The Finale

The epilogue of Middlemarch reveals a lot about the theme of the web. First, we asked who is the spider of this web? Who exactly weaves these strings of lives? In the finale of the novel, the narrator makes a prominent appearance. The narrator reveals that the entire novel took place quite a while ago in the lives of the characters. It seems as if the narrator knows Middlemarch intimately, but also knows everything about the lives of each citizen. For me, I still find it hard to accept that the narrator shifts according to the plot line, especially in the epilogue. There is an obvious presence in this finale, who knows everything and all. I would argue that Eliot makes it obvious that she is the spider weaving a web of stories. This is typical in a Victorian novel, but Eliot illustrates it more subtly. Also, the web is constructed carefully and purposefully. This is illustrated with how the Garths' future is told and Dorothea's fate is last. Eliot demonstrates to the reader how she has control with these characters. She chooses to emphasize Dorothea's fate even though as the protagonist, we are more interested in how she ends up rather than the Garths and the Lydgates.