Austen, Brontë, Eliot
Debate Questions
Middlemarch
A. In Middlemarch, characters’ lofty intellectual, spiritual, and / or romantic ideals blind them to reality and hinder their self-realization.
B. In Middlemarch, characters’ lofty intellectual, spiritual, and / or romantic ideals evidence their insightfulness and strength of determination and ultimately promote their self-realization.
A. Middlemarch supports the idea that there is a fixed set of moral principles that determines the difference between right and wrong, good and evil, regardless of particular circumstances or situations. Moral dilemmas stem from characters’ inability or unwillingness to choose the right / good course of action.
B. Middlemarch supports the idea that the difference between right and wrong, good and evil always depends on the particular circumstance at hand. Moral dilemmas stem from the absence of a fixed set of moral principles.
A. Middlemarch argues that money and material gain / loss must and should play an important role in deciding matters of the heart.
B. Middlemarch argues that money and material gain / loss should not play an important role in deciding matters of the heart.
A. Middlemarch argues that there is an objective reality and that it is not only possible but necessary to perceive this objective reality.
B. Middlemarch argues that reality is shaped by personal perception and subjective opinion.
A. Middlemarch supports the idea that women are born with certain innate characteristics, tendencies, desires, and susceptibilities that are irrefutable and that fit them for marriage, motherhood, and domesticity.
B. Middlemarch refutes the idea that women are born with certain innate characteristics, tendencies, desires, and susceptibilities. Instead, the novel argues that each woman defines her womanhood according to the personal, individual choices she makes through her life.