Silas Marner
Leaving Cert Revision Notes
English
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1 Silas Marner – Leaving Cert Revision Notes – English
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2 Silas Marner – Leaving Cert Revision Notes – English
Table of Contents
Context ................................................................................................................................... 5
Life of George Eliot (1819-1880) ........................................................................................................ 5
George Eliot’s Writings ...................................................................................................................... 5
The Industrial Revolution ................................................................................................................ 5
The Victorian novel ......................................................................................................................... 5
Summary ................................................................................................................................ 7
Chapter Outline ................................................................................................................................. 7
Chapter 1......................................................................................................................................... 7
Chapters 2-10 .................................................................................................................................. 8
Chapter 11....................................................................................................................................... 8
Chapters 12-13 ................................................................................................................................ 9
Chapters 14-15 ................................................................................................................................ 9
Chapters 16-21 ................................................................................................................................ 9
Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................... 10
Characters............................................................................................................................. 11
Silas Marner ..................................................................................................................................... 11
Eppie ................................................................................................................................................ 11
Godfrey Cass .................................................................................................................................... 11
Nancy Lammeter .............................................................................................................................. 12
Language .............................................................................................................................. 13
Important quotations explained ...................................................................................................... 13
1. ................................................................................................................................................... 13
2. ................................................................................................................................................... 13
3. ................................................................................................................................................... 14
4. ................................................................................................................................................... 14
5. ................................................................................................................................................... 15
Themes, Motifs, and Symbols ................................................................................................ 16
Themes............................................................................................................................................. 16
A fairy tale ..................................................................................................................................... 16
Magic ............................................................................................................................................. 16
Coincidence ................................................................................................................................... 16
Mystery ......................................................................................................................................... 16
Money ........................................................................................................................................... 16
The community ............................................................................................................................. 17
3 Silas Marner – Leaving Cert Revision Notes – English
The significance of a child ............................................................................................................. 17
The children .................................................................................................................................. 18
Religion and duty .......................................................................................................................... 18
The omniscient narrator ............................................................................................................... 19
Motifs ............................................................................................................................................... 19
The Natural World ........................................................................................................................ 19
Domesticity ................................................................................................................................... 19
Class .............................................................................................................................................. 19
Symbols ............................................................................................................................................ 20
Silas’s Loom ................................................................................................................................... 20
Lantern Yard .................................................................................................................................. 20
The Hearth .................................................................................................................................... 20
Sample Answers .................................................................................................................... 21
Explore how Eliot contrasts the progress of Godfrey and Silas in the novel. Remember to support
your ideas with close reference to the novel. ................................................................................. 21
The importance of family in Silas Marner........................................................................................ 23
4 Silas Marner – Leaving Cert Revision Notes – English
Context
Life of George Eliot (1819-1880)
George Eliot was the pen-name of Mary Ann Evans. Her mother died in 1836 and from then
until his death in 1849, she was her father’s housekeeper. After that, she moved to London.
Although she was influenced by the Evangelical preacher, Rev. John Edmund Jones, when
younger, she moved in intellectual circles in London that sought to question conventional
beliefs.
However, it was not just in this or in taking a male pen-name that she was unconventional.
In 1854 she started to live with G H. Lewes. They remained unmarried because he had an
estranged wife. After his death, she married John W. Cross, who was an old friend, in 1880.
George Eliot’s Writings
George Eliot is best known for her novels but published a variety of work, including articles,
poetry and satirical writing.
Her major novels:
 Adam Bede 1859
 The Mill on the Floss 1860
 Silas Marner 1861
 Romola 1863
 Felix Holt: The Radical 1867
 Middlemarch 1872
 Daniel Deronda 1876
The Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution took place between the 1790s and 1860s. A time that saw
traditional agriculture and manufacturing methods completely changed as a result of more
modern technologies. Obviously such huge changes had a massive impact on the social and
economic conditions of the time and hence Society changed as a whole. It was possible for
people to become very rich but it was also possible for them to lose their livelihood.
When Silas Marner arrives in Raveloe, he and his skills are viewed with suspicion: "... even a
settler, if he came from distant parts, hardly ever ceased to be viewed with a remnant of
distrust, which would have prevented any surprise if a long course of inoffensive conduct on
his part had ended in the commission of a crime; especially if he had any reputation for
knowledge, or showed any skill in handicraft. All cleverness, whether in the rapid use of that
difficult instrument the tongue, or in some other art unfamiliar to villagers, was in itself
suspicious." (Chapter 1).
Raveloe is contrasted with Lantern Yard. When Lantern Yard is gone, it is replaced by a
factory.
It is tempting to say that George Eliot is celebrating the permanence of the rural community
but this comparison is not the real core of the novel.
The Victorian novel
Queen Victoria reigned for over 60 years and there were many important novels written
during this time. These novels often included:
5 Silas Marner – Leaving Cert Revision Notes – English
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the difficulties faced by the poorer people of the time
the challenges that the Industrial Revolution brought
the portrayal of town and country life
a moral lesson, celebrating things like hard work, resolution and love, as well as good
fortune - the moral statement in Silas Marner is quite a complex one
a strong narrative voice - there are often comments that give historical perspective
satire, irony and humour
ghost stories and Gothic tales were very popular so the fairy tale feel of some
aspects of Silas Marner and the mystery and suspense attached to some aspects of
the plot would not have been strange to Eliot’s audience
6 Silas Marner – Leaving Cert Revision Notes – English
Summary
Chapter Outline
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Chapter 1 - Introduction and Lantern Yard events, which were fifteen years earlier
Chapter 2 - Silas’s early life in Raveloe
Chapter 3 - Introduction to the Cass family; Godfrey gives Dunstan the horse to sell
Chapter 4 - Dunstan steals Marner’s money (after the horse is killed)
Chapter 5 - Discovery of the theft
Chapter 6 - The Rainbow – conversation
Chapter 7 - Investigation of the theft
Chapter 8 - Godfrey worries about losing Nancy and decides to tell his father about
the rent money
Chapter 9 - Godfrey tells his father about the rent money
Chapter 10 - The villagers support Silas; Christmas party at the Squire’s house
without Dunstan, who has disappeared
Chapter 11 - New Year’s Eve Party – introduction to Nancy
Chapter 12 - Molly, Godfrey’s wife dies; Silas finds Eppie asleep by his fire
Chapter 13 - New Year’s Eve Party – Silas interrupts the party with news of Molly. He
adopts Eppie
Chapter 14 - Silas learns to look after Eppie – and to live again
Chapter 15 - Godfrey looks forward to marrying Nancy. He will only help Eppie from
a distance
Chapter 16 - Sixteen years later – Nancy and Godfrey are childless; Eppie plans to
marry Aaron Winthrop and to continue living with Silas
Chapter 17 - A fuller picture of Nancy and Godfrey
Chapter 18 - Dunstan’s body and Silas’s money are found. Godfrey tells Nancy that
Eppie is his daughter
Chapter 19 - Nancy and Godfrey offer to adopt Eppie but she wants to stay with Silas
and Aaron
Chapter 20 - Acceptance by Nancy and Godfrey
Chapter 21 - Contented acceptance by Marner that Raveloe is his life and home,
after he and Eppie visit the much changed area that was Lantern Yard
Conclusion - Eppie and Aaron’s wedding
Chapter 1
Silas Marner, a weaver, comes to Raveloe after he is accused of theft by the "narrow
religious sect" in Lantern Yard, where he has been living. It is clear that it is in fact his friend,
William Dane, who is guilty, and William has also stolen Sarah, Marner’s fiancée, from him.
