Irony of Marriage In Patriarchy in Middlemarch

Abstract

Middle march,inscribed in the Victorian time,presents a picture of females who get socially forced to be unified in the marriage bond with the expectation of being secure and safe. But their wishes and longings eventually get shattered due to the male chauvinist nature of the society and they just become dependent and puppets in the hands of their husbands who express their male ego in distinct ways and oppress them thinking that they are naturally superior and made to guide the woman sex. Dorothea,the central figure,undergoes the similar ordeal of conjugal life and bears different up sand downs in the bond of marriage. What she initially thinks and expects from Mr. Casaubon,twice older than her,remains just her dream. Moreover, her marriage with him becomes the source of misery, discontentment and disharmony. Thinking high of him she has indeed got unified in the marriage bond that is sacred and pious by nature but when she experiences the bitter truth of marriage in patriarchy, she feels troubled and psychologically disappointed and intends to seek for an outlet from the very marriage. Despite her efforts to come out of the oppressive marriage bond, she ultimately remains in the similar bond again even after the death of Mr. Casaubon. As being a woman she cannot live alone in the male-dominated society which finally enforces her to join Will Ladislaw and keep up with the demand and want of society. Eliot through Dorothea has thus clearly presented the plight of women and irony of marriage in patriarchy.