George Eliot belonged to the group of late Victorian novelist. Meredith and Hardy were her close contemporaries. She was essentially intellectual, psychological and philosophical novelist not like the Victorians in the study of external and objective life but in the diagnosis on the inner motive of her character. She was an extremely thoughtful, reflective, moral and philosophical type of novelist.
‘Silas Marner’, the weaver of Raveloe, is a memorable novel of George Eliot. It is marked with moral earnestness and psychological insight. The novel deals with the life of ‘Silas Marner’, a linen weaver who is forced to live in the village of Raveloe and was constrained to leave his religious community because of the false for committing theft. ‘Silas Marner’ works hard and accumulates gold. He takes pleasure in enjoying the side of his gold. One day Dunstan curs enters the cottage in Marner’s absence and steals the gold of Marner. He is shocked and grieved at the loss of gold. However, he consoles himself and designs himself to his fate and it starts leaving in his cottage. One day a girl with golden hair comes. She is a great relief to ‘Silas Marner‘. He adopts her and once again finds happiness in his deserted and desolate life. The girl whom Silas adopted was claimed bye Godfrey and Nancy but Eppie refused to leave ‘Silas Marner‘. At the end Silas got back the stolen gold, the story ends happily. Silas is also absolved off the changes of theft levelled against him.
The regeneration or redemption is the main theme of this novel. Both Silas and Godfrey were good at heart. But each of them deviated because of certain adverse circumstance and certain influences on them. But in course of time each of them returned to right path because of certain circumstances and certain influences. Silas was a kind and noble hearted man and most of his earnings go to charity. A false accusation of theft against him shattered his faith in God and his frustration in love completely changed there rhythm of his life.
He fled away to the apparent to opposite the spiritual subjectivism to Raveloe. In Raveloe, he wove cloths and earned money. He developed his desire for collecting money and gold. Certainty he earned fabulous money. He began to worship money and now his great God was . Really it was the chance the arrival of little girl with golden hair that proved to be another turning point in Silas Marner’s life. From this time onward began the process of regeneration or redemption. The orphan girl stirred his duper human impulses and instincts. His attitude towards deteriorated as a result of his sad experience in Lantern yard. But sudden appearance of Eppie brought a tremendous change in his heart and mind. The river of sympathy and kindness began to run in his heart and once again he became a noble and magnanimous soul.
Godfrey was basically a good man besides his proclivity to evils. He stays from the pious and right path. His marriage to a undesirable woman and keeping it secret one in Raveloe smudge his character. What is more, he misappropriated his father’s money, committed to the act of deception when he failed to acknowledged his little two year golden daughter. He kept his first marriage and his daughter in secret for 16 years from his second wife, Nancy. But after getting married to Nancy former he was metamorphosed into a good man. A great reform in his life came when he suggested Nancy that they should bring Eppie to their house. They requested Marner to let them take away Eppie to their home but Silas Marner refused to part with the girl. Godfrey then revealed that Eppie was his daughter and he has natural claim. It is this confession that actually completes the process of regeneration. It is revival of natural feelings, natural affections and rejections of false pretence to respectively that bring about Godfrey’s redemption.
Godfrey’s regeneration does not have that dramatic sadness of Silas Marner’s regeneration. His redemption consists in his confession to Nancy about his past life. Nancy is as responsible to his redemption as Eppie is in bringing about Marner’s redemption. Unquestionably, the predominant theme of this novel of its regeneration or redemption.
PLEASE HELP ME TO REACH 1000 SUBSCRIBER ON MY COOKING YT CHANNEL (CLICK HERE)