The rest of the chapter is devoted to establishing our sense of the rural community into
which Marner has moved and of his strangeness to its inhabitants. There are various
reasons for that strangeness:
 he suffers from occasional fits and Jem Rodney saw him in the throes of one
 he lives in an isolated cottage
 he is a weaver and such technical skill is viewed with suspicion by the country people
 he has "large brown protuberant eyes"
 naturally enough, after his experiences in Lantern Yard, Marner does not readily
trust other people
7 Silas Marner – Leaving Cert Revision Notes – English
Chapters 2-10
Fifteen years later, Marner is still an outsider. This was made worse when he was able to
help Sally Oates with the knowledge of herbs he had gleaned from his mother. His refusal to
help anyone else only made people treat him as someone almost alien.
Dolly Winthrop has tried to draw him into the community but his refusal to go to church
seals his exclusion. However, when all the money that he has made by his weaving is stolen,
the community are sympathetic, and as Christmas approaches, many acts of kindness are
extended to him. That money had been really important to him. He spent as little as he
could on everyday life, and rewarded himself each evening by counting the money that was
hidden.
The thief is Dunstan Cass, the Squire’s younger son and immoral in all kinds of ways.
Godfrey loves Nancy, but, unknown to his father, he has married Molly and has a little girl.
Molly is an opium addict and Godfrey does not know how to tell his father about his
marriage which would cost him Nancy.
Dunstan finds out about the marriage and blackmails Godfrey. He gives some of his father’s
rent money that he has collected from a tenant, and, of course, Dunstan has no intention of
repaying it. He agrees that Dunstan should sell his horse. Despite receiving an offer for the
horse, Dunstan continues to ride it and kills it when jumping.
Dunstan is forced to walk back. As he approaches Marner’s cottage, he thinks about the
weaver’s well known savings. He plans to try to persuade Marner into handing over
a "loan", but ends up stealing it. He then disappears.
Godfrey is forced to tell his father about the money. He does not tell him about the
existence of a wife so he awaits the New Year party in a state of mixed emotions - longing to
see Nancy but knowing he cannot marry her and fearful that his secret will be revealed.
Chapter 11
This chapter gives us an understanding of Nancy Lammeter’s character and the difficulties in
her relationship with Godfrey.
Nancy is described as an attractive girl and she has a warm personality but she holds strong
moral views. She has said she will not marry Godfrey unless he changes his behaviour. She
likes being Squire Cass’s chosen bride for his eldest son but she is also ready to state
strongly that she values the work at home, for instance baking before the party. She does
not value social trivia very highly.
She is an interesting contrast with her blunt and plain sister, Priscilla. Priscilla is willing to
indulge Nancy’s wish to wear matching clothes in order to show they’re sisters, but not to
have them chosen to suit her since she knows that Nancy is the one who stands a chance of
making a good marriage.
When Nancy tears her dress, it creates the opportunity for a conversation between her and
Godfrey which at least makes the way open for them to possibly get back together: "I
should be glad to see a good change in anybody, Mr Godfrey," she answered, with the
slightest discernible difference of tone, "but it 'ud be better if no change was wanted."
8 Silas Marner – Leaving Cert Revision Notes – English
The chapter ends with the dancing that causes this discussion, but also captures strongly the
feel of a rural celebration, with the affluent guests and the observers.
Chapters 12-13
Godfrey’s wife, Molly, sets out to take revenge by arriving at The Red House, Godfrey’s
home, on New Year’s Eve, when a party is taking place. She is carrying her daughter in her
arms. However, she decides to take opium and when she has done so, falls into a drugged
sleep. It is snowing and in her unconscious state, she dies of the cold.
The child she is carrying wakes up and wanders off to Silas’s cottage, where she falls asleep
in front of the fire and is found there by Silas Marner. Following her footprints in the snow,
he finds her mother’s body.
Silas Marner’s appearance at the New Year party, carrying the child, causes a stir. Godfrey
recognises his daughter and is terrified but his wife is dead and he is free to pursue Nancy.
Silas surprises everyone by saying he will keep the child but no-one objects. Godfrey gives
him money towards her care and tells himself that he will continue to contribute to her
upkeep but he believes that he cannot tell Nancy – that to do so would be the end of their
relationship.
Chapters 14-15
We hear about how Marner learns to combine his work with looking after Eppie, “his
daughter". Dolly Winthrop helps with her upbringing. Godfrey’s help only takes the form of
an occasional cash hand-out – as might be normal for someone in his position helping
someone who has adopted a waif and stray. His thoughts are all on his future life with
Nancy and he wants nothing to stand in its way.
Silas’s love for Eppie and her bright and happy spirit means that they support each other.
