# Chapter LXX explained — Middlemarch

> Chapter companion for Middlemarch by George Eliot.

## What happens

Lydgate, freed from his debts by Bulstrode's loan, feels a mix of relief and moral unease. Bulstrode, haunted by Raffles' illness and his own secret guilt, administers opium as Lydgate directed, hoping for Raffles' death. Farebrother visits Lydgate, offering sympathy and concern.

## Themes in this chapter

### Money and Economic Pressure

Lydgate's relief from debt and Bulstrode's loan highlight the crushing weight of financial obligations and the moral compromises they force.

### Selfishness and Moral Compromise

Bulstrode's internal conflict between his religious vows and his murderous wishes toward Raffles exemplifies selfish desire overriding moral intent.

## Character check-ins

### Tertius Lydgate

Lydgate is relieved after Bulstrode pays his debts, but feels uneasy about Raffles' death and the moral compromise of accepting money from Bulstrode.

### Nicholas Bulstrode

Bulstrode struggles with guilt and desire for Raffles' death, administers opium as prescribed, and gives Lydgate a loan to secure his goodwill.

### Camden Farebrother

Farebrother visits Lydgate out of concern, having heard about the execution, and is relieved to learn the debt is paid.

### John Raffles

Raffles is gravely ill, raving and sinking, under Bulstrode's care; his death is imminent.

### Rosamond Vincy

Rosamond is mentioned as the one Lydgate wants to share the good news of the loan with.

## Key lines

> He had set out on his work with all his old animation, and felt himself strong enough to bear all the deficiencies of his married life.

Lydgate resumed his work with renewed energy, feeling capable of enduring the shortcomings in his marriage.

_Shows Lydgate's temporary optimism after his financial reprieve._

> Strange, piteous conflict in the soul of this unhappy man, who had longed for years to be better than he was—who had taken his selfish passions into discipline and clad them in severe robes, so that he had walked with them as a devout choir, till now that a terror had risen among them, and they could chant no longer, but threw out their common cries for safety.

Bulstrode's long struggle to appear righteous collapses under the terror of exposure, revealing his raw selfishness.

_Highlights Bulstrode's internal moral crisis and hypocrisy._

> A man vows, and yet will not cast away the means of breaking his vow. Is it that he distinctly means to break it? Not at all; but the desires which tend to break it are at work in him dimly, and make their way into his imagination, and relax his muscles in the very moments when he is telling himself over again the reasons for his vow.

Bulstrode's conscious intention to follow Lydgate's orders is undermined by his subconscious desire for Raffles' death.

_Illustrates the theme of moral self-deception._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/middlemarch_se/chapters/lxx
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/middlemarch_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/middlemarch_se/chapters