Middlemarch · Chapter
LIII explained
Bulstrode is tormented by Raffles, who reappears and blackmails him, demanding money and threatening to expose his past.
What happens
Bulstrode is tormented by Raffles, who reappears and blackmails him, demanding money and threatening to expose his past. Raffles recalls the name 'Ladislaw' and writes it down, while Bulstrode, now owner of Stone Court, dreads the reappearance of his tormentor and the potential disgrace before his neighbors and wife.
Themes in this chapter
Selfishness and Moral Compromise
Bulstrode's desperate attempts to buy off Raffles and conceal his past reveal his moral compromise and selfish fear of exposure.
Money and Economic Pressure
Raffles uses financial demands to control Bulstrode, highlighting the power of money in personal relationships.
Community and Gossip
Bulstrode's dread of disgrace before his neighbors and wife underscores the role of community judgment in shaping behavior.
Characters to notice
- Nicholas Bulstrode
Tormented by Raffles' reappearance and blackmail; owner of Stone Court; fears disgrace.
- John Raffles
Blackmails Bulstrode, demands money, recalls the name 'Ladislaw' and writes it down.
- Caleb Garth
Meets Bulstrode at Stone Court to advise on stable drainage; observes Raffles' arrival.
- Mrs. Bulstrode
Glad of the purchase of Stone Court for her husband's health; unaware of his dread.
- Will Ladislaw
Name recalled by Raffles and written down, potentially linking to Bulstrode's past.
Key passages
“said Bulstrode, with white heat; “the law has no hold on me either through your agency or any other.” “You can’t understand a joke, my good fellow. I only meant that I should never decline to know you. But let us be serious. Your quarterly payment won’t quite suit me. I like my freedom.””
Bulstrode angrily insists the law cannot touch him through Raffles, but Raffles dismisses it as a joke and demands a lump sum instead of quarterly payments, valuing his freedom.
Raffles asserts control by rejecting Bulstrode's terms and demanding immediate money.
“That action of memory which he had tried to set going, and had abandoned in despair, had suddenly completed itself without conscious effort—a common experience, agreeable as a completed sneeze, even if the name remembered is of no value.”
Raffles suddenly recalls the name 'Ladislaw' without trying, a satisfying mental event, and writes it down for possible future use.
The involuntary memory of 'Ladislaw' hints at a dangerous connection to Bulstrode's past.
“For the pain, as well as the public estimate of disgrace, depends on the amount of previous profession. To men who only aim at escaping felony, nothing short of the prisoner’s dock is disgrace. But Mr. Bulstrode had aimed at being an eminent Christian.”
The severity of disgrace is proportional to one's public religious claims; Bulstrode's high Christian profession makes the threat of exposure far more devastating.
The narrator explains why Bulstrode's fear of disgrace is so acute given his pious reputation.