His devotion to her is sketched in by the description of how he cannot punish her for
anything. He steeled himself to lock her in the coal hole but she saw this as a great joke and
went in for fun. "Eppie in de toal-hole!"(Chapter 14).
Chapters 16-21
Sixteen years later and Silas and Eppie are both content. Eppie is being courted by Aaron
Winthrop, Dolly’s son. Eppie wants to marry Aaron and then live with Silas, so they can look
after him as he grows older.
Nancy and Godfrey are married but they have no children Godfrey has tried unsuccessfully
to persuade Nancy to adopt Eppie – without telling her about their relationship. "When you
saw a thing was not meant to be", said Nancy, "it was a bounden duty to leave off so much
as wishing for it." (Chapter 17). The absence of a child has caused strain in the relationship,
but has not changed Nancy’s mind.
The stone pits have been drained and Dunstan’s body is found, and with it, Silas Marner’s
money. This triggers a confession from Godfrey and he tells Nancy about his daughter. They
go to see Silas and Eppie and Godfrey reveals himself as her father and offers her a home.
However, Eppie remains loyal to Silas, Aaron and the life she has and Godfrey has to accept
that his revelations are all too late. He is resigned to this and determined to do as much as
he can for his daughter.
9 Silas Marner – Leaving Cert Revision Notes – English
Silas returns with Eppie to Lantern Yard but it has been destroyed and a factory built in its
place. He now knows that he has no home but Raveloe and the injustice of the past is lost in
the face of his present happiness.
"No", said Silas, "no; that doesn't hinder. Since the time the child was sent to me and I've
come to love her as myself, I've had light enough to trusten by; and now she says she'll
never leave me, I think I shall trusten till I die."(Chapter 21).
Conclusion
The conclusion of the novel is Eppie’s wedding day. The marriage is celebrated as a fitting
scene in Raveloe life.
"There was one time of the year which was held in Raveloe to be especially suitable for a
wedding. It was when the great lilacs and laburnums in the old-fashioned gardens showed
their golden and purple wealth above the lichen-tinted walls, and when there were calves
still young enough to want bucketfuls of fragrant milk. People were not so busy then as they
must become when the full cheese-making and the mowing had set in; and besides, it was a
time when a light bridal dress could be worn with comfort and seen to advantage."
The neighbours discuss the wedding as a fitting reward to Silas for his generous act in taking
Eppie in, all those years ago, but Silas and the reader know that Silas benefited too. Eppie’s
wedding dress was a gift from Nancy and Godfrey has paid for the wedding feast, an
extension to the cottage and garden. But he goes away on the day of the wedding, perhaps
because it is Silas’s place by her side and not his.
Eppie’s splendid garden is a strong image of the natural continuity of life that the wedding
represents.
10 Silas Marner – Leaving Cert Revision Notes – English
Characters
Silas Marner
He is a weaver and that craftsman’s skill immediately differentiates him. He is described as
pale and as having protuberant brown eyes. He has come to work in Raveloe and is not a
native of the area. His experience in Lantern Yard, being accused of theft, has made
him distrustful and reluctant to mix with people or attend Church.
He has some herbal knowledge, but lacks the confidence to deal with the villagers when
they approach him after he helped one person. He knows that his skill is limited but the
villagers think it is because he is someone other-worldly and therefore frightening. The fact
that he suffers from cataleptic fits adds to this picture.
There is no doubt that Silas is somewhat naïve, both in trusting William Dane, back in
Lantern yard, and in his emotional reactions. However, he is honest and trustworthy. He
also has an immense capacity for love and generosity, as is shown by his relationship with
Eppie. Thanks to her, he re-learns happiness and becomes a part of the Raveloe community.
The fact that he had become a miser is only really a reflection of what had happened to his
life at that point and of his insecurity. The lingering of that insecurity is most painfully shown
when he thinks he must let Eppie go to Godfrey and Nancy, but Eppie returns his love by
making it clear that she will stay with him.
You may choose to see this as the morality of the story working itself out or you may see
Silas as an example of a much deeper sense of values than the worship of money. There is
no doubt that there is a moral edge to the way the story is concluded.
Eppie
Eppie is a beautiful little girl who becomes a beautiful young woman. She seems, with her
golden hair, to be Silas’s gold returned when he first sees her in front of his fire and she
becomes more precious to him than those coins.
She is an exuberant personality and her warmth is good for Silas.
The symbolism and moral lesson of the gold is developed by her desire for a garden. That
wish is fulfilled by the combined efforts of Silas, Aaron and her real father, Godfrey. The
garden and the improvements to the cottage complete her happiness and are an image of
contentment in a natural environment. This image is especially appropriate after Silas has
sought closure from Lantern Yard.
Godfrey Cass
"his sons had turned out rather ill" (Chapter 3)
Godfrey is the oldest son of Squire Cass and is characterised throughout the book by
his weakness. It seems that he does not mean to cause suffering but his incompetence
certainly causes pain. He seems intimidated by his father and is obviously bullied by
Dunstan.
Godfrey sets great store by money and the power it gives you. He thinks he can deal with
Mollie by paying her, though he is simply funding her opium habit. He appeases his
conscience by giving Silas money when he adopts Eppie.
11 Silas Marner – Leaving Cert Revision Notes – English
Later he believes that money gives him the power to take over Eppie’s life when he chooses
to do so. He learns, though, that "There’s debts we can’t pay like money debts" (Chapter 20)
and he has to settle for a childless life.
However, finally he uses his wealth generously and without conditions, improving Silas’s
home and garden and funding the wedding feast. He does not attend the feast. Such an act
of acceptance would perhaps have been too much to believe on all sides so George Eliot has
him go away for the day for "special reasons".
Nancy Lammeter
Nancy is arguably contrasted with Priscilla, Dolly and Eppie:
 she lacks the liveliness and natural warmth of Eppie
 she lacks the directness of Priscilla
 she lacks the "tender tact" (Chapter 14) that Dolly possesses
She is very beautiful and much admired by the Raveloe community. She is a good
housekeeper and understands the importance of working. She was baking the day of the
New Year party. "For even while she was dressing she narrated to her aunt how she and
Priscilla had packed their boxes yesterday, because this morning was baking morning, and
since they were leaving home, it was desirable to make a good supply of meat-pies for the
kitchen" (Chapter 11).
