Provincial Life

The title that Eliot assigns her novel promises it to be a “study of provincial life.” This indicates that it will be a close look into the way that people in England lived, worked, and behaved. The provincial life that Eliot portrays in this novel is different from what even some of the characters expected. Lydgate, for instance, had dreamed of going into medical practice in some provincial town where he could really make a difference to the people. He imagined the people in these towns would be more open to differences in opinion and less motivated by politics. Lydgate finds out very quickly that small towns can be just as political as large cities, if not more so. People in these towns are suspicious of outsiders and protective of their own people. They gossip; and, the stories they share spread like wildfire. It is...