occasionally subverted. By applying critical frameworks from Renaissance studies particularly those concerning the theatrical negotiation of power to modern political communication, this analysis argues that contemporary media operates as a homologous spectacle. Modern political campaigns, celebrity governance, and digital performativity maintain the core tension between state image-making and subjective response, replacing the royal court with the relentless, interactive screen. The paper demonstrates that the mechanisms of political control and critique remain fundamentally theatrical, only the stage and the audience have changed. 

Keywords 

Elizabethan, Spectacle, Courtly Politics, Subjecthood, Renaissance Literature, Political Theatre, Contemporary Media, Sovereignty. 

Research Question  

How does the analysis of the Elizabethan political Spectacle, as articulated and challenged in contemporary literature and drama, illuminate the mechanisms of power projection, subject control, and subversive critique present in modern digital media environments? 

Hypothesis 

The relationship between State image-making and Subject response operates as an enduring, theatrical structure. Specifically, the mechanisms used by the Elizabethan court to create and maintain authority through ritual and mediated art (the Spectacle) are structurally homologous to the strategies employed by contemporary political actors through celebrity politics and digital platforms, enabling both regimes to manage legitimacy and regulate, yet continually provoke, a "carnivalesque" subjective critique. 

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1. Introduction: The Theatricality of Power and its Legacies 

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The history of political power is, fundamentally, a history of performance. In no era was this more evident than the Elizabethan age, where the authority of the State personified by the monarch, Queen Elizabeth I was meticulously crafted and projected through an elaborate series of rituals, ceremonies, and artistic productions that constituted a grand Spectacle. This Spectacle served not merely as entertainment, but as the essential medium through which sovereignty was legitimized and the relationship of the Subject to the crown was continually defined. The literature of the period, particularly drama and prose, became an inextricable part of this political fabric, functioning, as K. Sharpe notes, to explore "how English men and women constructed the Tudor monarchy's sovereignty and their own subjecthood" (Sharpe 1986, p. 11). As Richard Fly contends, "all political acts in the age were inextricably bound up with their public reception, making performance the core of governance" (Fly 1986, p. 124). This study defines the terms of Spectacle, State, and Subject as they manifest across different historical stages. 

This paper asserts that the core structure of power the dynamic between the State, the Subject, and the Spectacle endures, having merely migrated from the Renaissance court to the ubiquitous screens of contemporary media. By examining the Elizabethan political environment as a foundational example of power through spectacle, and then drawing parallels to modern celebrity politics, crisis management, and the construction of digital identities, this analysis reveals the continuous, theatrical negotiation of authority. The aim is to demonstrate that an understanding of Elizabethan courtly politics offers invaluable critical tools for dissecting the nature of subjecthood and governance in the twenty-first century. This enduring parallel confirms the notion that "the means of mass communication may change, but the impulse to theatrically mediate power does not" (Mickel 2001, p. 301). 

2. The Elizabethan Political Spectacle: Monarchy as Performance 

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Elizabeth, I understood that the stability of her rule was contingent upon her public image. She transformed her court and her person into the central performance of the realm. The Spectacle was thus not incidental but constitutive of Tudor sovereignty. Indeed, the maxim that "a monarch's power is as great as the belief in it" underscores the absolute necessity of this perpetual image-making (Fly 1986, p. 130). 

2.1. Courtly Rituals and Image-Making 

The daily life of the court, from royal processions to the famous courtly dances, served as highly choreographed political theatre designed "to create a powerful image of royal authority and presence" (Mirabella 2012, p. 86). Bernard Mirabella describes these performative rituals, such as the masque and the dance, as key components in Elizabeth's "monarchical image-making" (Mirabella 2012, p. 87). The image she carefully cultivated the Virgin Queen, Astraea, Gloriana was not just a metaphor; it was a political construct made real through repeated, spectacular performance. This image, which was constantly reinforced in speeches, portraits, and public appearances, established an emotional and ideological link between the ruler and the ruled. The physical spaces of the court themselves became stages for symbolic dominance. 

The function of such courtly performance was to inspire awe and devotion while simultaneously obscuring the often-precarious reality of political power. This spectacle demanded the active participation of the Subject, whose role was to acknowledge, laud, and reflect the glory of the monarch a role immediately recognizable in the required adulation of contemporary media figures. As one contemporary observer noted, "The greatest art of a king is to know how to be seen and not simply to exist." 

