Character Clues

Character Analysis

Direct Characterization

Domineering narrators: you can love 'em or hate 'em, but they sure don't mince words. There are plenty of times when Eliot's narrator pops up to notify us that "it was a pretty scene outside the house" (293.26) or "it was a scene some people remembered better even than their own sorrows" (482.47) or some such.

We're not left with any ambiguity here, not about what's going on in the novel, not about what the characters think, not about what Eliot wants us to think. Why is the scene pretty or memorable? Because the narrator said so, dang it!

But don't think that listening to a domineering narrator will make you stop thinking for yourself. Because so much of the thought and action in Adam Bede is directly spelled out, you have leisure to ponder bigger philosophical and sociological questions, like: is Hayslope an ideal society? Is compassion always good? Is the red Adam Bede sees the same red I see?

Physical Appearances

How good are you at guessing people's personalities at first sight? Let's find out! Here's how Eliot first describes Adam:

A large-boned, muscular man nearly six feet high [with] dark eyes that shone from under strongly marked, prominent and mobile eyebrows. (4.1)

And here's a description of Bartle Massey's head:

The blue veins stood out like cords under the transparent yellow skin, and this intimidating brow was softened by no tendency to baldness, for the grey bristly hair, cut down to about an inch in length, stood round it in as close ranks as ever. (243.21)

Does Adam sound like a hard worker with a good head on his shoulders? Well, that's because he is. And does Bartle sound like a grizzled disciplinarian? Well, that's because he is too. Don't judge a book by its cover, but do judge an Eliot character by his appearance. You won't often be deceived.

Speech and Dialogue

In Adam Bede, a cultured and well-educated man like Mr. Irwine talks like this:

"Well, I have no objection to your contemplating Hetty in an artistic light, but I must not have you feeding her vanity and filling her little noodle with the notion that she's a great beauty." (9.9)

And an illiterate woman like Lisbeth Bede talks like this:

"He's set's heart on that Hetty Sorrel, as p'ull niver save a penny, an' 'ull toss up her head at's old mother." (5.41)

Yes, Eliot's dialogue is a good indication of which characters are most sophisticated. But who has the bigger heart: Irwine or Lisbeth? That is something that the dialogue in Adam Bede can't tell us on its own. There's no fancy mathematical proportion between how decent an Eliot character is and how eloquently that character speaks. Decency is as decency does.

Thoughts and Opinions

Eliot has a funny tendency to back up direct characterization by showing us exactly what her character are thinking. Call it tying up loose ends; call it giving everyone their due; call it loving the sound of her own voice. Whatever it is, there's a lot of reinforcement like this in Adam Bede.

A description of Arthur's sensitive, "loving nature," for instance, is backed up by this description of his thoughts:

He felt the situation acutely, felt the sorrow of the dear thing in the present, and thought with a darker anxiety of the tendency which her feelings might have in the future. (29.4)

And there's more like this. Industrious Adam thinks a lot about work; silly Hetty thinks a lot about marrying Arthur and buying rich people's stuff. So watch for those adjectives. If an Eliot character is introduced as "loving," five paragraphs of "loving thoughts" will probably ensue.