There is no doubt whatsoever about her integrity. She has refused Godfrey when we first
meet her, because she disapproves of his conduct and we can sympathise with this.
However, it is a little harder to accept that she cannot adopt because it must be God’s will
that she is childless, since her baby died. Given this absolute moral code, it is to her credit
that she is willing to adopt Eppie, when she finally learns the truth and does not condemn
Godfrey.
When Eppie says she will stay with Silas, Nancy soothes Godfrey as much as she can.
Although she is glad that, as the adoption is not to take place, Godfrey prefers to keep
things secret. She clearly becomes a good friend to Eppie and Silas, buying the wedding
dress, and she remains true to her husband.
12 Silas Marner – Leaving Cert Revision Notes – English
Language
Important quotations explained
1.
To have sought a medical explanation for this phenomenon would have been held by Silas
himself, as well as by his minister and fellow-members, a wilful self-exclusion from the
spiritual significance that might lie therein.
This passage, from Chapter 1, describes the reaction of Silas’s religious sect in Lantern Yard
to one of his cataleptic fits. The worshippers in his chapel interpret Silas’s fit as divinely
inspired, a sort of holy trance, and their respect for him grows as a result. The passage
addresses the issue of faith, one of the central themes of the novel. The description
suggests that the sect members’ faith in the “spiritual significance” of Silas’s fit requires a
denial of any factors that might complicate it. In other words, the beliefs predominant in
Lantern Yard do not allow for complexity or ambiguity and require that one develop
intellectual blinders.
Eliot does not hesitate, in this chapter and elsewhere, to label this sort of belief primitive.
There is a note of condescension in Eliot’s description, a wink, shared with her
contemporary readers, at these simple folk from the past who ascribe supernatural causes
to anything the least bit unusual. The humour lies in the phrase “wilful self-exclusion,”
which, Eliot implies, is exactly what Silas and his fellow worshippers depend upon to
maintain their belief. It is important to keep in mind that Eliot writes as someone who had
once believed quite passionately in similar teachings but had since broken from them. Thus,
her view of the sect is that of someone who has both experienced and rejected similar
comforts and tenets.
2.
Strangely Marner’s face and figure shrank and bent themselves into a constant mechanical
relation to the objects of his life, so that he produced the same sort of impression as a handle
or a crooked tube, which has no meaning standing apart. The prominent eyes that used to
look trusting and dreamy, now looked as if they had been made to see only one kind of thing
that was very small, like tiny grain, for which they hunted everywhere; and he was so
withered and yellow, that, though he was not yet forty, the children always called him “Old
Master Marner.”
From Chapter 2, this passage creates in Silas a portrait of the dehumanizing effects of
commodified labour that Karl Marx had written about a few years prior to the publication of
this novel. Silas’s mechanical way of life and his worship of money make him into an almost
grotesque parody of what Marx dubbed “the commodification of labour.” In this way Silas
serves as a harbinger of industrialization for sleepy Raveloe. For Marx, industrialization
inevitably leads to a dehumanization of labour, as workers are reduced to nothing more
than the amount of money that their labour is worth. Workers’ social positions and ties to
particular places are eliminated to create a vast, mobile labour force. In this passage, Silas is
described as similarly disconnected, his humanity degraded to the status of a mere machine.
He is prematurely aged, “withered and yellow,” and has shrunk and bent to fit to his loom—
so much so that he looks like a part of the loom, “a handle or a crooked tube, which has no
meaning standing apart.”
13 Silas Marner – Leaving Cert Revision Notes – English
We learn that even Silas’s eyesight has been damaged by his constant work. His inability to
see things that are far away, is a handicap that takes on metaphorical overtones in this
passage. His ability to see only “one kind of thing that was very small, for which [his eyes]
hunted everywhere” shows the money-obsessed narrow-mindedness into which Silas has
fallen. At this point in the novel, Silas can see only one kind of thing, gold, in everything he
does. His money is the only thing that gives meaning to his life. Here, as elsewhere, Silas’s
physical deterioration parallels a spiritual one. Later, after Eppie brings Silas back into the
community, we see another description of his eyes and learn that by then they “seem to
have gathered a longer vision.”
3.
This strangely novel situation of opening his trouble to his Raveloe neighbours, of sitting in
the warmth of a hearth not his own, and feeling the presence of faces and voices which were
his nearest promise of help, had doubtless its influence on Marner, in spite of his passionate
preoccupation with his loss. Our consciousness rarely registers the beginning of a growth
within us any more than without us: there have been many circulations of the sap before we
detect the smallest sign of the bud.
Here, in Chapter 7, is the first moment since his banishment from Lantern Yard that Silas is
in any way part of a community. He is at the Rainbow, having gone there to seek help after
he is robbed. The tavern-goers sit Silas down by the hearth and make him tell his story from
beginning to end. As he does so, unbeknownst even to him, Silas begins to experience the
first stirrings of a sense of solidarity with his neighbours. Everything about the experience is
“strangely novel” for Silas: he has never been to the Rainbow and has not in a very long time
been inside anyone’s house but his own. More important, he has not in fifteen years had
the experience of feeling reassured by the presence of others.
In describing these beginnings of a change, Eliot relies, as she often does, on a metaphor
drawn from the natural world. Here, Silas is compared to a budding plant in the late winter,
when the sap has started to circulate but before there is any outward sign of life. This image
of rebirth suggests an idea of community as something natural and organic, as opposed to
the unnatural, deforming isolation from which Silas is beginning to emerge.
4.
Godfrey was silent. He was not likely to be very penetrating in his judgments, but he had
always had a sense that his father’s indulgence had not been kindness, and had had a vague
longing for some discipline that would have checked his own errant weakness and helped his
better will.
