Passages pertaining to my discussions:

"There is a casting-vote still to be given. It is yours, Mr. Lydgate: will you be good enough to write?"

"The thing is settled now," said Mr. Wrench, rising. "We all know how Mr. Lydgate will vote."

“He was really uncertain whether Tyke were not the more suitable candidate, and yet his consciousness told him that if he had been quite free from indirect bias he should have voted for Mr. Farebrother. The affair of the chaplaincy remained a sore point in his memory as a case in which this petty medium of Middlemarch had been too strong for him.”

(both from Book II, chapter XVIII)

Questions underpinning my discussions on Book II:

What does the portrayal of Middlemarch residents' interactions with one another suggest about its composition of society? To what extent can people's movements within Middlemarch be considered as "free"?

At first glance, Middlemarch residents seem to enjoy much freedom in their daily or life choices. For example, readers see that Dorothea, despite her neighborhood's disapprobation, successfully married Mr. Casaubon without much interference from others. However, just as Dorothea's youth and idealism questions the extent of the actual freedom she had in selecting her husband, other characters in Middlemarch also faces the dilemma of this unconscious slippery of liberty. One might notice that the interrelationships between Middlemarch residents forming a web in which people are entangled and shaped by each other, being pushed back and forth by the interconnections between each other, and were thus strongly affected.

For example, as delineated by the chosen passages, the predicament of Lydgate was obvious. Being a newcomer to Middlemarch, Lydgate soon built up his interrelations with other Middlemarch residents. After paying a visit to Mr. Farebrother, Lydgate genuinely appreciated him and felt that he would like to vote for him “if he had been quite free from indirect bias”. However, just as Lydgate admitted himself, his relationship with Bulstrode was more powerful than his personal feelings to determine his action. For sure, he is theoretically free to break his prior promise to Bulstrode and follow his own heart, yet but how shall he live in Middlemarch after that? Indeed, as the chosen passage has portrayed, Lydgate seemed to have a choice, yet it was only illusionary freedom. The question "will you be good enough to write?" seems to suggest that both a yes and a no would be acceptable, yet putting this line in the scenario where Lydgate was in, readers find him having no alternatives but to vote and for Tyke, whom Lydgate was unsure "were not the more suitable candidate".

Even more besides forcing Lydgate to cast a vote against his will, Elliot adds weight to this votation, deliberately putting him into a more subtle situation. As the hesitating one who did not vote until the last minute, Lydgate was offered the power far beyond making a note as an individual, and his one vote would directly decide the new preacher of the region. Under this situation, the significance of Lydgate's choice is enlarged, pushing him further from voting to his free will. Overall, Lydgate's voting outcome was not decided by the moment he writes down Tyke's name but was planted much earlier when he made the agreement with Bulstrode.

Nevertheless, while recognizing many constraints, it is not fair to see Lydgate as being completely controlled and manipulated by external forces. Although Lydgate made his choice disregarding his personal judgment towards the candidates, he was depicted as fully aware of such matters in the chosen passages. Instead of making the vote submissively and unconscious of the influences, Lydgate processed mental struggle, having his consciousness speaking for Farebrother and views this involuntary vote as "chaplaincy". In other words, while not choosing to repel the powerful "petty medium of Middlemarch" physically, Lydgate remains free in his mind and would find this medium being more disturbing than accepting it as ordinary. This consciousness monitors Lydgate's emotions towards his interrelationship with other Middlemarch people, which goes against the outside force and performs as another impact on his decisions.

Furthermore, if to look on a grander scale, it is also reasonable to say that rather than being "entangled", Lydgate only forfeited one freedom to acquire more significant freedom. The reason for Lydgate to let the external force carry his vote instead of the internal preference is also apparent. By doing so, he is protecting his connection within the "petty medium" within Middlemarch, which would make it easier for him to fulfill his ambitions. Lydgate wishes to reform the medical situation in Middlemarch, yet he is powerless and constrained as a young individual. However, by pleasing Bulstrode, Lydgate gets in exchange for greater possible assitance, which would enlarge his freedom to fulfill his ambitions.  

To conclude, it can be unreasonable to assert that the medium within Middlemarch made its members completely entangled or completely free. Rather, they are under the influences of both internal desires and external relationships, and seek to find the balance in between.