The Motifs of Furniture and Yoke in George Eliots Middlemarch Essay

The Motifs of Furniture and Yoke in George Eliots MiddlemarchYou have not make my life pleasant to me of late-the hardships which our marriage has brought on me-these words were stinging his fancy as a pain makes an exaggerated dream (667).On the disputation of lifes complexities, marriage, perhaps, reigns at the top. George Eliots Middlemarch exhumes many of the complicated facets of marriage from a Victorian England milieu. Although the vulcanized fiber spectrum in Middlemarch includes diversity in social class, the bulk of players are members of the aristocracy. notwithstanding financial wealth, married women were bound to their husbands-Eliot employs the metaphor of the orthodontic braces to convey relentless bondage to the spouse and domesticity. On the other hand, an aristocratic married gallus was likely bound to material possessions in the instance of Middlemarch, furniture serves as a complex motif. An analysis on the themes of yoke and furniture in Eliots novel prom pts several questions. What does the definition of yoke imply about the metaphor? Who bears the yoke in marriage? Who is concerned with furniture? What roles does furniture personate in Middlemarch? Finally, a comparative discussion on the ties between the yoke and furniture as burdens in marital relationships will conclude the argument. The Oxford face Dictionary gives the primary definition of yoke as A contrivance, apply from ancient times, by which two animals, esp. oxen, are coupled together for gulp a plough or vehicle usually consisting of a slenderly curved or hollowed piece of wood fitted with bows or hoops at the end which are passed round the animals necks, and having a ring or meat hooks attached to the middle to which is fastened a chain or hint e... ...ial status), some men, particularly Lydgate, were enslaved by their wifes emotions and demands. In regard to furniture, however, it was usually merely wealthy men who lived beyond their means that were bound to debt, since they held sovereignty in decision-making. Comparing the motifs of the yoke and furniture in the novel is an intricate and enkindle task because they are both tangible objects that represent metaphoric repression, burden, or anxiety. Although George Eliot uses many rhetorical devices in Middlemarch, the clever employment of multi-faceted motifs was effective in conveying the underlying messages about womens rights and the burden of materialism. Work Cited and ConsultedEliot, George. Middlemarch. 1871. London Penguin, 1994. Oxford side of meat Dictionary. 1989. U of Oxford. 18 December 2002. Princeton Text Archive. 18 December 2002.