Like Roxana–and decidedly unlike Emma–The Mill on the Floss ends very sadly. Why? Obviously there is a symbolic relationship between the Flood and the water imagery the “runs” all the way through the novel and which we saw working very strongly in Ruskin too. But why end the novel so tragically? What might this final image tell us about the relationship between fiction and economics? Is there, moreover, a correlation between the way Eliot ends her novel and her take on\u00a0Maggie’s sexuality, education, and gender?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Like Roxana–and decidedly unlike Emma–The Mill on the Floss ends very sadly. Why? Obviously there is a symbolic relationship between the Flood and the water imagery the “runs” all the way through the novel and which we saw working very strongly in Ruskin too. But why end the novel so tragically? What might this final … Continue reading