The Ambivalence of Water in George Eliot’s The Mill on the Floss (1860)

Abstract

This essay discusses the major place and role of the river in The Mill on the Floss. The opening and closing chapters place the river in a central position and provide a framework within which it will be an actor of radical change in nature itself and in the characters’ lives. Ambivalently, the river plays a crucial role in the economic development of the region, yet local inhabitants also feel it as a threat. The narratorial silence after mentioning the two characters’ final embrace leaves room for the ambiguity of their death which can be interpreted either as condemnation or redemption: the river passes its judgment, though George Eliot herself does not, for the writer’s mission aims towards “enlarging …sympathies.”