The document provides an overview of the key families, characters, and their relationships in George Eliot's novel Middlemarch. It includes brief descriptions of important characters like Dorothea and Rosamond Brooke, Edward Casaubon, Dr. Lydgate, Nicholas Bulstrode, Caleb and Mary Garth, and Will Ladislaw. It also lists minor characters and provides short descriptions of their roles. The document structures the characters into categories like families, clergymen and their families, and social relationships to provide context on the novel's interweaving plotlines and social circles within the town of Middlemarch.

1. Arthur Brooke
Dorothea
Brooke
Celia Brooke Sir James
Chettam
Edward
Casaubon
Will
Ladislaw
Julia
Casaubon
(grandmother
/aunt)
Nicholas Bulstrode Harriet Bulstrode
Walter Vincy
Lucy
Vincy
(2nd
wife)
Joshua Rigg
Peter
Featherston
e
Fred Vincy Rosamond
Vincy
Mary Garth Tertius Lydgate
Sir
Godwin
Captain
Lydgate
Susan
Garth
Caleb
Garth
Families
Key
Siblings
Spouses
Children
Relatives
(1st wife)
Selina Plymdale Ned Plymdale

2. Rosamond Lydgate Dorothea
Casaubon
Will
Naumann
Miss Noble
Camden
Farebrother
Walter Tyke
Bulstrode
Raffles
Harriet
Selina Plymdale
Social
Relationships
Key
Feuds
Alliances
Spouses
Mr. Wrench

3. Humphrey
Cadwallader*
Tipton Grange &
Freshitt
Elinor
Cadwallader
Lowick Parish
Mrs. Farebrother Miss
Noble
Camden
Farebrother*
Winifred
Farebrothe
r
New Hospital
Walter Tyke*
Key
Siblings
Spouses
Children
Relatives
Clergymen* and
Family

4. List of Minor Characters
Mr. Bambridge
Mr. Chichely
Mr. Dagley
Jonah Featherstone
Solomon Featherstone
Martha Cranch
(Featherstone)
Jane Waule (Featherstone)
Mrs. Fitchett
Ben and Letty Garth
Mr. Horrock
Dr. Sprague
Borthrop Trumbell
Mr. Wrench

5. Mr. Bambridge
Bambridge deals horses in Middlemarch.
Fred Vincy becomes indebted to him after poor
business transactions. Raffles reveals Bulstrode’s
past to him at a horse-fair.
Back to Minor Characters

6. Arthur Brooke
Back to Families
Arthur Brooke is a miserly old man who becomes the
guardian of Dorothea and Celia after his brother’s death. He is
known for being the worst landlord in the county as he is
careless about maintenance to his tenant houses. He is strong-
willed and opinionated, but he is also bumbling and far from
intelligent. When he runs for parliament, his own tenants cause
him to withdraw.

7. Celia Brooke
Back to Families
Celia is Dorothea’s younger sister. Unlike Dorothea,
she is conventional in every manner. After Sir James loses
interest in Dorothea, he marries Celia.

8. Dorothea Brooke
Back to Families Back to Social
Relationships
Dorothea Brooke is the elder of two daughters in her
family. She and Celia were raised by their bachelor uncle, Mr.
Brooke. She is wealthy but also intelligent as she aspires to
use her talents to build cottages for the tenants of her uncle.
She marries Edward Casaubon, who is many years her senior,
and finds that he cannot take her seriously. When she
befriends Casaubon’s cousin, Will Ladislaw, the marriage
quickly falls apart due to trust issues. After Casaubon’s death,
it is revealed that his will to Dorothea could be revoked if she
were to marry Will. Eventually, Will and Dorothea do marry and
move to London to raise their family.

9. Nicholas Bulstrode
Back to Families Back to Social Relationships
Nicholas Bulstrode is a very wealthy and pious
Methodist married to Mr. Vincy’s sister, Harriet. He carries out
his profession as a banker very well. He is desperate to hid his
scandalous past, which is brought to light after his old
business partner, John Raffles, comes to Middlemarch. This
desperation becomes more evident when he and Dr. Lydgate
come under suspicion for killing Raffles. Eventually it is
revealed that his first wife was Will Ladislaw’s grandmother,
Julia Casaubon. Raffles was hired to find Julia’s child and
grandchild, but he was paid to keep quiet when he did find
them.

10. Harriet Bulstrode
Back to Families
Despite being married to Nicholas Bulstrode,
Harriet is a good, upstanding woman. She strives to be
honest and faithful, even to her overbearing husband. She
likes to give advice, and talks to Rosamond about getting
married.

11. Elinor Cadwallader
Back to Clergymen and
Family
Elinor is a gossiping busybody who fancies herself a
matchmaker. She knows what’s going on in all of Middlemarch.