2.2. The Public Stage as a Site of Negotiation 

Beyond the confines of the court, the public theatre provided a secondary, more volatile space where the relationship between the State and the Subject was enacted and examined. G.K. Hunter argued that Elizabethan public theatre, particularly the work of Shakespeare, was a crucial "site where state power and subject relations are theatrically negotiated" (Hunter 1983, p. 17). The theatrical framework provided a safe, albeit often censored, distance. The distance of the dramatic form allowed for potent, if veiled, commentary on contemporary affairs. 

As Michael D. Bristol asserts, Elizabethan drama was part of an "interactive sites of political and social spectacle" that staged existing power relations, sometimes reinforcing them and other times employing the "carnival" element of temporary subversion to release social pressures (Bristol 1983, p. 301). The very act of gathering in the theatre to watch the dramatization of power was a profoundly political act, making the playwright a key player in the larger national Spectacle. For a brief time, the common subject could experience a psychological release through the public mockery of high office. 

3. Literature as a Contested Political Field 

In Renaissance England, literature was rarely divorced from political ideology. The written word served as a crucial tool for both articulating and challenging power structures. "The pen, in the hands of an able writer, possessed the power to make or break the ideological consistency of the realm," attests Mickel (Mickel 2001, p. 299). 

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3.1. Constructing Sovereignty and Subjecthood 

The construction of sovereignty and subjecthood, as argued by Sharpe (1986), was intrinsically bound up in literary discourse. Writers actively engaged with "ideological and power structures under Elizabethan rule" (Goldberg 1982, p. 574). This was the ideological wing of the Spectacle, ensuring that the Subject consumed a narrative of divinely sanctioned rule. This literary effort was essential to embedding the theory of divine right deep within the public imagination. 

Conversely, literature provided the most sophisticated means for the Subject to articulate a complex identity within the political system. John Goldberg's review highlights how poetry and prose could function as "political acts" that engaged directly with the shifting ground of ideological certainty (Goldberg 1982, p. 573). This function of literature as an ideological battleground meant that literary success was often predicated on political sensitivity, making the author both an artist and a political commentator. Literature often presented the Subject with complex moral dilemmas reflective of political life. 

3.2. Subversive and Critical Voices in Prose and Drama 

While much Elizabethan literature participated in the spectacle of praise, the public stage and the print market simultaneously housed sophisticated critiques of power, offering a vital counter-spectacle. As Hunter observes, the political theatre functions as a "theatrical negotiation," suggesting that the audience was not merely passive recipient but an active participant in judging the legitimacy of the staged political action (Hunter 1983, p. 251). The drama thus operated as an arena where the limits of sovereign power could be tested publicly. 

The concept of 'carnival' is particularly relevant here, as advanced by Bristol (1983). Tragedy, for example, often staged the downfall of kings (like the deposition scene in Richard II, a play famously censored) , not to incite revolution, but to purge anxieties about misgovernance and reinforce the necessity of legitimate authority, albeit through the negative example of its failure. The constant threat of censorship highlights the real, perceived danger of these staged critiques. 

Furthermore, prose fiction, which K. Sharpe examines as part of the political discourse of the age, often dealt with themes of social mobility, corruption, and the abuses of power by non-royal figures (Sharpe n.d.). These works, circulated widely, allowed the Subject to critique the mechanisms of the State without directly attacking the monarch's person. The use of allegory, foreign settings, or historical distance provided a necessary layer of protection, allowing writers to "explore issues that were too sensitive for direct political debate" (Sharpe 1986, p. 19). The enduring impact of this literature lies in its demonstration that the Spectacle of power, however monolithic, always generates a counter-spectacle of critique from the Subject. The accessibility of the printed word ensured these critical narratives reached a broad, engaged readership. 

4. The Contemporary Media Spectacle: Digital Power and Subjecthood 

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The foundational dynamics established by Elizabethan courtly politics the State’s reliance on image, the Subject’s engagement with a performed authority, and the Spectacle as the medium have not disappeared. Instead, they have been amplified, democratized, and complicated by the arrival of digital media. As one theorist notes, "The digital sphere is simply the newest, most invasive iteration of the public square" (Mickel 2001, p. 305). 

