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Inconsistency in Adam Bede by George Eliot Essay

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Inconsistency in Adam Bede

In George Eliot's Adam Bede, an inconsistency can be found between Dinah's firmly held convictions and her decision to

marry. Throughout the story, Eliot presents Dinah as a symbol of divine love who persistently shuns all earthly pleasures of her

own for the benefit of those in need. Several passages in the text show that Dinah insists she must follow the path God has

chosen for her and prevent her own needs and desires from rising to the surface. Despite her moral protestations, however,

Dinah marries Adam in the last few pages of the book. This marriage is disappointing in another sense as well. Dinah was not

only created as a symbol of divine love, but also as a figure who …show more content…

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that Dinah is not one to be caught up in the external world. Her mind is occupied with thoughts of "what it has to give out,"

indicating not only that she is charitable, but also that she is not in the process of observing and making judgements. Her eyes

do not even appear to be "making observations," but are instead simply "shedding love." She is so entirely absorbed in her

spirituality that in her mind the outer world is insignificant. This is evident in the way she dresses as well. We are told that she

wears no adornments; she is always plainly dressed in a Quaker bonnet and a black dress. She does not try to put on a false

front by embellishing her appearance. She is described as "simple" and "candid" (34).

Following this initial physical description of Dinah is a series of occurrences in which the reader discovers that Dinah is so

selfless and devout that she denies herself a life of her own. On the very first night that we are introduced to her we find that she

is resolved "...to live and die without husband or children..." (45). Seth accompanies her home from the service and makes use

of their time alone together as an opportunity to propose to her. She denies his proposal: "I seem to have no room in my soul

for wants or fears of my own, it has pleased God to fill my heart so full with the wants and suffering of his poor people" (45).

She does not even take time to consider the

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