12. Humphrey Cadwallader
Back to Clergymen and Family
Mr. Cadwallader is the rector of both Tipton
Grange and Freshitt. He and his wife are good friends of
Sir James.

13. Edward Casaubon
Back to Families Back to Social
Relationships
Casaubon is obsessed with finishing his life’s work
The Key to All Mythologies, which is later revealed to be
useless due to his ignorance of current German texts. He
marries Dorothea for convenience, leading to a loveless
marriage. He becomes jealous of Dorothea’s apparent
attentions toward his cousin, Will Ladislaw, and uses his will
to forbid them to marry.

14. Sir James Chettam
Back to Families
The novel opens with Sir James’ attempts to court
Dorothea. After showing him no interest and getting engaged
to Casaubon, Dorothea is pushed aside in his mind for her
sister, Celia. He adopts Dorothea’s plans for building
cottages for the poor tenants. His marriage with Celia is a
happy one, and he eventually becomes friends with
Dorothea.

15. Mr. Chichely
Back to Minor Characters
Mr. Chichely is the Middlemarch coroner mentioned
only in chapter 16.

16. Mr. Dagley
Back to Minor Characters
Mr. Dagley is one of the poor tenants of Mr. Brooke.
When his son is caught poaching on Brooke’s land, Mr.
Brooke’s pays Dagley a visit to ask him to reprimand his son.
A drunk Mr. Dagley replies that he will not reprimand his son
and tells Brooke that all of Middlemarch has seen
the Trumpet’s editorial blasting Brooke’s campaign.

17. Camden Farebrother
Back to Social Relationships Back to Clergymen and
Family
Farebrother is a Vicar who makes very little money.
He takes up gambling to support his family, consisting of his
sister, mother, and aunt. He is very humble, but his sermons
are liked by many of the townspeople. He becomes friends
with Lydgate, but he loses the election for the chaplaincy at
the New Hospital after Lydgate votes for Tyke. Lowick parish
is given to him after Casaubon’s death. He is in love with
Mary Garth, but he helps Fred Vincy in his efforts to court her.

18. Mrs. Farebrother
Back to Clergymen and
Family
The widowed mother of Camden and Winifred
Farebrother is both lively and precise.

19. Winifred Farebrother
Back to Clergymen and Family
Winifred is the unmarried older sister of Camden
Farebrother.

20. Jonah, Solomon, Martha,
and Jane Featherstone
Back to Minor Characters
None of these siblings get along with each other or
with Peter Featherstone, their other brother. All of them attend
Peter’s funeral in the hopes of receiving something from his
estate. Peter leaves nothing for them in the will.

21. Peter Featherstone
Back to Families
The miserly owner of Stone Court is a manipulative,
elderly widower. He was married to both Caleb Garth’s sister
and Lucy Vincy’s sister, but he had no legitimate children. He
uses his wealth to push people around. He wrote two wills –
one left his estate to Fred Vincy, and the other left his estate
to his illegitimate son, Joshua Rigg. He asks Mary Garth to
burn the one for Rigg, but she refuses.

22. Mrs. Fitchett
Back to Minor
Characters
Mrs. Fitchett is the Middlemarch lodgekeeper.

23. Ben and Letty Garth
Back to Minor
Characters
Ben and Letty Garth are Susan and Caleb Garth’s
youngest children. In addition to one other student, they are what
remains of Susan’s students.

24. Caleb Garth
Back to Families
Mr. Garth is an honest, hard-working businessman who
earns money by managing estates. He is not a rich man, but he
treats people well. When Fred Vincy gets into financial trouble,
Caleb loans him money to help him out. The entire family has to
pull together when Fred is unable to repay his debt. Eventually
Caleb gains more business, and Fred becomes his apprentice
after resolving his debts.

25. Mary Garth
Back to
Families
Mary is the intelligent eldest child of Caleb and Susan
Garth. She works for Mr. Featherstone at Stone Court and
refuses to burn his will as he is dying. She refuses to court
several young men. She is in love with Fred Vincy, but she
encourages him to improve his life before she will consent to
marry him.

26. Susan Garth
Back to Families
Susan Garth is a former schoolteacher and the wife of Caleb
Garth.

27. Mr. Horrock
Back to Minor
Characters
Mr. Horrock is the horse-savvy business partner of Mr.
Bambridge.

28. Will Ladislaw
Back to Families Back to Social
Relationships
Will Ladislaw is the young, artistic cousin of Edward
Casaubon, but the two do not get along due to Will’s side of the
family tree. He is the grandson of Casaubon’s disinherited aunt.
Upon meeting Dorothea, he is immediately enamored with her.
He loves travelling and beautiful things. Eventually he marries
Dorothea, after Casaubon’s death, and the two have a child
together.

