One of the most interesting things about Middlemarch is that Mr. Featherstone dies without giving a sufficient last word. After a frantic plea to Mary to burn one of the wills, Mr. Featherstone fails to explain the bizarre request and dies. The reader later learns that the second will provides an unkown Jason Riggs with all of Mr. Featherstone's belongings. According to the law, the second will takes precedent over the first will; thus, Fred is disinerited. The existence of two wills raises more questions than answers. First, who is Jason Riggs and how does Mr. Featherstone know him? Second, did Mr. Featherstone truthfully intend to disinherit Fred or was there more to the story than meets the eye? Despite the lack of concrete evidence, I think that Mr. Featherstone's frantic reaction on his deathbed shows that he made a mistake and did not wish to disinherit Fred.The most interesting thing about the scene, however, is that Mary refuses to comply with Mr. Featherstone's request to burn the will. Although the reader is lead to believe in Mary's good intentions, a part of me wonders if she denied the request to get back at Fred for putting her family in ruin. If Mary truly "loves" Fred, shouldn't she have been a bit more concerned?
On a final note,I think Mr. Featherstone's last line should have been: "Mary, I messed up."
I like Mary Garth, so I like to believe that she did have good intentions about not obeying Mr. Featherstone's request. After all, she did not know what either of wills stated.
ReplyDeleteI do find Mary's actions to be odd, though. Almost everyone is Middlemarch wants to know what this man's will says. Mary gets the opportunity to look at it and she says no! I could have never silenced my curiosity like that.
I agree with Brandi. I don't think Mary Garth had any ulterior motive when she refused to get rid of the other wills, but it is very odd that she did not do as Mr. Featherstone wanted. Maybe it is just Mary is showing her assertiveness here, a good quality. Mary has always given Fred the cold shoulder, so this is not unusual for her personality. She really never was one to just give in to what other people wanted. Good for Mary! Sorry to all the greedy relatives. Who knows what Riggs will do with the money. Maybe he will build a big hospital to benefit everyone. I am glad all of those money-grubbing relatives got nothing! HA!
ReplyDeleteMary really irritated me at this point in the book. I'm confused by her actions. Why didn't she just comply with a dying man's wishes? I mean, I guess I understand that she didn't want to bear the brunt of any kind of backlash that this could have caused. But still, I think her lack of action was disrespectful.
ReplyDeleteI can see where everyone is coming from in regards to Mary's actions. I do think though that Mary was showing her assertiveness of Mr. Featherstone; however, maybe it did have to do with revenge or the "last laugh." With the roles of many of the female characters in the book Mary is finally in a postiton of power of a very powerful man dying or not. Mary did want no other female character has done in the book so far... denied a man. Maybe it is a reach but something tells me it was for the best, maybe not though. Maybe Mary will be "punished" for her disobedience. Time and hundreds of more pages will tell.
ReplyDeleteI think Mary kept her hands off of the wills for two reasons: 1. She didn't want to get in trouble with the law and 2. I think she put together that Fred was losing his favor and wanted to get back at him in a way. I don't think she loves him, at all. I think she's a smart woman toying with the system. Or, at least, I hope.
ReplyDeleteI would have to agree with both Brandie, and Brandi! I like Mary as well, and she certainly does have good intentions--but I don't think I could personally pass up knowing what my husband's will stated. I do feel that as we continue to read Middlemarch, Mary will be punished in some way, if it's for her odd behavior...we always need suspense in a novel to make it worth reading, so I have a feeling that Mary has something coming for her in the coming chapters.
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