This is implying that not everyone in the town of Middlemarch is as happy with the arrival of a new physician as Rosamund is. We can see from this sentence that Lydgate is gathering up enemies from his medical practice and from his personal relationship with Rosamund. What other sections of the book can we see Lydgate's dispute with the townspeople? Is the dislike outright stated in other sections, or do the readers have to find the dislike from the undertone of the section?

Summary of the very last paragraph from Book V Chapter L. Dorothea and Lydgate have just finished talking about Mr. Farebrother, the Vicar, and Will Ladislaw. This paragraph gives the readers a closer look inside Lydgates head. Within his head, we find that he doesn't always remember everything that Rosamund tells him. This seems to indicate that perhaps Lydgate doesn't have good conversations with Rosamund, or that he doesn't care about the conversations enought to remember them. Either way signals subtly to the readers that Lydgate's marriage might not be as blissful as it appears. The paragraph moves to talking about Lydgate's interactions with Will and how Will hasn't been seen around as often. The paragraph switches persepctives when Lydgate leaves and we next get a glimpse into Dorothea's troubled mind. She begins to wonder what Will thinks of her. We can see a slight shift in her tone when describing Will, in this section. In earlier sections Dorothea described him without much emotion attached to him, or with the emotional level that indicates that she considered him a friend. Now, however, we see a shift towards a more endearing type of tone. She begins to look at Will in a more favorable light.

This is a reference to an poor street child who might use white mice as performers to try to earn money. These performers were ostracized and looked down on by society. It is an interesting way to describe Will, but I'm not sure if it actually fits with his character. He is not a street performer. He is an artist, but I'm not sure how poor he was. I think that this reference is meant to make the readers take pity on Will because he isn't supposed to be Dorothea, but this reference doesn't really incite any emotions in me. It does fit with his character in that he is ostracized form many of the people in Middlemarch because he is an outsider, with non-pure English blood.<br> I found a very interesting character analysis of Will that described the reference to an Italian with white mice and have posted the link below. http://www.shmoop.com/middlemarch/will-ladislaw.html

What do you think Dorothea is thinking about doing? How does this change her opinion of her husband before he died? Do you think Dorothea had feelings for Will before Casaubon put that clause in his will, or was it only after he was off limits to her that Dorothea decided she might have feelings for him? If you were in Dorothea's position, what would you have done?

This is referring to Will, who has been working with My. Brooke on the newspaper, the 'Pioneer', and Will has been helping Mr. Brooke with his political ambitions.

I find that this is an interesting strategy because it means that no one could surprise anyone with the information about the bad sides of Farebrother because Dorothea would already know all of the downsides of Farebrother beforehand. This is an interesting strategy to me. I wonder why Lydgate does it this way. I understand his strategy, but at the same time, Lygate isn't handling Dorothea like a woman who has just lost her husband. It might be better for him to have better manners while Dorothea is in such a confused state. Does this forcefulness show a harsher side to Lydgate, or is he just trying to be through in he assessment of Farebrother?

I find it interesting that Lydgate doesn't are about "personal gossip". To me, this implies that Lydgate might care about other types of gossip, but I'm not sure what other types of gossip there are. What other types of gossip are there? Do you think that Lydgate should be more attentive to the personal gossip of the town because the gossip is about the people of the town, whom Lydgate takes care of? What are the benefits to Lydgate ignoring the personal gossip? What are the downsides? Would Lydgate's reputation in the town of Middlemarch be better if he paid attention to the personal gossip?

I'm confused about what the narrator means by "innocent introductions". Dorothea has met Will before so she shouldn't need an introduction to him. Why does Lydgate think he needs to introduce Will to Dorothea? Why is the introduction "painful to her"?

The use of the word "happily" is really interesting to be because for the majority of the book, Dorothea has been associated with words like "poor". The readers are supposed to pity her for her poor choice in her marriage to Casaubon. Yet, when Casaubon dies, we instantly see Dorothea become associated with words like "happy". Her exterior mood might seem depressed, especially since Casaubon dies, but to me, the word "happily" is key here. It is indicating a change in Dorothea's mood, even if it hasn't happened yet. I read this happiness as Dorothea's getting out from her depressing marriage and that her life is looking up. She doesn't ahve to put up with Casaubon any more and her life is now, slightly, more her's to take ownership of.