29. Doctor Tertius Lydgate
Back to Families Back to Social
Relationships
Dr. Lydgate came to Middlemarch in the hopes of
introducing new medical techniques. He wants to emphasize
scientific breakthroughs in the new hospital. He was raised by his
uncle, Sir Godwin Lydgate, after the death of both of his parents.
Eventually Lydgate gets addicted to opium. He gets caught in the
scandal with Bulstrode surrounding the death of Raffles after
accepting money from him that looked like a bribe. He and Dorothea
are good friends. He marries Rosamond Vincy, but her elaborate
lifestyle pulls them into debt.

30. Sir Godwin Lydgate
Back to Families
Sir Godwin is the uncle of Dr. Lydgate, whom he
raised after the death of the doctor’s parents.

31. Captain Lydgate
Back to Families
Captain Lydgate is the wealthy, none-too-bright cousin
of Dr. Lydgate. The doctor does not being around the captain, but
Rosamond adores him. He takes Rosamond horseback riding, in
spite of her pregnancy, and she miscarries as a result.

32. Adolf Naumann
Back to Social
Relationships
Naumann is the artistic friend of Will Ladislaw. He
shows interest in painting Casaubon as Thomas Aquinas in
order to get Dorothea into his studio.

33. Miss Noble
Back to Social
Relationships
Back to Clergymen and
Family
Miss Noble is Camden Farebrother’s aunt. She steals
food to give to the poor. She and Will Ladislaw become friends.

34. Ned Plymdale
Back to Families
Ned attempts to court Rosamond, but she refuses him.

35. Selina Plymdale
Back to Families Back to Social Relationships
Mrs. Plymdale is good friends with Harriet Bulstrode.
She is very proud of her son, Ned, and boasts about him
continuously. She becomes very bitter toward the Vincys when
Rosamond rejects Ned.

36. John Raffles
Back to Social
Relationships
Mr. Raffles is the shady old business partner of
Bulstrode. He was paid by Bulstrode to keep the existence of
Will Ladislaw and his mother a secret from Julia Casaubon
before her death so that Bulstrode could inherit all of her
wealth. When Raffles returns to Middlemarch to talk to his
stepson, Joshua Rigg Featherstone, he tells anyone who will
listen about Bulstrode’s shady business deals. When he falls ill
because of alcohol poisoning, Bulstrode indirectly kills him by
giving him more alcohol.

37. Joshua Rigg Featherstone
Back to Families
Joshua is the illegitimate son of Mr. Featherstone. He
receives all of Featherstone’s fortune under the condition of
changing his last name to Featherstone. He sells Stone Court to
Bulstrode. Raffles is his stepfather.

38. Dr. Sprague
Back to Minor Characters
Dr. Sprague is a Middlemarch doctor who appears in Chapter
16.

39. Borthrop Trumbell
Back to Minor
Characters
Trumbell is the Middlemarch auctioneer and a business
advisor. He is the only person other than Joshua Rigg to receive
something from Featherstone’s will.

40. Walter Tyke
Back to Social Relationships Back to Clergymen and
Family
Mr. Tyke receives the vote for the chaplaincy at the new
hospital due to political reasons in the town, beating out Camden
Farebrother. Bulstrode supports him.

41. Fred Vincy
Back to Families
Fred Vincy starts off as a very irresponsible young
man. He constantly gets himself and others into financial
trouble. His father sent him to college to become part of the
clergy, but he does not want to work in the church. He loves
Mary Garth and eventually marries her in spite of her lower
social standing.

42. Lucy Vincy
Back to Families
Lucy is the materialistic mother of Fred and
Rosamond.

43. Rosamond Vincy
Back to Families Back to Social
Relationships
Rosamond Vincy is simple-minded and materialistic.
She has a very high standard of living, which causes she and her
husband, Dr. Lydgate, to fall into debt. She loves attention and
often does things to spite her husband. Against Lydgate’s
wishes, she rides horseback and causes herself to miscarry their
child. She does not have a happy marriage because she
expected her husband to be rich.

44. Walter Vincy
Back to Families
Mr. Vincy is the husband of Lucy Vincy and the father
of Fred and Rosamond. He is the Middlemarch mayor and also
a cloth dealer. He and his family are very wealthy due to his
business. He is a hard worker, and his family’s extravagant
tastes make him angry. His sister is Harriet Bulstrode.

45. Mr. Wrench
Back to Social
Relationships
Back to Minor Characters
Mr. Wrench is another Middlemarch doctor. He
becomes enemies with Lydgate after misdiagnosing Fred
Vincy’s illness. Lydgate helps cure Fred’s illness so the
Vincy’s fire Mr. Wrench.

46. Julia Casaubon
Back to Families
Julia, Edward Casaubon’s aunt, was disinherited
from her family when she ran off to marry a Polish man. The
family was involved in some shady business along the way,
and Bulstrode, Julia’s new husband, inherited that money
instead of honestly giving it to Will Ladislaw and his mother.