Here, in Chapter 9, Godfrey is weathering a severe tongue-lashing from his father, Squire
Cass, after confessing that he lent Dunsey rent money from one of his father’s tenants. The
Squire complains that he has been “too good a father” and has spoiled his sons. In this
regard, the Cass household provides a counterpoint to the domestic life Silas and Eppie later
create. Both Godfrey and Eppie grow up motherless—the former in circumstances of great
plenty, the latter with little. Both fathers indulge their children, but while the Squire does so
out of negligence, Silas does so out of love. Eppie never doubts Silas’s love for her, whereas
Godfrey, in this passage, has precisely that doubt about his father. Eliot implies that this
crucial difference is the reason Godfrey has grown up weak-willed and cowardly, while
Eppie possesses a strong sense of values. This contrast is all the more striking since Eppie is
in fact Godfrey’s natural daughter.
14 Silas Marner – Leaving Cert Revision Notes – English
The passage also highlights the perspective that Eliot’s narrator takes throughout the novel.
This omniscient narrator is not constrained simply to report what is seen and heard. Here,
we go inside Godfrey’s head and have access to ideas that he thinks but does not express
aloud. The narrator takes this even one step further, not only divulging what Godfrey is
thinking, but passing judgment on Godfrey’s general intelligence. At the same time,
however, judging from the Squire’s behaviour, the conclusion at which Godfrey gropingly
arrives is correct. This sort of narration—omniscient, judgmental, but ultimately
sympathetic toward the characters—is an important characteristic not only of this novel,
but of all of Eliot’s works.
5.
I can’t say what I should have done about that, Godfrey. I should never have married
anybody else. But I wasn’t worth doing wrong for—nothing is in this world. Nothing is so
good as it seems beforehand—not even our marrying wasn’t, you see.
Nancy gently upbraids Godfrey with these lines in Chapter 18, after he confesses that he is
Eppie’s father and has hidden that fact from Nancy for eighteen years. Nancy’s reaction is
not one of anger, but instead one of deep regret that Godfrey had not claimed Eppie long
ago, so they could have raised her themselves. When Godfrey responds that Nancy would
never have married him had she known of his secret child, she responds with these lines, a
gentle condemnation of Godfrey’s act and the thinking that justified it.
The quote brings Nancy’s “unalterable little code” of behaviour into confrontation with
Godfrey’s slippery, self-justifying equivocation. While Nancy and her code are portrayed as
occasionally arbitrary and even illogical, Eliot leaves no doubt that Nancy is a deeply moral
person. In taking Godfrey to task for simply moulding his actions to contingency, Nancy is
passing Eliot’s judgment, as well. Here, as elsewhere, Eliot’s narrative punishes those who,
by allowing ends to justify means, ignore basic questions of right and wrong.
15 Silas Marner – Leaving Cert Revision Notes – English
Themes, Motifs, and Symbols
Themes
A fairy tale
It is probably more precise to talk about Silas Marner as having aspects of the morality tale
and the fairy tale. The good are blessed and the bad are punished – this is the case in both
fairy and morality tales.
By the end of the novel:
 Silas is living a contented life with Eppie
 Dolly is content and happy with her son’s marriage
 Priscilla is content
 Dunstan is dead
 Godfrey has been rejected by his only child
 Squire Cass has lost a son
 William Dane may well have faced challenging times after Lantern Yard was
destroyed
...and they lived happily ever after. This feels true about the end of the story. "O father,"
said Eppie, "what a pretty home ours is! I think nobody could be happier than we are."
Magic
There are very earthly reasons for Eppie’s appearance in Raveloe. However, George Eliot
paints a magical picture by having Silas mistake her for his returned gold, and then having
her magically transform his life and become more important than money. "Since the time
the child was sent to me and I've come to love her as myself, I've had light enough to
trusten by; and, now she says she'll never leave me, I think I shall trusten till I die."(Chapter
21).
Coincidence
Coincidences allow the plot to happen.
For example:
 Silas Marner’s cottage being empty for the robbery
 his door being open for Eppie to see the light
 Molly dying near enough to the cottage for Eppie to reach it
Such plot tricks fit the style of the story and are often used in fairy tales.
Mystery
Sometimes the reader knows more than some of the characters. For example, that Eppie is
Godfrey’s daughter. Having this knowledge puts us in the position of judges and strengthens
our sense of the story as a moral tale. However, it is also a part of the fairy tale, helping us
to expect a tidying up of the plot as it comes to an end.
Money
Two main things underline the idea of money in the book:
 Eppie is at first mistaken for Silas’s stolen money but she is inestimably more
valuable
16 Silas Marner – Leaving Cert Revision Notes – English

Godfrey and Nancy may be able to help Eppie – and Silas – with money, but she
cannot be bought
Money is also seen as somehow destructive to a person’s soul:
 William Dane and Dunstan are entirely corrupted by it
 Silas in the early part of the book attaches too high a value to it
 Squire Cass is criticised by George Eliot for his love of show - the New Year party is as
much to flaunt his position to the villagers invited to watch as to have a celebration
 Godfrey believes it will solve all his problems, but realises too late that he cannot
buy Eppie’s love
 Molly is indirectly killed by it since you pay for opium
The community
The book describes the Raveloe community. This is contrasted with the close-knit religious
community in Lantern Yard. Lantern Yard is portrayed as so narrow that when faced with
William Dane’s deceit – it lacks the ability/humanity to recognise the real wrongdoer,
allowing a religious ritual to condemn Silas.
Raveloe is suspicious of Silas at first because he is skilled and because his appearance and
behaviour isolate him, but the Raveloe community still accommodates him.
The chapter in the Rainbow where the local people are caught in conversation and their
relationships and social positions are identified is not incidental. This is a social network that
works well, especially with characters like the landlord, Mr Snell, acting as a referee.
When Silas arrives to report the theft, he finds himself opening up to them for the first
time. "This strangely novel situation of opening his trouble to his Raveloe neighbours, of
sitting in the warmth of a hearth not his own, and feeling the presence of faces and voices
which were his nearest promise of help, had doubtless its influence on Marner, in spite of
his passionate preoccupation with his loss. Our consciousness rarely registers the beginning
of a growth within us any more than without us: there have been many circulations of the
sap before we detect the smallest sign of the bud." (Chapter 7).
There are some very strong figures in the community, such as Dolly. She shows strength of
character and generosity of spirit. She has no money to offer Silas but she provides him with
immaculately mended baby clothes that her son used. She guides him back into the
community through Eppie’s christening.