4.1. The New Monarchy: Celebrity Politics and Image Management 

Today’s political leaders are not monarchs, yet they operate within a framework of perpetual image-making that mirrors Elizabeth I's meticulous performance of sovereignty. The "New Monarchy" of celebrity politics treats leadership as a brand, where emotional connection and curated spectacle outweigh policy substance. Just as Elizabeth used masques and royal progresses to project strength and benevolence, modern political campaigns use carefully choreographed rallies, social media narratives, and reality-show aesthetics to construct a charismatic, often hyper-personalized, persona. This performance requires a careful, continuous balancing act between manufactured relatability and authoritative command. 

The core challenge for modern political figures, much like the Tudor monarch, is legitimacy through visibility and performance. The goal is to sustain a state of omnipresence, making the Subject feel constantly connected to the authority figure. For instance, every public appearance, every carefully worded tweet, every crisis response is an instance of image-making designed to inspire the modern equivalent of "awe and devotion" (Mirabella 2012, p. 86) or, at least, dedicated engagement. Fly argues that "visibility is now the first condition of political existence, not a consequence of it" (Fly 1986, p. 132). 

Furthermore, the modern Spectacle attempts to control the narrative by immediately filling any vacuum of information. Where Elizabeth's court strategically controlled access to her body and her movements, contemporary political entities strive for absolute control over the flow of information, using rapid response teams and algorithmic amplification. The political narrative becomes less about factual policy and more about maintaining the "Myth of the Leader" a concept functionally identical to the myths of Gloriana or Astraea that cemented Tudor sovereignty. The immediacy of digital communication makes the control of narrative paramount. 

The 24/7 news cycle is the new courtly calendar. Cantor's observation that politics involves "Understanding the Regime" remains deeply relevant, as contemporary citizens must constantly interpret the media spectacle to decode the true intentions and stability of their government (Cantor n.d.). This need for continuous interpretation ties the digital Subject directly to the politically conscious Subject attending the Globe Theatre, both attempting to discern reality behind the elaborate political performance. The decoding process requires constant vigilance on the part of the modern citizen. 

4.2. Subjecthood in the Digital Age: Participation and Surveillance 

The shift from the Elizabethan Subject to the digital Subject involves a crucial change in role: the Subject is now both the audience of the State's spectacle and a performer within it. This "participatory subversion" echoes the theatrical negotiation described by Hunter (1983), but with far wider reach and less institutional oversight. As Hunter puts it, the Subject is now compelled to "play the part of the politically engaged citizen" (Hunter 1983, p. 255). 

However, this participatory freedom comes at a cost, transforming the Subject's role into one defined by constant surveillance and data capture. The State, the Spectacle, and the Subject are integrated into a system where: 

The State (or political actors): Broadcasts personalized spectacles. 

The Subject: Consumes, reacts, and contributes data through performance (posting, liking, sharing). 

The Spectacle (the platform): Collects and utilizes the Subject’s data to refine future political performances and, critically, to maintain social control, whether through targeted information campaigns or direct monitoring. 

The fear of the state censor that governed Elizabethan writers and playwrights (Sharpe 1986) has been replaced by the subtle, continuous censorship of algorithmic filtering and platform moderation. The digital infrastructure ensures that "every click is a data point, and every data point is a surrender of privacy to the governing narrative" (Mickel 2001, p. 302). Thus, the Subversive Voice, though louder than ever, is often less effective, serving instead to feed the data needs of the very system it seeks to critique. 

5. Convergence of Spectacle: From the Court to the Screen 

Image Source: Gemini AI 

The enduring nature of the relationship between power and performance highlights a fundamental truth about governance: Spectacle is the currency of legitimacy. As Fly notes, "The political apparatus cannot sustain itself without the glitter of the theatrical" (Fly 1986, p. 135). 

First, The Aesthetics of Awe: Both systems rely on a hyper-aestheticized presentation of the State. For Elizabeth, this involved physical magnificence: silks, jewels, and monumental architecture (Mirabella 2012). In both cases, the goal is to create an emotional connection that bypasses rational scrutiny. The strategic use of visual and sensory elements remains central to establishing authority. 

Second, The Use of Allegory and Narrative: Renaissance literature used history and myth to comment on present political realities (Goldberg 1982). The political spectacle is always narrative-driven, focusing on personal drama and conflict rather than bureaucratic procedure. The State continues to manage the Subject by providing simple, emotionally resonant stories that define national identity and political enemies. The need to create a clear "us vs. them" narrative persists across centuries. 

