Silas Marner

This is one of Eliot's short novels, it is set in the Napoleonic wars. Silas Marner is a weaver who has come from an industrial town to live in a country town, Raveloe, to ply his trade there. He belonged to a dissenting sect rather than the Established Church. He had a strange condition which meant he was prone to fall at times into catatonic states where he would not know what was happening for a time. He was devoted to his religion and his friends in the chapel but was accused of stealing money by the man who was his best friend, William Dane. He had fallen into one of his states of unconsciousness, and did not know what was happening. However the rest of the congregation did not believe his denials - they threw him out and he left the town and went to live in the country. He became a recluse, and worked very hard at his weaving, but refused to socialise with the local people. He even failed to go to church, and they thought he was weird and ignored him after a while. The local squire, Squire Cass, has 2 sons, Godfrey and Dunstan. Dunstan is dishonest and sly. Godfrey is good natured enough but has a secret that makes his life difficult. We learn that he married a young working class woman, and that she is addicted to opium. Godfrey supports her and their baby, but he has had to keep the marriage secret or his father will disinherit him. Molly, his wife worries him in case she turns up some day and announces that she is his wife. He also loves another woman, Nancy Lammeter, the daughter of a gentleman farmer and wishes he were free to marry her. Dunstan has money problems and having had a fall out hunting, ends up at Silas' cottage. He has heard the tales of the village people that Silas being a miser must have a lot of money. He decides to try to steal it, when he finds that the old man is in one of his catatonic states. Having taken the money, he sets off for home but falls into a mineshaft on the way back and is killed. Silas when he comes around is horrified. For once, he rushes into the local pub and tells the villagers that his money is gone, but he gets little sympathy.