The significance of a child
"I could ha' wished Nancy had had the luck to find a child like that and bring her up," said
Priscilla to her father, as they sat in the gig; "I should ha' had something young to think of
then, besides the lambs and the calves."
"Yes, my dear, yes," said Mr Lammeter; "one feels that as one gets older. Things look dim to
old folks: they'd need have some young eyes about 'em, to let 'em know the world's the
same as it used to be." (Conclusion)
These words, which form part of the conclusion, give voice to the social role of a child –
namely to give continuity to the world and to offer reassurance to those who are older.
17 Silas Marner – Leaving Cert Revision Notes – English
You have only to look at the symbolic resonance of Eppie’s arrival in Silas’s life to know that
George Eliot saw childhood as a precious thing.
"In old days there were angels who came and took men by the hand and led them away
from the city of destruction. We see no white-winged angels now. But yet men are led away
from threatening destruction: a hand is put into theirs, which leads them forth gently
towards a calm and bright land, so that they look no more backward; and the hand may be a
little child's." (Chapter 14)
The children
There are various children in the story:
 Dunstan is the greatest failure
 Godfrey learns about true values in a very painful way, but we are also aware that he
has not had the example of a loving parent to teach him
 From what little we see of Aaron we know he has come from a loving home and is
hardworking and loyal to Eppie
 Nancy and Priscilla are both dutiful and loving daughters who have also had a secure
upbringing. What is interesting is the difference between the two girls. Nancy may
be good but she has a stiff moral code that contrasts her sister’s more practical
integrity
The picture of the Lammeter girls, and Godfrey and Dunstan, offer us a broader comment
on childhood and suggest that it is nature as well as upbringing that form a person’s
character.
Religion and duty
Silas was part of a religious community in Lantern Yard, but his faith was destroyed by his
unjustified treatment. George Eliot appears to condemn the narrow attitude found in
Lantern Yard.
When Silas first arrives in Raveloe he does not go to church until he starts looking after
Eppie. Dolly persuades him to go, first out of duty to Eppie and then for himself. By the start
of Chapter 16, he is clearly a regular member of the congregation.
Duty and faith are indistinguishable for people like Dolly and we recognise the security she
finds in her faith.
"Anybody 'ud think the angils in heaven couldn't be prettier," said Dolly, rubbing the golden
curls and kissing them. "And to think of its being covered wi' them dirty rags—and the poor
mother—froze to death; but there's Them as took care of it, and brought it to your door,
Master Marner." (Chapter 14)
Religious faith seems to offer much to Dolly and the Raveloe community, but to have failed
characters like Godfrey and Dunstan.
However, the scene at the end of the novel, after the wedding, is warm and positive. The
values celebrated at this point are those of the community, whether or not they come from
a church. George Eliot would seem to be putting her faith in duty and decency and
humanity.
18 Silas Marner – Leaving Cert Revision Notes – English
The omniscient narrator
The voice of the narrator is always clearly that of George Eliot. She chooses how and when
to reveal aspects of the plot and characters. The narrator may seem to be objective but in
fact we are simply being shown what George Eliot wants us to see.
Part of her creation for example is:
 the running of Godfrey’s story alongside Silas' as a comparison
 the humorous descriptions of the villagers

These types of additions create a stronger story. From the very start of the book we are
given a sense that the story may have something to say about the universal condition. "And
Raveloe was a village where many of the old echoes lingered, undrowned by new
voices." (Chapter 1)
We are invited to examine human nature while enjoying the plot and justice of a fairy tale.
Motifs
The Natural World
Throughout the novel, Eliot draws on the natural world for many images and metaphors.
Silas in particular is often compared to plants or animals, and these images are used to trace
his progression from isolated loner to well-loved father figure. As he sits alone weaving near
the start of the novel, Silas is likened to a spider, solitary and slightly ominous. Just after he
is robbed, Silas is compared to an ant that finds its usual path blocked—an image of
limitation and confusion, but also of searching for a solution.
Later, as Silas begins to reach out to the rest of the village, his soul is likened to a plant, not
yet budding but with its sap beginning to circulate. Finally, as he raises Eppie, Silas is
described as “unfolding” and “trembling into full consciousness,” imagery evoking both the
metamorphosis of an insect and the blooming of a flower. This nature imagery also
emphasizes the preindustrial setting of the novel, reminding us of a time in England when
the natural world was a bigger part of daily life than it was after the Industrial Revolution.
Domesticity
For the most part, the events of Silas Marner take place in two homes, Silas’s cottage and
the Cass household. The novel’s two key events are intrusions into Silas’s domestic space,
first by Dunsey and then by Eppie. Eliot uses the home as a marker of the state of its owner.
When Silas is isolated and without faith, his cottage is bleak and closed off from the outside
world.
As Silas opens himself up to the community, we see that his door is more frequently open
and he has a steady stream of visitors. Finally, as Silas and Eppie become a family, the
cottage is brightened and filled with new life, both figuratively and in the form of literal
improvements and refurbishments to the house and yard. Likewise, the Cass household
moves from slovenly and “wifeless” under the Squire to clean and inviting under Nancy.
Class
Raveloe, like most of nineteenth-century English society, is organized along strict lines of
social class. This social hierarchy is encoded in many ways: the forms characters use to
address one another, their habits, even where they sit at social events. While the Casses are
not nobility, as landowners they sit atop Raveloe’s social pecking order, while Silas, an
outsider, is at its base.
19 Silas Marner – Leaving Cert Revision Notes – English
Nonetheless, Silas proves himself to be the better man than his social superiors. Similarly, in
Eppie’s view, the simple life of the working class is preferable to that of the landed class.
Eliot is skilled in showing how class influences the thinking of her characters, from Dunsey’s
idea of Silas as simply a source of easy money to Godfrey and Nancy’s idea that, as higherclass landowners, their claim to Eppie is stronger than Silas’s.
Symbols
Silas’s Loom
Silas’s loom embodies many of the novel’s major themes. On a literal level, the loom is
Silas’s livelihood and source of income. The extent to which Silas’s obsession with money
deforms his character is physically embodied by the bent frame and limited eyesight he
develops due to so many hours at the loom. The loom also foreshadows the coming of
industrialization—the loom is a machine in a time and place when most labour was
nonmechanical, related to farming and animal husbandry.