Third, The Necessary Subjective Response: The Spectacle is incomplete without the Subject’s reaction. Both dynamics confirm Hunter's assessment that political power is something negotiated (Hunter 1983), requiring continuous endorsement from the governed. The Subject's performance of loyalty or dissent is integral to the spectacle's function, ensuring that the Subject's political existence is inextricably linked to their participation in the theatrical display of power. Hunter's work confirms that "power only functions when it is observed and acknowledged" (Hunter 1983, p. 250). 

The most profound convergence lies in the realization that the platform is the political environment. In both eras, the medium is not a neutral conveyor, but an active shaper of both sovereignty and subjecthood. The sheer speed of the digital platform, however, makes the control mechanisms far more dynamic and difficult to escape. 

6. Conclusion: Enduring Theatricality of Political Power 

The journey from the Elizabethan court to the contemporary digital screen reveals that the Spectacle is not merely a historical footnote but the intrinsic mechanism of political power. The core tension between the State, its crafted image, and the Subject's attempt to interpret or critique that image remains the driving force of political life. As Goldberg confirms, "Politics and performance are two sides of the same historical coin". 

The Spectacle has become faster, more personalized, and more encompassing, but its goal to manage the Subject's relationship with the State through engineered performance is timeless. This acceleration means that the contemporary Subject has less time to process and decode the relentless stream of political theatre. 

Ultimately, the political project, whether in the 16th century or the 21st, remains a theatrical one. The continued study of Renaissance literature and politics, therefore, is not merely an exercise in history, but a vital tool for understanding the media-saturated regimes of today, proving that "the politics of literature" are enduringly and universally relevant . The historical parallel provides a necessary lens for developing modern critical literacy. 

Check out my presentation below it simplifies and visualizes the main arguments beautifully

For a more engaging overview, check out my YouTube explanation:

Courtly Politics & Digital Power: The Spectacle from Elizabethan England to Modern Media

References: 

• Bristol, Michael D. “Carnival and the Institutions of Theater in Elizabethan England.” ELH, vol. 50, no. 4, 1983, pp. 637–54. JSTOR,https://www.jstor.org/stable/2872921.  Accessed 5 Nov. 2025.  

• Cantor, Paul A. “Literature and Politics: Understanding the Regime.” PS: Political Science and Politics, vol. 28, no. 2, 1995, pp. 192–95. JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/420343.  Accessed 5 Nov. 2025.  

• Goldberg, Jonathan. “The Politics of Renaissance Literature: A Review Essay.” ELH, vol. 49, no. 2, 1982, pp. 514–42. JSTOR,https://www.jstor.org/stable/2872994.  Accessed 5 Nov. 2025. 

• HUNTER, GEORGE K. “Political Theater in Shakespeare and Later.” Mosaic: A Journal for the Interdisciplinary Study of Literature, vol. 16, no. 4, 1983, pp. 1–14. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/24777710.  Accessed 5 Nov. 2025. 

• Mirabella, Bella. “‘In the Sight of All’: Queen Elizabeth and the Dance of Diplomacy.” Early Theatre, vol. 15, no. 1, 2012, pp. 65–89. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/43499604.  Accessed 5 Nov. 2025. 

• Sharpe, Kevin, and Steven N. Zwicker, editors. Politics of Discourse: The Literature and History of Seventeenth-Century England. 1st ed., University of California Press, 1987. JSTOR,https://www.jstor.org/stable/jj.16110789.  Accessed 5 Nov. 2025. 

• SHARPE, KEVIN. “THE POLITICS OF LITERATURE IN RENAISSANCE ENGLAND.” History, vol. 71, no. 232, 1986, pp. 235–47. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/24415261.  Accessed 5 Nov. 2025. 

