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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. By the end of Chapter 21, what is Edward's primary emotion regarding Will?

2. Where is the funeral service held?

3. Why does Chettam recommend Lydgate to Dorothea?

4. Chapter 15 provides a brief biography of which character?

5. The men on the board of the hospital meet to vote on the new chaplain. The vote is a tie between which characters?

Short Essay Questions

1. What happens when Sir Chettam goes to see Mr. Cadwallader?

2. Compare and contrast the Brooke sisters.

3. How do Mr. Brooke and Casaubon feel about Ladislaw in Chapter 37?

4. How is Dorothea when she returns from her honeymoon?

5. What happens to Fred Vincy in Chapter 23?

6. How do Lydgate and Rosamond, respectively, feel about marriage after their dinner together in Chapter 16?

7. Casaubon admits to himself that he chose to marry Dorothea for what reasons?

8. Summarize Lydgate's background.

9. What do Fred and Peter Stonehouse fight about?

10. What are the gossiping women of Middlemarch saying about Rosamond in Chapter 31?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Compare and contrast the characters of Dorothea and Celia Brooke. What are their main qualities? How does each fit into the role of a Victorian woman? Be sure to cite specific examples from the text to support your thesis.

Essay Topic 2

Compare and contrast the various relationships presented in the novel. What reasons did each couple have for their respective unions? Did the reasons for these marriages appear to affect their outcomes (for example, were marriages based on love longer lasting or more satisfying than relationships based on mutual gain)? Why or why not? Be sure to cite specific examples from the text to support your thesis.

Essay Topic 3

The women of Middlemarch, as all Victorian women, obey their husbands to various degrees. Some are perfectly obedient, while others rebel against the constraints placed upon them. Pick three wives from the novel, and compare their attitudes toward their husbands and their duties as a wife. Does their behavior correlate in any way with the quality of their relationships? Does it affect how others see them? Why or why not? Be sure to cite specific examples from the text to support your thesis.

(see the answer keys)

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