When Lydgate mentions Dorothea's name, he notices that Will has a very peculiar reaction he suspects that there is something between the two, and in this, he is correct.Įven more interesting than what is said in this chapter, is what is left unsaid by the characters. Will is not surprised, and almost does not care, because he thinks that Dorothea has already given up on him. Lydgate tells Will a bit of what has been going on, and that his name has also been mixed up in the proceedings. Will comes over, but Rosamond has not mentioned Will's visit earlier in the day Will makes no mention of it to Lydgate either. Lydgate puts Rosamond to bed, still not totally aware of what has caused her distress. Fate has a way of working among the people of Middlemarch, that hopefully will not leave a deserving couple like Will and Dorothea in want of love and happiness. But Will's drive, the force of his love, and Dorothea's love in return mean that in all likelihood they will end up together.

Will wants to be with Dorothea more than ever, especially because she might be lost to him forever because of the little incident with Rosamond. Will has never before expressed his love so forcefully or explicitly this is a great step for him, meaning that he has gotten over his pride at last seeing her enough to admit openly that he loves her.

But though her family and her husband will tolerate her and her delusions, the rest of the world will not, as she very reluctantly finds. How shallow Rosamond must be that one man saying that he loves someone other than her shatters her whole world, and makes her violently ill. She needs to get over her vanity and become a real human being but, chances are, she will only become more melancholy, and more blaming of her poor husband. Her little fantasy of Will loving her over Dorothea has been shattered, and it is a very harsh, but very necessary blow to her.

Will was a bit harsh toward her, but this was a lesson that she desperately needed, and hopefully it will do her good.įinally, Rosamond's vanity has backfired on her for the first time, she has seen that not everyone she meets is instantly in love with her, and not all men find her irresistible. Rosamond is very hurt, and her illusions and vanity are finally shattered. But her ways of quietly manipulating fail with Will he gets very angry when she intimates that Will loves her, and says that the only woman he loves, or could think of loving, was Dorothea. He blows up at her, especially when she tries her methods that usually work on Lydgate.

Will realizes suddenly what Rosamond was trying to do Rosamond wanted it to look like Will loved her, and kept him around in order to create this impression. Will and Rosamond are shocked at being found, and in a way that would look bad to Dorothea.

Middlemarch sparknotes