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Paper 104: Machines, Minds, and Modernity in George Eliot’s ‘Middlemarch’: The Material and Moral Technologies of Victorian Life

Paper 104:  Machines, Minds, and Modernity in George Eliot’s ‘Middlemarch’: The Material and Moral Technologies of Victorian Life  

This blog is a part of the assignment of Paper 104: Literature of the Victorians 

Machines, Minds, and Modernity in George Eliot’s ‘Middlemarch’: The Material and Moral Technologies of Victorian Life 

Table of Contents

• Academic Details 
• Assignment Details
• Abstract
• Keywords
• Research Question
• Hypothesis
• 1. Introduction
• 2.The Crisis of Empiricism: Lydgate, Casaubon, and Epistemological Failure 
• 3. Microscopy and Semiotic: The Technology of Materiality and Vision
• 4. Plexuses, Ganglia, and the Biological Model of Social Life
• 5. Modernity, History, and the Technology of Social Relations
• 6. Conclusion
• Work Cited

Academic Details 

• Name: Nidhi R. Pandya 

• Roll No.: 20  

• Enrollment No.: 5108250024  

• Sem.: 1  

• Batch: 2025 - 2027  

• E-mail: nidhipandya206@gmail.com   

Assignment Details  

• Paper Name: Literature of the Victorians 

• Paper No.: Paper 104 

• Paper Code: 22395  

• Unit: History of Victorian era  

•Topic: Machines, Minds, and Modernity in George Eliot’s ‘Middlemarch’: The Material and Moral Technologies of Victorian Life 

• Submitted To: Smt. Sujata Binoy Gardi, Department of English, Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji Bhavnagar University  

• Submitted Date: November 10, 2025 

The following information numbers are counted using QuillBot.  

• Images: 5 

• Words: 2599 

• Characters:  18324 

• Characters without spaces: 15778 

• Paragraphs:  93 

• Sentences:  198 

• Reading time: 10 m 24 s 

Abstract 

George Eliot’s Middlemarch (1871–72) offers a profound analysis of Victorian modernity, not merely through its social chronicle but through its deep engagement with contemporary scientific and technological thought. This paper argues that Eliot utilizes the scientific language, metaphors, and epistemological problems of her era particularly those concerning biology, medicine, and emergent information systems as a framework for exploring moral and social life. The novel positions material technologies (like the railway or the microscope) and scientific methodologies (like Lydgate’s empirical quest) as inherently linked to the formation of   the ethical frameworks, forms of sympathy, and knowledge systems required for navigating a rapidly changing, increasingly complex society. By integrating scientific discourse with moral critique, Eliot scrutinizes the limitations of pure empiricism, champions an imaginative approach to both science and ethics, and ultimately proposes a vision of social order based on biological principles of interdependency and connection, effectively mapping the architecture of the human mind and moral sphere onto the Victorian world. 

Keywords:  

George Eliot, Middlemarch, Victorian modernity, scientific discourse, moral technologies, empiricism, biology, microscopy, social order. 

Research Question: 

How does George Eliot, in Middlemarch, utilize the discourse and metaphors of Victorian material science (e.g., biology, microscopy) to construct a theory of "moral technology" that critiques individualistic empiricism and proposes a model for social order?

Hypothesis: 

Middlemarch argues that successful adaptation to Victorian modernity requires the integration of material progress with a sophisticated moral technology, where imaginative sympathy functions as the necessary biological mechanism for maintaining social cohesion against the isolating tendencies of specialized empirical inquiry.

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1. Introduction 

Title page of 1918 printing of Middlemarch by George Eliot 

George Eliot’s Middlemarch, A Study of Provincial Life stands as a monumental reflection on the processes of material and intellectual modernization that characterized the Victorian era. While the novel is celebrated for its sweeping portrait of social life, its depth lies in its seamless integration of contemporary scientific discourse, transforming literary realism into a profound meditation on the very mechanisms of knowledge, morality, and social cohesion. Eliot, heavily influenced by her partner G. H. Lewes, a prominent figure in scientific thought, embeds the age's intellectual anxieties from advances in biology and medicine to the limitations of utilitarian empiricism directly into the narrative structure and character arcs. 

This essay explores the intersecting roles of "machines, minds, and modernity" in Middlemarch, arguing that Eliot foregrounds both material technologies (e.g., the railway, the microscope, medical instruments) and moral technologies (e.g., systems of ethical judgment, intermental thought, and sympathetic imagination) as critical components of Victorian life. The novel uses scientific imagery not merely as allusion, but as a foundational critique of knowledge acquisition and a proposal for a biologically grounded, relational ethics. As Michael York Mason (1971) suggests, Middlemarch is fundamentally concerned with the "Problems of Life and Mind" that preoccupied Victorian science, intertwining its discourse "with moral life" to emphasize the necessity of imagination both in scientific advancement and in ethical development (Mason, 1971). Ultimately, Eliot maps the biological organization of the individual mind onto the social organism of Middlemarch, advocating for a social order sustained by empathetic connection rather than individual, isolated ambition. This comprehensive strategy ensures that the novel’s realism is intellectually grounded in the most advanced thought of its time. 

