MovieChat Forums > Middlemarch (1994) Discussion > Questions and Random Thoughts

Questions and Random Thoughts

posted 11 years ago by lamont-hard
4 replies | jump to latest

First I wondered was Did Dorthea and Casaubon have sex. Even though it was not shown I assumed they did and can't understand why so many felt she was a virgin when she got together with Will. Even if it was a marriage of convenience one would figure they would get around to sex at some point. What was in the book about this.

I was also was wondering how long were they married and did she divorce first.

Did anyone else feel Dorthea made her own bed by marrying Casaubon, I mean she was in it for something else besides love.

[–] CostaNova 11 years ago

Dorothea married Casaubon because she felt guilty about being a rich heiress and she was looking for some way to be of use in her life. She figured that helping a so-called great man of letters produce his opus would be something of worth. She didn't know that Casaubon was a fraud. I don't believe anything about their sex life was ever mentioned and no, she didn't divorce him before he died.

Woman is the new man. Man is the new boy.

[–] lamont-hard 11 years ago

That is just my point, did they ever consummate there marriage? I felt even if it was for convenience one still wants to bed his bride.

Not directed at you or your reply, But when I see writing like this it always takes away from the seriousness of the story. It's like Rom-coms where the gal wants out but we never really know why or why she has not talked to the partner before leaving.

Of course this works with Romantics and even myself sometimes also, but it always feels written as a bridge to get to the end without saying much or thinking of viewers who may want more or something different. There was plenty of time to show how a marriage works without love but admiration before she found out. I would have liked to hear there conversation on what they expected of each other, or more so how they felt about each other. Do we stay and sleep as friends with benefits do we see other people. Marriage is forever so at some point it would have come up.

We all knew where the story was going to end but that is not an excuse to make one character totally unlikable to appease a break-up.

[–] rfodchuk 10 years ago

I realize this thread is way old by now and you may not see this...

George Eliot never explicitly states in the original novel whether Dorothea and Casaubon consummated their marriage. That's left for the reader and/or viewer to decide, based on the available information.

They were married for a total of eighteen months in the novel, although this was necessarily telescoped down for purposes of the miniseries. Kind of too bad, because we get to see more of their interactions in the novel and know them better as characters (IMO). That said, I think Patrick Malahide did an amazing job of bringing Casaubon to life. He's the only one I can picture as Casaubon now.

Not only did Dorothea marry Casaubon to assist with his novel as a "great work", she did feel some affection for him. It's just that they couldn't communicate, leading to his growing insecurity and fear. He couldn't tell her of his desperate self-doubts, and she couldn't tell him what she needed from him in the marriage. Just not the "Done Thing" at that point in time.

[–] tennismenace 9 years ago

My vote is this- the marriage was never consummated.

It did not appear to me Causabaum had any romantic involvement at all with Brooke.

Personally, I think Brooke had some serious issues to deal with for her even marrying the old guy in the first place. She clearly married for the wrong reasons. But maybe back then in England it was normal.