This document summarizes how The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot is considered an autobiographical novel. It describes how Eliot drew from her own life experiences for elements of the story, including similarities between her family and Maggie Tulliver's, her childhood and Maggie's, her relationship with her brother Isaac and Maggie's with Tom, and her unconventional romantic relationship and Maggie's relationship with Stephen. The document also discusses how Eliot incorporated locations and events from her own life, like the setting of St. Oggs representing Gainsborough where Eliot grew up. It analyzes how Maggie shares personality traits and struggles with Eliot's own nature and conflicts. The presentation argues The Mill on the Floss provides

1. MILL ON THE FLOSS

2. Presented to: Ma’am Romana
BS ENGLISH 3rd Semester –Self
Support PRESENTATION:LITERATURE
TOPIC:MILL ON THE FLOSS AS AN
AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL NOVEL
PRESENTED BY: GROUP CHAMPIONS

3. GROUP MEMEBERS
Arooj Fatima
Husna Riaz
Hafiza samra tasleem
Iqra Akbar
Ayesha munawar
Memona almas
Minahil mubeen

4. What is an autobiographical
novel?
An autobiographical novel is a work of fiction
that is based on the life of the author. It is
different from an autobiography because it
does not claim to be entirely true, but is
instead mostly fiction with connections to the
author's life. The author has written a book
based on his/her life, but distanced the novel
from reality in some way by incorporating
fictional events and characters.
Autobiographical novels often include
intense themes such as , war, and family
troubles which an author may not be
comfortable exposing in a true
autobiography.

5. Characteristics of an
autobiographical novel
The autobiography must cover certain points :
• You can include all the information that is considered important. It has
to be personal, including essential information such as name, age, date
of birth, place of residence, etc.
• It is a non-fiction writing .
• The autobiographical pact is established between the author and the
reader, where everything that is related is true.
• It relates the life of the author .
• It is without fixed structure.
• The autobiography is used to tell and narrate the whole life of the
author. Unlike memories that focus more on a particular stage or event.

6. Mill on the floss as an
autobiographical novel
The Mill on the Floss, published in 1860, is based partially on Eliot's own experiences
with her family and her brother Isaac, who was three years older than Eliot. Eliot's father,
like Mr. Tulliver in the novel, was a businessman who had married a woman from a higher
social class, whose sisters were rich, ultra-respectable, and self-satisfied; these maternal
aunts provided the character models for the aunts in the novel. Like Maggie, Eliot was
disorderly and energetic and did not fit traditional models of feminine beauty or behavior,
causing her family a great deal of consternation.
By the time Eliot published The Mill on the Floss, she had gained considerable notoriety
as an "immoral woman" because she was living with the writer George Henry Lewes,
who was married, though separated from his wife. Social disapproval of her actions
spilled over into commentary on the novel, and it was scathingly criticized because it did
not present a clear drama of right and wrong. Perhaps the most offended reader was
Eliot's brother Isaac, who was very close to her in childhood but who had become
estranged from her when he found out about her life with Lewes; he communicated with
her only through his lawyer. In the book, Eliot drew on her own experiences with a once-
beloved but rigid and controlling brother to depict the relationship between Maggie and
her brother Tom.

7. Autobiographical elements in Mill on the
floss
 Similarity in location
 Resemblance in
families
 Resemblance in
nature
 Resemblance in love
affairs
 Resemblance in
drowning incident
 Resemblance in early
life.

8. AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL
ELEMENTS
Resemblance
in nature
SIMILARITY
IN
LOCATION
Resemblance
in families
Resemblance
in love affairs
Resemblance
in drowning
incident

9. George Eliot‘s early memories of places and persons have been closely woven
into the fabric of the novels !
The mill on the floss is an autobiographical novel and the novelist has put more
of herself in this novel than in any other novel !
The mill on the floss is the spiritual autobiography of Marry Ann Evans
the history of Maggie Tulliver is the history of Marry Evans also WR Nicoll
goes to the extent of saying so long as George Eliot is read wise readers will
turn to
The Mill on the Floss” as the best the trust and the most authoritative account
of her own complex character“ in fact Maggie’s struggles are her author’s
transposed into fiction.

10. psychologically every person wants to lead a
smooth life but those who receive a tragedy
after tragedy in life essentially want to have
some catharsis by shedding some drops of
tears .These tears can be of various types. It
may be some saltiest water from the eyes or
may be the use of saltiest ink on pages.
George Eliot does not drop the dew drops
from her eyes because she does not want to
be laughed at. she adopts another method to
get rid of the constant burden of mind. For
this purpose she creates some characters in
her novels which are the real projection of
Eliot's life.
Importance of autobiography:

11. Resemblance in early life
There is close parallel between characters and life stories of Marry Evans
and Maggie Tulliver. Emotionally and spiritual Maggie is identical with Marry
ann. Maggie like her creator, has the intellectual potentiality for which
environment into which she is born does not provide much courage. She has
desperate need for affection and intimate personal relations. Maggie is the
fullest revelation we can have of George Eliot in her youth. To Mrs Tulliver
Maggie seemed “ half an idiot” in some ways for if she sends the child
upstairs for something, Maggie forgets what she had gone for and would “ sit
down on the floor in the sunshine and plait her hair and sing to herself like a
bedlam creature”
The practical house proud Mrs. Tulliver cannot appreciate Maggie and sighs
“ it seems hard as I should have but one girl and her so comical. Similarly
Mary Ann Evans had unmanageable hair and was no comfort to her mother
in house work either. Mary Evans father Roberts true English nature and
temper are reproduce in Mr Tulliver and like Maggie. Marry Ann also was
favourite of her father. Marry Ann adored her brother Isaac as Maggie her
own. Their romping, fishing, excursions their pudding and puffs and cakes
are almost the same. Isaac also had an untidy playtime very like bob Jaken
of the novel