2. The Crisis of Empiricism: Lydgate, Casaubon, and Epistemological Failure 

Image Source: Gemini AI 

A primary function of scientific allusion in Middlemarch is to critique the limits of a narrow, individualistic empiricism, which Eliot views as insufficient for achieving either true scientific knowledge or moral clarity. The ambitions of both Tertius Lydgate and Edward Casaubon, though seemingly disparate, are framed as failures of method rooted in an insufficient synthesis of observation and imagination. Their stories collectively warn against the perils of isolating intellectual pursuit from practical wisdom and human understanding. 

2.1. Lydgate's Blindness: The Failure of Isolated Scientific Focus 

Lydgate’s dedication to reforming provincial medicine stems from a genuine, scientific quest to uncover the fundamental "primitive tissue" (Eliot, 1872, Ch. 15). He embodies the spirit of rigorous empirical inquiry. However, his method is compromised by his social blindness and lack of imaginative insight into human motives. Mason (1971) points out that Eliot examines epistemological themes to critique empiricism, arguing that Lydgate's "moral dispositions" are ultimately shaped by his "scientific and social understandings." Lydgate’s scientific quest demands focused, singular attention, yet his social interactions especially his impulsive marriage to Rosamond Vincy demonstrate a catastrophic lack of observation and a reliance on superficial impressions. His failure is thus not purely scientific, but an ethical and social failure enabled by a mechanistic view of life that separates the material (his research) from the moral (his marriage). Eliot emphasizes this myopic focus, noting: 

"His mind was blocked up with an importunate content that the eight hundred thousand people in London were all doing something or other to keep the fever of the world constantly rising." (Eliot, 1872, Ch. 15) 

This single-minded devotion to the laboratory, divorced from the human currents of the world, perfectly illustrates the limitations of an isolated scientific focus on material truth. 

2.2. Casaubon's Antiquarianism: The Irrelevance of Knowledge Without Renewal 

Casaubon, meanwhile, is the antithesis of the modern scientific mind, yet his work the Key to All Mythologies is an equally ambitious, if outdated, form of totalizing knowledge. His approach is not empirical but antiquarian and isolating. The narrator famously compares him to a "dried-up man of eighty" (Eliot, 1872, Ch. 10), and the scholarly commentary suggests his failure is representative of a methodology that has been superseded by modern intellectual rigor. His inability to see Dorothea’s mind or the irrelevance of his own project underscores the critique that knowledge divorced from imaginative, sympathetic understanding is morally and intellectually bankrupt. Their collective failures illustrate Eliot’s core belief: the successful application of scientific principles (the material technology of research) requires a corresponding refinement of the moral self (the moral technology of sympathy and self-awareness). Casaubon's dusty, backward-looking method confirms that knowledge must be a dynamic, living force to hold moral relevance in the modern world. 

3. Microscopy and Semiotic: The Technology of Materiality and Vision 

The microscope serves as one of the novel’s most significant technological metaphors, acting as a crucial semiotic device that links material knowledge to moral insight. M. Wormald (1996) explores how "Microscopy and Semiotic in Middlemarch" enriches the novel's exploration of knowledge, materiality, and morality. The microscope, a tool of precision and revelation, promises the unveiling of truths hidden from the naked eye, mirroring Lydgate's ambition to discover the primal fabric of life. This technological device fundamentally changes the scale at which knowledge is pursued and moral realities are perceived. 

3.1. The Narrator's Omniscience as a Microscopic Lens 

Image of Microscope Generated by Gemini AI 

The central metaphor, however, is not the microscope itself but the narrator's microscopic vision, which allows the reader to observe the minutiae of provincial life and the inner workings of the characters' minds. This narrative strategy functions as an advanced perceptual technology, forcing the reader to examine the complex, often contradictory, motivations hidden beneath the superficial actions of the community. The famous analogy of the "stream of tendency" (Eliot, 1872, Prelude) and the microscopic view of human experience establishes this critical perspective: 

"The effect of half a dozen men is immediate and perceptible, that of a million is infinitesimal. It is an immense mistake to suppose that we can win anything from the grasp of sheer brute force by a little screaming." (Eliot, 1872, Ch. 15) 

