I am not, I trust, mistaken in the recognition of some deeper correspondence than that of date in the fact that a consciousness of need in my own life had arisen contemporaneously with the possibility of my becoming acquainted with you.
-- Edward Casaubon (Book 1, Chapter 5 paragraph 1)

Importance: These are among the words that Casaubon writes to Dorothea in his proposal of marriage to her. Based on the cold and formal manner of the letter, it is not surprising that Dorothea does not receive the affection she’d hoped for in her marriage.

Women were expected to have weak opinions; but the great safeguard of society and of domestic life was, that opinions were not acted on. Sane people did what their neighbours did, so that if any lunatics were at large, one might know and avoid them.
-- Narrator (Book 1, Chapter 1 paragraph 4)

Importance: This quote basically sums up the basis of life in Middlemarch. Not only are women considered subordinate to men...