This is referring to the conversation that has just happened between Dorothea and Lydgate. The conversation was discussing Mr. Farebrother and his qualifications. I am confused as to why Lydgate is talking about Farebrother to Dorothea. It sounds like Lydgate is trying to get Dorothea to consider Farebrother for some kind of job, but I'm confused at to what job Lydgate is suggesting Farebrother could fill.

The word "he" in this sentence refers to Lydgate. This can be seen because of the paragraph above which is talking about how much Lydgate enjoys spending time with Rosamund.

Summary of a paragraph from Book III: Chapter XXVII. The paragraph opens with "But he made some enemies", and concludes with "for which chins were at that time useful". M.E. Scoonover-Nelson In this paragraph, we learn that Lydgate had made a few enemies during his stay in Middlemarch so far, in both his professional life and his personal one. He has upset some of the men who live in Middlemarch because he had shown affection towards Rosamund. She has reciprocated his affection, which has effectively shut many of her other potential suitors out of the equation. Rosamund is now solely focused on Lydgate. Rosamund still has to deal with the affection and adoration of the former suitors, including a rather persistant man named Ned Plymdale. Plymond is described as a good match in comparison to some of the other potential suitors Rosamund has had. However, he isn't extremely intelligent, the undertone here being that he isn't as smart at Lydgate. Plymind tries to show Rosamund with an anthology of poetry and prose, thinking that he can share the stories in it with her. He wants to show her the book's illustrations and show off the beautiful pictures. He believes that, if he can show her the fancy art and words, he could win the honor of going out with her. He considers himself to be a good match for Rosamund and doesn't see why she shouldn't choose him. I found this section very interesting because it gives the readers quite a bit of background about Rosamund in a rather brief period. We learn that she has several suitors, but not all of then are worthy of her love, that she isn't very impressed with the anthology Plymdale presents her with. She doesn't appear to care much about the literature that she has never seen before. This makes me curious: Is Rosamund not interested in the book because she's not a fan or prose and poetry, or is it because she is waiting for Lydgate and isn't interested in the man desperately seeking her attention?

Paying addresses - to court, as in to go out with someone.

I found this interesting because Rosamund seems like the kind of woman who could appreciate art, but from looking closer at her personality in the book, she seems to be the type of person who prefers intelligent and witty conversations rather than from literary intelligence. She enjoys socializing and conversing with people, not holding a book on front of her face.

ostensible - stated or appearing to be true, but not necessarily so. "Ostensible." Def. 1 Oxforddictionaries.com. Oxford Dictionaries. Web. January 27, 2017.

The "Keepsake" is the title of an anthology consisting of poetry and prose. It was a compilation of numerous popular writers of the time like William Wordsworth, Mary Shelley, Percy Shelley, and Thomas Moore, to name a few. It had engravings in steel plates that showed a variety of different scenes. This is the link to a site that gives a very detailed description of what the "Keepsake is": https://www.rc.umd.edu/editions/lel/ksintro.htm

Tete-a-tete - a private conversation between two people. "Tete-a-tete." Def. 1 Oxforddictionaries.com. Oxford Dictionaries. Web. January 27, 2017.

Implying that Mr. Plymdale isn't very smart. This description also reminds me of the first sentence of the book when the readers are introduced to Dorothea. She is also called "clever", but as having "less common sense [than] her sister Celia had more common-sense" (3). I would be interested to go through the book and specifically look for how many other times the narrator gives the characters backhanded complements.

Have we seen Mr. Plymdale before this point? Does he serve any other function in the story beyond this scene, or is he merely used as a point of conflict for Lydgate? How many people have shown affection towards Rosamund? How much do we know about her relationship with the other eligible batchelors in Middlemarch before Lydgate arrives?