Silas Marner- George Eliot

A detailed Summary of Silas Marner- George Eliot

What is the situation that Godfrey Cass finds himself in and what, if anything, does he intend to do about it? Explain this predicament with reference to Chapter 3 of Silas Marner.

Godfrey, who ironically describes as "a fine open-faced good natured young man", disregards the fact that he already has much to hide. His secret marriage to Molly Farren, who is a drunken opium addict, is considered a "blight" on his life. Meanwhile, his arrogant brother, Dunstan, who trapped him into the marriage, constantly blackmails him and "saw in his brother's degrading marriage the means of gratifying at once his jealous hate and his cupidity." Hence, Godfrey is panic in facing this dilemma and does not know how to cope with this situation. The consequence of his misdeed worries him a lot. He wavers and dithers in whether disclosing his secret marriage by himself, which is certain that embarrassment would result. His second thought is to keep the secret and to be uncertain when betrayals will co

Therefore, in this critical situation, he intends to keep the secret. Another crucial factor that strengthens his will of not to confess is that he cannot bear the misery of losing Nancy. Godfrey does genuinely love Nancy, as the narrator suggests, Nancy represents everything missing from the household in which Godfrey grew up after his mother's death. She would be a good wife and make his house lovely to him. She would even "shake off those foolish habits" of the Squire. The fact that Godfrey cannot act upon his emotions towards Nancy only sharpens his agony. He tries to avoid Nancy, for the closer he gets to her, the more regretful he would be when he thinks of his past misdeed.

One afternoon, Godfrey and Dunstan get into a bitter argument over one hundred pounds that Godfrey has lent Dunstan, money that was in fact from one of their father's tenants. Dunstan, however, tells Godfrey to come up with the money himself, otherwise he would tell their father about hi

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 666
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Novels

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Silas Marner- George Eliot

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