Although characters in Middlemarch have or are motivated by deep desire, they cannot satisfy it in real lives. To what extent can the opposition between desire and reality be reconciled?

Passage from Book 5, Chapter 47:

“Still he called himself stupid now for not foreseeing that it would be impossible for him to look towards Dorothea—nay, that she might feel his coming an impertinence. There was no delivering himself from his cage, however; and Will found his places and looked at his book as if he had been a schoolmistress, feeling that the morning service had never been so immeasurably long before, that he was utterly ridiculous, out of temper, and miserable. This was what a man got by worshipping the sight of a woman!” (472-3)

     Will Ladislaw goes to Lowick Church to glimpse Dorothea, who, upon seeing him, turns pale and merely bows to him. He then realises that trying to catch a glimpse of her is a grave, stupid mistake, even though he worships her and is willing to take the risk of annoying Mr Casaubon. When Ladislaw finds out that his desire of seeing Dorothea cannot be fully satisfied, he becomes embarrassed and even scorns himself.

     Other characters in Middlemarch, like Fred Vincy, also become disenchanted with their real lives, which often contradict their expectations or desire. Fred expects that Mr Featherstone’s inheritance will allow him to pay off his debts, but is disappointed when the wills are read and an illegitimate son of Mr Featherstone acquires the dead man’s fortune. Fred Vincy’s and Will Ladislaw’s misfortunes lead the reader to presume that, in Middlemarch, characters’ desire and real lives can hardly be reconciled.

     However, the passage above may have suggested otherwise; at least, it proposes a partial solution. Ladislaw’s misfortune, according to himself, can be attributed to his ignorance of other people’s, especially Dorothea’s, opinions on him. Only through putting himself in other people’s shoes can Ladislaw truly realise the stupidity and inappropriateness of his action. Thus, the passage suggests that when the characters are more cognizant of others’ opinions, they will more likely be able to reconcile the discrepancies between their desire and reality in a more mature, sensitive manner.

     The passage also suggests that the characters in Middlemarch, in order to reconcile desire and reality, have to understand the true nature of their actions. Ladislaw, ashamed of himself, exclaims in his mind, “This was what a man got by worshipping the sight of a woman!” He realises that his worshipping Dorothea may not be rewarded and that, because of his worship, he is only a “miserable”, “ridiculous” man. His actions reveal his inner vanity that cannot be satisfied in reality. In order to reconcile their desire and real lives, characters in Middlemarch may have to give up strong, yet inappropriate, desire.

     In addition to understanding themselves and other people more fully, characters in Middlemarch have to confront the multifaceted nature of their identities in order to strike a balance between desire and reality. Ladislaw describes the morning service as “immeasurably long”, suggesting that the discrepancies between his desire and reality lead to a different psychological experience of time. Realising his mistake, he wants to escape from his undesirable situation; yet, he cannot leave and transforms into somebody else—“a schoolmistress”—in his mind. His experiences suggest that time and identity are closely related: in his case, when he finds out that his identity has been shaped unwillingly, time becomes tedious. His personal experiences regarding his identities affect how he views time; and time is so multifaceted that his different identities experience it differently. Nonetheless, time is also a scientific and social concept that belongs to all humans—it is, from a certain point of view, absolute or independent. Time is both personal and social: it represents individual consciousness and historical continuity at the same time. Therefore, in order for the characters in Middlemarch to reconcile their desire and real lives, they have to understand that their identities are multifaceted and that reality, or time as a social, historical concept, can only satisfy the desire of one facet of their identities.

     To conclude, in Middlemarch, the opposition between desire and reality is more likely to be reconciled when the characters understand that desire is limitless and that they should embrace other people’s opinions and criticisms in order to evaluate the appropriateness of their actions.