Additionally, the loom, constantly in motion but never going anywhere, embodies the
unceasing but unchanging nature of Silas’s work and life. Finally, the process of weaving
functions as a metaphor for the creation of a community, with its many interwoven threads,
and presages the way in which Silas will bring together the village of Raveloe.
Lantern Yard
The place where Silas was raised in a tight-knit religious sect, Lantern Yard is a community of
faith, held together by a narrow religious belief that Eliot suggests is based more on
superstition than any sort of rational thought. Lantern Yard is the only community Silas
knows, and after he is excommunicated, he is unable to find any similar community in
Raveloe.
Throughout the novel, Lantern Yard functions as a symbol of Silas’s past, and his gradual
coming to grips with what happened there signals his spiritual thaw. When Silas finally goes
back to visit Lantern Yard, he finds that the entire neighbourhood has disappeared, and no
one remembers anything of it. A large factory stands in the spot where the chapel once
stood. This disappearance demonstrates the disruptive power of industrialization, which
destroys tradition and erases memory. Likewise, this break with the past signals that Silas
has finally been able to move beyond his own embittering history, and that his earlier loss of
faith has been replaced with newfound purpose.
The Hearth
The hearth represents the physical center of the household and symbolizes all of the
comforts of home and family. When Godfrey dreams of a life with Nancy, he sees himself
“with all his happiness centred on his own hearth, while Nancy would smile on him as he
played with the children.” Even in a public place such as the Rainbow, one’s importance is
measured by how close one sits to the fire.
Initially, Silas shares his hearth with no one, at least not intentionally. However, the two
intruders who forever change Silas’s life, first Dunsey and then Eppie, are drawn out of
inclement weather by the inviting light of Silas’s fire. Silas’s cottage can never be entirely
separate from the outside world, and the light of Silas’s fire attracts both misfortune and
redemption. In the end, it is Silas’s hearth that feels the warmth of family, while Godfrey’s is
childless.
20 Silas Marner – Leaving Cert Revision Notes – English
Sample Answers
Explore how Eliot contrasts the progress of Godfrey and Silas in the novel.
Remember to support your ideas with close reference to the novel.
Although the novel is titled Silas Marner, it also tells the story of Godfrey. This comparison is
deliberate and gives us a fuller understanding of both characters. The events are interwoven
to highlight the comparison and of course their stories collide at the New Year Party and at
the end of the book in particular.
Godfrey is Eppie’s natural father but he neglects his duty to her. First of all, he is at his
parental home, leaving Eppie with a mother who takes drugs; then, when Molly comes to
Raveloe to reveal their marriage he is relieved about her death and does not acknowledge
his child. This behaviour underlines his weakness. His motivation is his desire to win Nancy,
but ironically his failure to tell the truth is rewarded by a childless marriage.
By contrast, Silas embraces the idea of fatherhood, and with Dolly’s guidance, makes a
success of it. His reward is to discover a happiness that far outweighs any gold coins he may
have had.
Both men are victims of Dunstan. If Silas had not been out when Dunstan came to the
cottage, Dunstan would have bullied him into giving him a "loan". As it is, the theft takes
everything from Silas, even though it is also true that more "treasure" than he ever had is to
be restored to him, in the form of Eppie.
Dunstan is able to blackmail Godfrey because he has threatened to reveal his marriage to
Molly, which would prevent Godfrey from seeing Nancy and would damage his relationship
with their father.
"I might tell the Squire how his handsome son was married to that nice young woman, Molly
Farren, and was very unhappy because he couldn't live with his drunken wife, and I should
slip into your place as comfortable as could be."(Chapter 3)
Godfrey knows that his wife may come and tell his father about the marriage anyway but
still he doesn’t act. Such weakness and inertia allows Dunstan to be dominant and is
Godfrey’s undoing throughout the story. It is interesting that he is matched with the morally
absolute Nancy. It would have been hard to tell her everything, fearing her rejection as he
did, but his silence costs him his daughter and he finally learns that "there’s debts we can't
pay like money debts." (Chapter 20)
Silas thought that Eppie was his gold returned to him when he saw the sleeping toddler by
his fire. He is portrayed as a victim in the novel. He becomes a miser because everything
else was stripped away from him at Lantern Yard. He was betrayed by William just as
Godfrey is threatened by Dunstan.
In the novel, Silas moves from outsider to a member of the community, including the
church. He believed he needed his innocence of the theft to be declared by the people of
Lantern Yard but his transition is complete when he returns there and finds the whole
community gone. He realises as he talks to Dolly that it doesn’t matter. "Since the time the
21 Silas Marner – Leaving Cert Revision Notes – English
child was sent to me and I've come to love her as myself, I've had light enough to trusten by;
and now she says she'll never leave me, I think I shall trusten till I die." (Chapter 21)
By comparison, Godfrey, the son of the Squire, becomes – symbolically, at least - an
outsider, who keeps away from his daughter’s wedding. He is excluded for his weakness,
just as Silas is rewarded for his integrity.
22 Silas Marner – Leaving Cert Revision Notes – English
The importance of family in Silas Marner
Silas Marner's occupation is that of a weaver who has decided to move from the town of
Lantern Yard to Raveloe. This move is what creates the story for this masterpiece of a novel.
Back in Lantern Yard, Silas Marner has been a sincere member of the local church. At times,
Marner gets certain queer fits that make him inactive for a period of time and after the fits
are over, he is unable to recall the occurrences. Before Marner got framed for a crime which
he had not committed, he was considered a man of great nobility. The criminal charge is the
main reason behind his moving.
This betrayal that Marner from his friend who was actually the one committing the thievery
makes socially awkward and a little disconnected from the world. His sole focus remains on
the gold earnings he makes. He does not feel the need to be in the company of anyone and
dedicates himself completely to his work of weaving. “His life had reduced itself to the
functions of weaving and hoarding, without any contemplation of an end towards which the
functions tended. The same sort of process has perhaps been undergone by wiser men,
when they have been cut off from faith and love—only, instead of a loom and a heap of
guineas; they have had some erudite research, some ingenious project, or some well-knit
theory”. The villagers take him as a really queer person because of his habits to isolate
himself, his strange fits and his physical appearance which is that of paleness and staying
mute.
