# Book VI: The Great Temptation explained — The Mill on the Floss

> Chapter companion for The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot.

## What happens

Maggie Tulliver faces intense emotional turmoil as she is drawn into a passionate but forbidden relationship with Stephen Guest, who is engaged to her cousin Lucy Deane. The chapter explores the conflict between her desires and her sense of duty, leading to a crisis of conscience.

## Themes in this chapter

### Passion vs. Duty

Maggie is torn between her passionate attraction to Stephen and her duty to Lucy and her own moral principles.

### Gender Roles and Limitations

Maggie's struggle highlights the limited choices available to women, who were judged harshly for romantic transgressions.

## Character check-ins

### Maggie Tulliver

Struggles with her feelings for Stephen Guest and the moral implications of her actions.

### Stephen Guest

Pursues Maggie despite his engagement to Lucy, representing the temptation she faces.

### Lucy Deane

Maggie's cousin and Stephen's fiancée, whose trust is betrayed by the developing relationship.

### Philip Wakem

Maggie's former love, whose memory adds to her internal conflict.

## Key lines

> The great temptation of Maggie's life was now upon her.

Maggie faced the most significant moral test of her life.

_Sets the central conflict of the chapter._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_mill_on_the_floss_se/chapters/book-vi-the-great-temptation
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_mill_on_the_floss_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_mill_on_the_floss_se/chapters