Narcissistic Rage and Gender Relations in the Mill on the Floss

Saim Rauf

Dr Sajjad

ENG 3104

16 November 2015

Narcissistic rage and gender relations in The Mill on the Floss

Argument: The construction of gender relations in the mill on the floss is highly convoluted as the male gender is egotistic while the female gender is unpretentious. The masochistic tendency of protagonist to control her emotions, results in collision with society.

Proposal: The topic of my essay is, ``Narcissistic rage and gender relations in the mill on the floss``. I will cope with it by staying within the context of Victorian society. The main purpose of this essay is to provide an overview on the gender issues in Eliot`s time from the dimension of Victorian mentality and analyze the society as exhibited in her masterpiece. The essay will explore the oppressive environment in which women were forced to live and it will also highlight the unsuccessful attempts of the heroine to fit into the ideal of a Victorian woman. The paper will also deal with the rebellion of the protagonist from the set dogmas in the society and her conflicts with her male counterparts. The  role of unconventional heroine in Victorian Britain with focus on Maggie Tulliver in George Eliot’s most autobiographical novel The Mill on the Floss. The system of gender relations which was constructed in the patriarchal society and the conditions which were required to be fulfilled by both the masculine and feminine genders will also be dealt in the essay. Maggie attempts to break the shackles of her gender based society. She has to become masochistic. By becoming masochistic and left in isolation she falls prey to narcissistic rage. And the paper also lets us know about the protagonist`s self-destruction.  

In Patriarchal society, the violence against women and the structures of gender oppression stayed sempiternal; be it carried out by individuals in private or by institutional forces in public sphere. This sui generis piece of writing produced by George Eliot exhibits the Victorian society in the best manner. Eliot`s purpose behind producing this masterpiece was such that she wanted to inspire the sympathetic understanding for people in the lower class who were being deprived of formal education and she also brought different outlooks, temperaments, and backgrounds to the limelight. It was a male dominated society and women were considered as inferior beings. They were mostly restricted in the 19th century as can be seen in the case of Mary Anne Evans who herself had to use a male name to gain the attention of people. George Eliot was a pseudonym for Mary Anne Evans. Maggie (the protagonist) can be read as an avatar of Eliot herself. The problem of gender relations stayed atemporal in the Victorian society and the same has been portrayed in the novel as I now discuss.

               In the novel both the siblings receive different treatment from their parents and consequently adopt conventional gender roles. The relationship between the characters tells the story. Tom is chosen for further schooling although he is fairly intelligent while Maggie is ignored despite being more nimble-witted than Tom. The women were not allowed to get a formal education at that time leaving them unfit to contribute in the society. Both the siblings represent the two sides of the same coin. The affections of Tom means a lot to Maggie and she always tries to seek his attention and love. But Tom turns out to be a sadist and punishes her for every little mistake because he considers himself superior. He becomes the mouthpiece of patriarchal ideology and always turns out to be an obstacle to Maggie`s freedom and subjectivity. There were some prerequisites which the men were supposed to fulfill. Men were deemed to be active and resourceful, whereas women were associated with passivity and self-sacrifice. And men like Philip were considered as feminine because of being sensitive. The same goes in the case of Maggie who is considered scandalous just because of her bold nature. The novel reveals the mother-daughter bond as a relation divided against itself. Daughters were torn between their basic human need for independence and self-love and their wish to fulfill the Victorian ideal of dependence and self-sacrifice embodied in their mothers.  

 Women were instructed to stay at home as there going out will bring disgrace to the family. ``Tom stubbornly upholds accepted principles congeal morality in formal rules; but Maggie tries to put the breath of life into them, she upsets them, she goes to the limit of her solitude and emerges as a genuine free being, beyond the sclerosed universe of males. `` (Beauvoir 385) Maggie disturbs the patriarchal structure of society but choosing her love which creates a great gap between the two siblings. Eliot presents man as the source of authority and sustenance and woman as his submissive companion. These lines of Tennyson completely portray the roles of gender in the novel.