Strangely Marner’s face and figure shrank and bent themselves into a constant mechanical
relation to the objects of his life, so that he produced the same sort of impression as a
handle or a crooked tube, which has no meaning standing apart. The prominent eyes that
used to look trusting and dreamy, now looked as if they had been made to see only one kind
of thing that was very small, like tiny grain, for which they hunted everywhere; and he was
so withered and yellow, that, though he was not yet forty, the children always called him
“Old Master Marner.”
Silas's rigid way of life and his love for money turns him into a slight grotesque copy of what
Marx gave as "labour com modification". By this time, Silas has become a harbinger of
industrialization for lazy Raveloe. According to Marx's perspective, industrialization further
results in dehumanization inevitably. The workers hold no other valuable thing other than
the wages they earn. The social status of workers and their association to certain places
finished so that they can make a massive labour force. Silas has been described similarly in
this passage as he is disconnected with places and has no value more than a machine or a
robot.
Silas gets his eyesight damaged due to his work burden. His lack of ability to see things that
are at a distance is him being handicapped which further takes on metaphorical overtones
as we read ahead. He only as the ability, according to the novel, to see "one kind of thing
that was very small, for which [his eyes] hunted everywhere”. This represents his narrow
minded money obsession. Silas only sees gold in every matter that he is in link with and all
his activities. Money is the only thing he has in his life that means something to him.
Basically, this too signifies Silas's physical destruction as well as spiritual one. Silas on being
brought back to the community by Eppie "seem to have gathered a longer vision.”
One night, a young girl appears on his door called Eppie and brings a great change to his life.
From a miserable man, Marner transforms into a loving and devoted father as he adopts
23 Silas Marner – Leaving Cert Revision Notes – English
her. “…the little child had come to link him [Silas Marner] once more with the whole world.”
Through this love for Eppie, he develops friendships with Dolly Winthrop and her son,
Aaron. This is when his interest for life is regained.
Eppie is actually the daughter of Molly Farren and Godfrey Cass, who ends up at the cottage
of Silas Marner one night because a snowstorm had taken place which kills her mother. She
is a beautiful child with hair like gold which is linked to the recently stolen gold from Silas
Marner. Eppie is definitely not an innocent child but that of a mischievous young girl but
that is mainly because Silas Marner is not in favour of disciplining her at all. She grows up to
become a rather good natured and light tempered young lady whose immense devotion to
her father is marvellous. Their sincere love is able to rebuild the interest of Marner in
Raveloe, regain his faith and re-establish linkages with the community. “Since the time the
child was sent to me and I've come to love her as myself, I've had light enough to trusten by;
and now she says she'll never leave me, I think I shall trusten till I die.”
When Eppie finds out that Marner is not her father but Godfrey is, she is not impressed and
does not want anything to do with him. “Thank you, ma'am—thank you, sir. But I can't leave
my father, nor own anybody nearer than him. And I don't want to be a lady—thank you all
the same” (here Eppie dropped another curtsy). “I couldn't give up the folks I've been used
to.” She refuses to be taken away by him and leave the father she has always known. She
takes a stand against him and denies his offer. “O father,” said Eppie, “what a pretty home
ours is! I think nobody could be happier than we are.”
Godfrey, Eppie's natural father, receives a severe lashing of the tongue from his own father,
Squire Cass in chapter nine. This is as a result of Godfrey's confession that he had lent
money to Dunsey for rent from one of the tenants of his father's. According to the Squire,
he feels he has been a wrong father by being 'too good' and that has resulted into his sons
being spoiled. This scenario presents an excellent comparison with the kind of love and
affection Silas Marner and Eppie share. “Godfrey was silent. He was not likely to be very
penetrating in his judgments, but he had always had a sense that his father’s indulgence had
not been kindness, and had had a vague longing for some discipline that would have
checked his own errant weakness and helped his better will.”
Although both Eppie and Godfrey have grown without the love of a mother, their financial
circumstances have been greatly different. Godfrey's father had plenty of money but their
family did not share love and respect for each other. Eppie's father, Silas Marner, is not
financially strong but they share the sincerest kind of love and respect for one another. It is
not that both fathers do not indulge their children, they do so but one out of love, that is
Silas Marner, and the other out of negligence, that is the Squire. Eppie has no doubt about
the love of Silas whereas Godfrey has severe doubts. The author has implied here that this
critical difference is the reason behind Godfrey growing up to become a coward and a
person of weak will whereas Eppie is a woman of strong will and greater sense of values.
This strangely novel situation of opening his trouble to his Raveloe neighbours, of sitting in
the warmth of a hearth not his own, and feeling the presence of faces and voices which
were his nearest promise of help, had doubtless its influence on Marner, in spite of his
passionate preoccupation with his loss. Our consciousness rarely registers the beginning of a
growth within us any more than without us: there have been many circulations of the sap
before we detect the smallest sign of the bud.
24 Silas Marner – Leaving Cert Revision Notes – English
In Chapter 7 is given the first moment ever since Silas got banished from Lantern Yard and
isn't in any sort of way part of the society. He has gone to seek help at the Rainbow after he
got robbed. The tavern-goers ask Silas to be seated near the hearth and narrate his story
from the beginning. Silas narrates the story and at that very point starts to go through his
first stirrings of a sense of solidarity with his neighbours. All that he experiences is in a
strange way a story like for Silas: he has never in his life been to a Rainbow and it has been a
long while before he had been to someone else’s house. Most importantly, for the past one
and a half decade, he hasn't had the experience of being around others and reassured of
their presence.
As these initiations of change are described, Eliot, like she usually does rely on a metaphor
taken from the natural world. Over here Silas has been compared with a plant that is
budding in the end of winter. This is when the sapling has begun to circulate but before that
there is no such sign of life on the outward. This picture of rebirth gives the idea that the
society is something organic and completely natural, as against the idea of unnatural, unstructuring solitude from which Silas is beginning to bud.
25 Silas Marner – Leaving Cert Revision Notes – English