Middlemarch: Eliot\u27s Spencerian Sociological Study of Provincial Life

Through the novel Middlemarch, George Eliot fulfills the intention of her subtitle and uses sociological theories to conduct A Study of Provincial Life. Eliot\u27s letters, journals, and various essays provide evidence of sociologist Herbert Spencer\u27s influence on her own writings. Spencer\u27s specific opinions and contributions not only strengthen the sociological message of Eliot\u27s novel, but a handful of his ideals shape the narrative voice of her novel. Variations of Spencer\u27s theories are seen in Eliot\u27s authorial narrator\u27s comments and observations of the Middlemarch couples. With her narrator, Eliot applies Spencer\u27s theories on belief and on the correlation of an individual\u27s worldview to his or her society. Furthermore, Eliot creates an emotionally-based connection between her narrator and her readers which allows her to lead her audience through her sociological study and ensures her authorial narrator\u27s voice provides reliable expertise on the provincial life of Middlemarch