The Jewelry Box

Within the first chapter of Middlemarch, we are introduced to Dorothea Brooke, who seems to be the main subject. She is described as an ideal Puritan who is beautiful, but plainly dressed. Her religious fervor, while focused on bringing good to the world, is seen as a potential hindrance to her marriage opportunities, at least according to her uncle, Mr. Brooke. However, men find her bewitching.

The novel starts off with Dorothea's move to Middlemarch and the subsequent effect she has on some of the men who live there. Her Puritan ways do not seem to be a problem here. Yet, within the first couple of pages, we see one of the first interactions Dorothea engages in within the novel, which subsequently is the first interaction between Dorothea and her sister, Celia.

Celia approaches Dorothea to ask her to split the jewelry from their mother's jewelry box. Celia timidly asks her sister to try on some of the jewelry, and perhaps even take some. Dorothea ends up taking a ring and matching bracelet and leaves the rest for her sister. Celia, again timidly, asks Dorothea if she will wear the jewelry in public, which sparks Dorothea's temper.

What does this scene mean? It is clearly an insight into Dorothea's character, as we later find out that Celia plays little to no role in the rest of the novel. Dorothea is initially described as beautiful, despite her plain attire, and perfectly Christian. She is, in every way, the ideal woman. She is from a decent background with all the right values and morals. However, this initial interaction really shows the discrepancy between Dorothea-described and Dorothea in reality. Celia's timid attitude in approaching her sister illustrates that Dorothea is perhaps not as perfect as the audience is initially is meant to believe, which can be seen later, when she actually loses her temper. Additionally, by taking the ring and bracelet for her own, Dorothea demonstrates a sort of vanity that is direct contradiction to the Puritan values she so vehemently upholds. Beyond this, the question of whether she will wear the jewelry out in public foreshadows a pattern in Dorothea's character that we see throughout the novel. There is a gap between the ideal Dorothea and the real Dorothea. The ideal Dorothea is the one that falls in love with Casaubon, lectures her uncle on his lack of participating in socially responsible projects, who, simply put, has lofty ideals; this is the way we are introduced to Dorothea and also the way she views herself. In reality, Dorothea has a short temper, finds herself superior to others, and is the Dorothea that Celia sees (and the audience also sees after their interaction). It is the Dorothea that becomes more exposed as her marriage with Casaubon continues. The mask of ideal-Dorothea slips away to reveal not the societal image that she (and others) have created, but an inner reality that hides itself from the public eye of Middlemarch.