Godfrey Cass Flashcards
(15 cards)
How is Godfrey presented at the start of the novel?
- Self - loathing
- Irresolute
What quotes show Godfrey is self-loathing?
- spends his time in “bitter rumination”
- muttering “curses…half aloud”
- “at his own vicious folly”
- “ties for himself”
- “mud and slime”
What quotes show he is irresolute and indecisive?
- “natural irresolution”
- “bear the consequences of what I have done”
- “had seen the matter in a wrong light yesterday”
- “the old dread of disgrace”
- “you’ve been up to some trick, and you’ve been bribing [Dunsey] not to tell”
How is Godfrey presented in the middle of the novel?
- a moral coward
- abrogating person responsibility/passive
What quotes show that Godfrey is a moral coward?
- he prefers to “go on sitting at the feast”
- “sipping the wine he loved”
- “with a sword hanging over him”
- than “rush away into the cold darkness”
he fails to come clean to the Squire when he knows he should. Later on, he fails to acknowledge that Eppie is his daughter, instead he:
- “found half-a-guinea, and, thrusting it into Silas’s hand, he hurried out of the cottage”
- “you’ll take this child to the parish tomorrow?”
- “throwing away his happiness”
- “much happier without owning the child”
How is Godfrey presented as someone who is abrogating his personal responsibility/passive?
characterised by his failure to tell the truth about his marriage to his father, and to acknowledge Eppie as his daughter. Instead he simply relies on
- “some unforeseen turn of fortune, some favourable change which would save him from unpleasant consequences”
- “trusting to some throw of fortune’s dice”
they way he thinks betrays his failure to acknowledge his own personal responsibility to act
“the iron bit that destiny had put in his mouth”
How is Godfrey presented at the end of the novel?
- decisive
- resigned
What quotes show Godfrey becomes decisive?
- “Everything comes to light, Nancy, sooner or later”
- “I’ve lived with a secret on my mind, but I’ll keep it from you no longer”
- despite “dreading the effect of his confession”
- “I’ll be plain and open for the res o’ my life”
- “go together to Silas Marner’s this very night”
What quotes show that he is resigned?
- “Marner was in the right”
- “turning away a blessing from his door” he had given up his right to Eppie
- “I wanted to pass for childless once, Nancy – I shall pass for childless now against my wish”
- “I must do what I can to make her happy in her own way”
How is Godfrey presented throughout the novel?
- essentially principled
- craving love
Quotes that show Godfrey is essentially principled
-“fine, open-faced good natured young man”
-“plenty of animal courage”
- “good angel”
- “make the good he preferred easy to pursue”
How is Godfrey presented as someone who is craving love?
- his behaviour stems from “the need of some tender permanent affection”
- “the hearth had no smiles”
- “fountain of wholesome love and fear in parlour and kitchen”
- “the woman who made him think of the future with joy”
Nancy represents the love, goodness and moral guidance that has never had
How does an understanding of the context of Silas Marner deepen my understanding of the character? (1)
George Eliot and Victorians in general were very interested in the question of nature vs nurture (whether character is fixed, or shaped by upbringing)
Significance - emphasis on the effects of Godfrey’s loveless upbringing suggests nurture (or a lack of it) has had a profound effect on his character. However she also talks about his essentially principled, but irresolute “nature”, implying that some of his character is inherent
How does an understanding of the context of Silas Marner deepen my understanding of the character? (2)
The 19th century saw a gradual decline of the wealth, power and influence of the landed gentry (small scale rural landowners like the Cass family). Many thinkers, including Eliot, began to question their right to a comfortable life, based simply on inherited wealth
Eliot is scathing about Squire Cass’s lazy and complacent approach to managing his land. He and Godfrey can be seen as embodying the idle complacency of the landed gentry. It’s notable that, when Godfrey’s father dies, his son is not given the deferential title of ‘Squire’ by the villagers
How does an understanding of the context of Silas Marner deepen my understanding of the character? (3)
19th Centry - sex and having children outside of marriage was taboo. Sons of the landed gentry were expected to marry women of an equivalent class. Divorce was also taboo; rare, difficult and very expensive. Eliot’s long term partner, George Henry Lewes, was not able to divorce his estranged wife
His inability to separate himself from Molly reflects he difficulty of divorce; Godfrey would also have been reluctant to admit his relationship with Molly due to their class differences