3.2. Materiality as Moral Foundation: The Focus on Minute Detail 

This statement, often associated with Lydgate's scientific idealism, reinforces the idea that great results proceed from minute, sustained efforts a truth applicable both to laboratory research and to moral living. Wormald (1996) argues that this "microscopy metaphor" allows Eliot to explore how "material and moral knowledge" are related, emphasizing the importance of seeing the small, often overlooked, actions and details that cumulatively define a life. Moreover, the microscope is a technology that emphasizes materiality. It brings the body, the tissue, and the physical reality of the world into sharp focus. By aligning this materialist vision with the subtle moral actions of characters like Dorothea or Fred Vincy, Eliot suggests that morality is not an ethereal concept but is instantiated in concrete, observable, and relational acts. The technological device thus becomes a lens through which the novel examines the very semiotic usage of language, action, and scientific imagery (Wormald, 1996). 

4. Plexuses, Ganglia, and the Biological Model of Social Life

Image Source: Gemini AI 

Eliot's engagement with biology extends beyond mere metaphor, proposing a model for the social organism rooted in contemporary physiological concepts. R.A. Greenberg (1975) highlights these specific allusions in his article "Plexuses and Ganglia," revealing how Eliot incorporates "scientific knowledge into the novel's moral and material framework." These physiological terms are co-opted by Eliot to describe the nervous and circulatory system of the provincial town itself. 

4.1. Sympathy as a Moral Neural Network 

The term plexus a network of nerves, blood vessels, or lymphatics and ganglia a cluster of nerve cell bodies are used to describe the interconnectedness of human bodies and minds. This biological language provides the architectural blueprint for the social structure of Middlemarch itself. The novel posits that society is not a collection of isolated, Cartesian minds, but a complex, interdependent neural network. The most powerful biological-moral technology in the novel is sympathy. Lydgate's scientific commitment is to the body; Dorothea’s moral commitment is to the social body. Her ambition to do good, initially vast and vague, is gradually refined through painful experience into targeted acts of imaginative sympathy, such as her selfless decision to help Rosamond and Lydgate. This sympathetic connection acts as the moral nerve fibre, transmitting feeling and ethical energy across the social plexus. However, Eliot also acknowledges the sheer difficulty of achieving this connection: 

"If we had a keen vision and feeling of all ordinary human life, it would be like hearing the grass grow and the squirrel's heartbeat, and we should die of that roar which lies on the other side of silence." (Eliot, 1872, Ch. 20) 

This demonstrates that the required moral technology sympathy is an immense, almost physically overwhelming effort, confirming its vital role in preventing social fragmentation. 

4.2. Interdependency and the Social Organism 

A. Palmer (2005) discusses how the novel explores "Intermental Thought," focusing on how moral and political judgments are formed not in isolation, but through constant relation to "societal norms and individual conscience." This relational dynamic is precisely what the biological metaphors suggest. Mason (1971) suggests that Eliot’s emphasis on imagination in both science and morality is key. Imagination, in this context, is the capacity to conceptualize the unseen and to feel the unfelt experience of others. It is the necessary moral technology that complements Lydgate’s material technology (the scalpel and the laboratory). Without this imaginative insight, the scientifically minded individual remains morally impoverished, and the morally minded individual remains socially ineffective, resulting in a breakdown of the social organism. 

5. Modernity, History, and the Technology of Social Relations 

Image Source: Gemini AI 

Middlemarch is set during the historical shifts of the Industrial Revolution and the passage of the Reform Act of 1832, grounding its intellectual conflicts in the tangible realities of emergent capitalist society and technological change. This historical context is vital for understanding the novel’s concern with social order and the impact of modernity. The novel’s setting serves as a crucible where old social structures are tested by new material forces and intellectual ideas. 

5.1. The Railway and the Acceleration of Social Change 

The introduction of the railway serves as a concrete material technology that dramatically alters the speed and scale of life in Middlemarch. D.E. Bivona (2019) investigates Eliot's profound "argument for realism embedded in Middlemarch," highlighting how the novel reflects a social order directly "connected to material and intellectual modernization in Victorian life." The presence of the railway, the constant murmur of political change, and the movement of characters like Lydgate from the metropolitan center to the provincial periphery all highlight the forces reshaping the collective mind and material landscape. The novel captures the 'Epic Syntax' of this transformation, exploring the "complex social relations and the representation of emergent capitalist society" (Epic Syntax, 2012). The railway forces the provincial community to reckon with external forces and faster information flow, compelling a faster evolution of their moral systems. 

