Subtitled 'A Study of Provincial Life,' the novel is set in the fictitious Midlands town of Middlemarch during the period 1830-32. It has multiple plots with a large cast of characters, and in addition to its distinct though interlocking narratives it pursues a number of underlying themes, including the status of women, the nature of marriage, idealism and self-interest, religion and hypocrisy, political reform, and education. The pace is leisurely, the tone is mildly didactic (with an authorial