Godfrey Cass and Nancy Lammeter in Relation to Silas Marner

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Recommended: Literature during the industrial revolution

Godfrey Cass and Nancy Lammeter in Relation to Silas Marner

This essay is aimed at exploring the influences that religion, society

and community have on Silas Marner, Godfrey Cass and Nancy Lammeter.

George Eliot wrote Silas Marner between 1860 and 1861. The novel is

set at the beginning of the 19th century and at that time religion and

social classes were far more important than they are today. The novel

looks at the different responses each character has to afflictions

they are faced with and explores the origins of folk myth in a rural

community.

One of the main characters of the novel is Silas Marner; he lives in

an industrial Northern town, in the close community of Lantern Yard -

a narrow group of Congregationalists. The church and community are a

very important part of Silas's life, as the religious sect of Lantern

Yard has developed its own system of belief.His strong faith means

that Silas is greatly influenced by his religious beliefs and the

community he belongs too. Silas has a fiancée called Sarah and

although further on in the novel he appears to lack feeling, this is

evidence that he was able to love and allowed another to share in his

life. Although now marriage is not viewed as a permanent bond, the

period in which Silas's life is based means that he would have

regarded it as a lifelong commitment and a divorce would have been

unthinkable. Nevertheless, his loyalty and innocence are questioned

when his so called best friend, William Dane (who Silas admired and

trusted so much) accuses him of stealing money from the church. This

is the first of Silas's afflictions...

... middle of paper ...

...s can go back

into the past, fore even Lantern Yard has disappeared, when Silas

returns there at the end of the novel. As Eppie and Aaron get married

Silas uses the wedding ring he had removed from Molly and gives it to

Eppie. This is a clear reference to the sentiment and love that now

fills his heart.

The characters, Silas Marner, Godfrey Cass and Nancy Lammeter cannot

be fully understood without an awareness of the time and place in

which the novel is set because many of their responses to difficult

situations were based on their upbringing and religious beliefs. The

three main characters represent the different layers of the community

and social classes. This novel is about human companionship, and

proves that human love, especially the love of a child, is worth far

more than gold.

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