Weak ties and Will Ladislaw

Victorian novels love the 'weak' ties to a plot structure, developing their presence and significance throughout the course of the story. In Middlemarch, this is exemplified most definitively in the character of Will Ladislaw. His first appearance in Book I doesn't seem significant, as most characters shake his introduction off. Despite being introduced to him finally in Chapter 9, it is some time and after some description before we are even given his name.

"His bushy light brown curls, as well as his youthfulness, identified him at once with Celia's apparition... The cousin was so close now, that, when he lifted his hat, Dorothea could see a pair of grey eyes rather near together, a delicate irregular nose with a little ripple in it, and hair falling backward; but there was a mouth and chin of a more prominent, threatening aspect than belonged to the type of the grandmother's miniature" (Eliot 50).

There is nothing too remarkable about this description and his appearance is fleeting in the beginning of the novel. It is with time, that both his relationship in the novel is strengthened and his place in the town of Middlemarch created. Eliot uses time and the formidable length of the novel as tools or tactics. It is over time that the reader is able to develop history with the characters, form personal attachments. It is over a long lengthy novel that one is able to prolong plot twists as in the case of Bulstrode's secret or finally, the pull between Will and Dorothea.

"...Will followed [Dorothea], seizing her hand with a spasmodic movement; and so they stood, with their hands clasped, like two children. looking out on the storm, while the thunder gave a tremendous crack and roll above them, and the rain began to pour down. Then they turned their faces towards each other, with the memory of his last words in them, and they did not loose each other's hands" (Eliot 497).

Although Middlemarch is clearly not typical in its portrayal of marriage as romantic and the true source of happiness, it hasn't quite given up hope in the idea. It is the progression from their first interaction to the first alignment of love that exemplifies the essence of Victorian storytelling. Seemingly weak ties may transform into pure, formidable love with time.