5.2. Prototyping Ethical Information Systems 

The core technological problem of modernity, for Eliot, is how to manage the vast influx of information, specialization, and ethical ambiguity it creates. A. Booth (2019), drawing parallels to digital humanities, notes that Eliot was already "prototyping of information systems" and the "interrelation of ethics, knowledge systems, and Victorian modernity" in her work. The novel functions as a highly advanced information system, showing how the fate of one small element (like a single piece of tissue or Dorothea’s single act of compassion) ripples throughout the entire body of the town. The moral technology required for this complex modern world is the ability to move "from moral ignorance to clarity" (Spacks, 2014), a necessary process of "moral development" (Spacks, 2014). 

6. Conclusion 

Middlemarch is not simply a historical novel; it is a laboratory for testing the intellectual and moral technologies of Victorian modernity. George Eliot deftly weaves scientific discourse from the biological language of "plexuses and ganglia" to the visual precision of "microscopy" into the fabric of her narrative, transforming these material concepts into essential moral tools. The novel critiques the rigid empiricism that isolates knowledge from feeling, epitomized by the failures of Lydgate and Casaubon, and champions an imaginative, relational approach to life. By mapping the interdependent structure of the human mind and body onto the complex social organism of Middlemarch, Eliot posits that true progress in the modern era relies not only on material machines, but on the cultivation of robust moral technologies: systems of pervasive sympathy, ethical clarity, and intermental understanding. Dorothea’s "unhistoric act" of compassion, magnified by the novel’s microscopic lens, underscores Eliot's ultimate argument: the ethical health of the modern social order depends on the strength of its smallest, most overlooked moral fibres. Middlemarch thus remains a timeless study of how humankind attempts to manage its internal moral landscape in the face of external technological progress. 

A supporting presentation is provided below to illustrate the key aspects of this discussion:

Watch my YouTube video for a deeper insight into the topic:

Machines, Minds, and Modernity in George Eliot’s Middlemarch | Victorian Science & Morality

Work Cited: 

• Bivona, Daniel Edward. “The Emergence of Emergence: G. H. Lewes, Middlemarch, and Social Order.” Dickens Studies Annual, vol. 50, no. 1, 2019, pp. 66–80. JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5325/dickstudannu.50.1.0066.  Accessed 5 Nov. 2025. 

• BOOTH, ALISON. “Particular Webs: Middlemarch, Typologies, and Digital Studies of Women’s Lives.” Victorian Literature and Culture, vol. 47, no. 1, 2019, pp. 5–34. JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/26789605.  Accessed 5 Nov. 2025.  

• Eliot, George. “Middlemarch by George Eliot.” Project Gutenberg, 1 July 1994, www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/145. Accessed 05 Nov. 2025. 

• Greenberg, Robert A. “Plexuses and Ganglia: Scientific Allusion in Middlemarch.” Nineteenth-Century Fiction, vol. 30, no. 1, 1975, pp. 33–52. JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/2933224.  Accessed 5 Nov. 2025. 

• Laughlin, Thomas A. “Journal of the Marxist Literary Group.” Mediations, mediationsjournal.org/articles/eliots-epic-syntax. Accessed 5 Nov. 2025. 

• Mason, Michael York. “Middlemarch and Science: Problems of Life and Mind.” The Review of English Studies, vol. 22, no. 86, 1971, pp. 151–69. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/513010.  Accessed 5 Nov. 2025. 

• Palmer, Alan. “Intermental Thought in the Novel: The Middlemarch Mind.” Style, vol. 39, no. 4, 2005, pp. 427–39. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5325/style.39.4.427.  Accessed 5 Nov. 2025. 

• Spacks, Patricia Meyer. “The Power of ‘Middlemarch.’” Daedalus, vol. 143, no. 1, 2014, pp. 64–76. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/43297287. Accessed 5 Nov. 2025. 

• Wormald, Mark. “Microscopy and Semiotic in Middlemarch.” Nineteenth-Century Literature, vol. 50, no. 4, 1996, pp. 501–24. JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/2933926.   Accessed 5 Nov. 2025. 

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