The Mill on the Floss

"George Eliot's The Mill on the Floss (1860) has been widely read and remains one of her most powerful and best loved works. In Maggie Tulliver, Eliot has embodied the aspirations of a passionate and sensitive nature at odds with a narrow, oppressive world. The provincial life of mid-Victorian England has been rendered in minute and realistic detail, bringing out its imperfections with a touch of sympathy. The childhood scenes of Maggie and Tom, based on Eliot's own early life, are deeply felt and linger on in memory. Nearly a hundred and fifty years after its publication. The Mill on the Floss has the power to evoke strong emotion and force the taking of moral positions. This edition has been designed to give the readers a critical and historical context in which to read the text. The Introduction by Nita N. Kumar places the novel against the background of major theoretical and intellectual debates of the Victorian age, particularly the theories of Darwin, Spencer and Feuerbach. It also provides a review of critical opinion on the novel since its publication. The five critical essays by Anand Prakash, Alka Kumar, Sunita Sarin, Debjani Sengupta-all Delhi University teachers-and Rosemary Ashton offer perceptive and sustained readings of feminist, autobiographical, narrative and socio-historical aspects of the novel. A Chronology and a list of Suggested Readings are also included. NITA N. KUMAR retired as Associate Professor in the Department of English, SPM College, University of Delhi."