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Difficulty: MediumContrasting Characters and Foils

Read the following passage from George Eliot's 1871 novel Middlemarch carefully before choosing your answer:

(1) Dorothea and Celia Brooke were looking over their mother's jewels.
(2) "It is difficult to say which of the two sisters was the more potent foil to the other,"
(3) the narrator observes. "The mixture of beauty and handiness in Celia was a contrast to the
(4) dignity and abstract preoccupation of Dorothea." Celia, with her mild persistence,
(5) admired the physical beauty of the gems, suggesting they divide them.
(6) "No, no; you know I have no need of them," Dorothea replied, pushing the box away.
(7) "I should never wear them." Yet, when Celia held up a particular emerald, noting it
(8) looked "like a green drop from the tree of life," Dorothea's attention was momentarily
(9) arrested. "It is very beautiful," Dorothea admitted, before adding, "But I will not
(10) keep it. They are not for me. My life must be different."

In the passage, how does the contrast between Celia's perspective on the jewels and Dorothea's response to them (lines 4–10) function to characterize Dorothea?

  1. Reveal Dorothea's internal tension between her natural aesthetic appreciation and her aspirations toward ascetic self-denial.Answer
  2. B
    Establish the author's condemnation of Celia's superficiality and endorsement of Dorothea's ascetic lifestyle.
  3. C
    Depict a hostile rivalry in which Celia tries to assert social dominance over her sister.
  4. D
    Show that Celia's conventional nature is the sole cause of Dorothea's inability to appreciate art.
  5. E
    Confirm the narrator's objective assertion that Celia is completely shallow and Dorothea is entirely noble.

Answer

The contrast between the sisters highlights Dorothea's internal tension between her natural appreciation of beauty and her aspirations toward ascetic self-denial.
The correct option identifies how Celia's conventional and pragmatic appreciation of the jewels highlights Dorothea's complex inner conflict. While Dorothea initially rejects the gems to pursue a disciplined, self-denying life, her momentary fascination with the emerald reveals a latent appreciation for beauty, showing that her asceticism is a hard-fought personal aspiration rather than a simple lack of desire.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the foil relationship established by the narrator in lines 2–4.
The narrator explicitly defines Celia's 'beauty and handiness' as a foil to Dorothea's 'dignity and abstract preoccupation.'
This establishes that the sisters' interactions should be analyzed to understand how their contrasting traits reveal their respective characters.
2
Analyze Celia's conventional attitude toward the jewels in lines 4–5.
Celia views the jewels practically as shared ornaments to be divided and worn, representing social conventions and uncomplicated aesthetic pleasure.
This sets up the baseline standard of conventional behavior against which Dorothea's reactions will be measured.
3
Examine Dorothea's shifting reaction to the jewels in lines 6–10.
Dorothea initially rejects the jewels outright, but is momentarily captivated by the emerald's beauty before reaffirming her self-denial.
The contrast with Celia's simple pleasure highlights that Dorothea's rejection of the physical world is a conscious, difficult choice, revealing an internal conflict between her natural desires and her spiritual aspirations.

Key Concept

Contrasting Characters and Foils
Estimated Time:1m 30s
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Topics

Contrasting Characters and Foils

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