12. Similarity in location
The mill on the floss" is a master piece of memory“. In the
sense of clerical life she had made use of the stories
relating to early domestic circle. She now took herself for a
heroine and scenery is supposed to be in Lincolnshire and
the town of St Ogg’s is said to represent Gainsborough.
But her native district still supplies the detail. The Round
pool to which she had gone on fishing are expeditions with
her brother and the Red deeps which had been a favourite
haunt are transported from Griff to Drocode mill. The attic
to which Maggie retires in the mill is the attic to which
George Eliot had retired in her father’s house.

13. RESEMBLANCE IN
FAMILIES
There is a close parallel between the family of Mary Ann
and Maggie Tulliver. The writer tells us her history in detail
and gives us the correct information about her aunts and
uncles. Mary Ann’s mother was one of the four sisters of
the Pearson family and their social and financial
superiority and snobbery provide the material for the
portrayal of the four Dodson sisters. Robert had three
children Christiana the first daughter, Isaac the son and
Mary Ann the youngest. The sort of life led by Isaac and
Mary
as a boy and girl is almost like that of Tom and Maggie in
the first two books. In portraying the character of Lucy, the
author resembled her own sisters Christiana who was neat
and pretty quite a contrast to Mary Ann.

14. RESEMBLANCE IN NATURE
There is a close affinity between Maggie’s nature and that of Mary Ann Evans
Maggie’s nature is impulsive like her creator. Mary Ann had troubles with her
rebellious locks and dresses similar to those of Maggie .books like The –
pilgrim’s progress“. " history of the devil’s and “ Aesop’s fables were the
favourites of Mary Ann as with Maggie. The mental sharpness, the clinging
affectionateness, the ambition, the outlook beyond the present ,the religious
and moral pre occupations, the thirst for knowledge, the spiritual and moral
conflicts, the passionate high thinking , love of music and everything truly
beautiful , these are common to both Maggie and Mary. Like Maggie, Mary too
used to speculate that as she was younger the smaller fish would come to her
fish in road and bigger to Tom’s George Eliot speaks for Mary Ann when she
says in the novel It’s a wonderful subdue this need of love : this hunger of the
heart as peremptory as that other hunger by which nature forces us submit to
the joke and change the face of the world". It is even said that Marry Ann had
an adventure with gypsies as Maggie runs away with gypsies in the course of
novel. Mary Ann doted on Isaac just as Maggie does on Tom.

15. RESEMBLANCE IN LOVE
AFFAIRS
The “mill no the floss” is an experience re lived by a woman
approaching the maturity of her powers “which makes it
sometimes glows like an October sunset and sometimes
tremble like a daffodil in an April breeze”.
Marry Ann Evans ‘s early religious views underwent a change
and she passed through a crisis ,moral and spiritual, very much
like Maggie who comes under the influence of Thomas a
Kempis the 15th century author of “imitation of Christ". There
was a constant struggle between her head and heart ,
convention and emotion. Marry Ann was passionately attracted
towards George Lewes who was a married man. She defined
her family’s wrath and lived with lewes through unmarried to
him. The action led to her alienation from her brother Isaac . It
has a close parallel to tom’s reaction to Maggie’s affair with
Stephen. But here reality departs from art because Maggie
renounced Stephen guest as a lover who did not legitimately
belong to her W.R Nicoll asserts that THE MILL ON THE
FLOSS is the best , the truest and the most authoritative
account of the novelist’s own complex character.

16. RESEMBLANCE IN
DROWNING INCIDENT
Death by drowning had also been a part of Mary Ann’s life. Her
grandfather George Evans died by drowning. she had seen people
crying in the cruel clutches of flood. In “The Mill on the Floss" she had
delineated the same situation when Maggie and Tom are swallowed by
the flood. Winding up the discussion, we can say that the novel
“The Mill on the Floss”
is a direct representation of the writer’s most intimate characteristics.
But to call novel wholly autobiographical would be wrong. It is mainly
the first two volumes of the novel that can be called a spiritual
autobiography" of Mary Ann Evans A.W ward observes that George
Eliot has poured most abundantly the experiences of her own life when
it had still been one of youth and hope.

17. Autobiographical reference
George Eliot did not
write this novel just to
represent the suffering of
a common Englander
woman. She portrays
her own life through the
rough pages of the
particular novel and
most critics agree to this
point .
Just like Maggie, who was
somewhat abandoned and
scolded by her brother , tom,
Eliot was actually abandoned by
her brother Isaac. Who after
getting married and her father
having kicked the bucket she
was not allowed to live with her
brother in Griff house, which
was their family abode. This is
how Eliot gives a clue to her
actual story narrated and
illustrated through the title

18. Conclusion
The mill on the floss is more than ordinary
title.it denotes the sudden shift from pure
emotions to prejudiced materialism and
the story of the author’s own suffering
accurately and effectively.

19. AND THAT BRINGS US TO
END! THANK YOU SO MUCH
FOR YOUR INTEREST AND
ATTENTION.