In the early chapters of The Mill on the Floss, George Eliot describes Maggie, her young, feisty and vivacious heroine: “There were passions at war in Maggie at that moment to have made a tragedy, if tragedies were made by passions only; but the essential τι μέγεθος (some kind of magnitude) which was present in the passion was wanted to the action.”
τι μέγεθος is a phrase from Aristotle’s Poetics* which he uses to describe an action of “some kind of magnitude” that is an essential part of any tragedy. Maggie has a passion for life that makes her charge forward into deeds and actions that other “nice” little girls would never dare. The descriptions of her mop of wild, thick hair and her darker skin also make her stand out amongst other girls her age. One of my favorite scenes that demonstrates Maggie’s unbridled spirit and her refusal to conform to expectations is when she listens to the music from her Uncle Pullet’s snuff-box. She can’t sit quietly and listen like the other children, but immediately jumps up and expresses the emotions stirred up through the music by grasping her older brother, Tom: “But when the magic music ceased, she jumped up, and, running towards Tom, put her arm around his neck and said, ‘O, Tom, isn’t it pretty.'” Unfortunately for Maggie, Tom had a glass of cowslip wine in his hand which was spilled during Maggie’s enthusiastic embrace. As a result, Maggie is, once again, subject to a litany of scolding from the adults:
‘Why don’t you sit still, Maggie?’ her mother said, peevishly.
‘Little gells mustn’t come to see me if they behave in that way,’ said aunt Pullet.
‘Why, you’re too rough, little miss,’ said uncle Pullet.
But these numerous reprimands never deter Maggie or dampen her spirit and I find myself admiring the girl because of her bravery. Eliot is obviously foreshadowing an event that will be much more tragic, of some kind of greater magnitude for her heroine. I am glad to have this book to keep me company on what is supposed to be a lovely spring weekend here in New England. I would enjoy hearing about what others are reading this weekend. Let me know in the comments.
*Aristotle Poetics 1450b: κεῖται δὴ ἡμῖν τὴν τραγῳδίαν τελείας καὶ ὅλης πράξεως εἶναι μίμησιν ἐχούσης τι μέγεθος. (It occurs to us that tragedy is the mimesis (imitation) of a complete and whole action and some kind of magnitude.)
The Book Binder's Daughter 
Enjoy your weekend of reading, Melissa! I am about to pick up a book on another spirited woman, Ada Lovelace, which looks fascinating!
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Enjoy your weekend as well, Karen. I actually confused myself. I read a short story about Ada Lovelace (can’t remember the author right now) not by her! Too many books!
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Have a nice weekend, Melissa! I will be reading Backwater, by D. Richardson this weekend 🙂
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Oh, that’s great to hear. I have that sitting on my shelves awaiting my attention.
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Actually, I’ve already read Backwater. You are in for a real treat. I have yet to read the last two books in the series published by Virago.
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It’s almost twenty years since I read Mill on the Floss! I’m very tempted to read Middlemarch which I have never got round to. This weekend, though, I hope to read Death in Spring.
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You must read Middlemarch and tell me your thoughts about it. Happy reading this weekend, Grant!
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“never.. dampen her spirit” – now there’s some foreshadowing.
Um, just ignore this comment until you’ve finished the book.
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I know it’s coming, Tom. I’ll revisit your comment when I finish!
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Although I failed at learning Greek, I’m very grateful to you for the original of Aristotle’s definition of tragedy, which I used for many years when teaching. I’m currently reading quite a doorstopper of a book by Ernst Wiechert (and will be for a couple of weeks!), a family saga by a writer whose novel The Simple Life is one of the most beautiful and haunting I’ve ever read. I’ll write about it eventually…
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I love those type of doorstooper books one can get immersed in for weeks! I look forward to reading your thoughts on it.
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That’s a wonderful read! I read it during Christmas 2016 at a French monastery. I will be continuing Adam Bede this weekend.
Thank you for the elucidation from Aristotle!
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I really enjoyed Adam Bede as well. Enjoy your weekend!
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I hope you’re enjoying your weekend Melissa – to my shame I’ve never read Eliot – I marvel at how I got through school and university studying literature and never had to read her. Must rectify that.
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I didn’t discover her until later as well, only about 10 years ago! Middlemarch is my favorite but I also liked Adam Bede. Have a lovely weekend!
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Lovely post. I need to get around to Eliot’s other works as Middlemarch is an all-time favorite novel of mine (I have read it twice, and I am not one to reread books).
I’m currently reading Stendhal’s Charterhouse of Parma. It took me a while to get into it, but now I’m enjoying it. I read The Red and the Black years ago. I’m also reading Nada by Carmen Laforet, and I’m going to dip into some of Michael Oakeshott’s essays on education.
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Oh thanks for reminding me that I have more Stendhal awaiting my attention. I’ve only read a collection of his Italian Chronicles and I must remedy that! Have a great weekend!
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