The Mill on the Floss · Chapter
VI: The Aunts and Uncles Are Coming explained
The Tullivers prepare for a family gathering at Easter, where they will discuss Tom's schooling.
What happens
The Tullivers prepare for a family gathering at Easter, where they will discuss Tom's schooling. Mrs. Tulliver worries about her sisters' judgments, especially regarding Maggie's behavior, while Mr. Tulliver dismisses such concerns. The chapter also includes a scene between Tom and Maggie where a conflict over a puff pastry highlights their differing temperaments.
Themes in this chapter
Family Obligation and Conflict
The Tullivers' preparations for the family gathering highlight tensions between Mr. and Mrs. Tulliver over the Dodson sisters' influence and the children's behavior.
Gender Roles and Limitations
Mrs. Tulliver's submissiveness to her husband on most matters contrasts with her assertiveness regarding her family, reflecting the limited agency of women.
Social Class and Respectability
The Dodson family's pride in their respectable ways and the emphasis on proper conduct illustrate the importance of social standing.
Characters to notice
- Maggie Tulliver
Shows her sensitive and sacrificial nature during the puff pastry conflict with Tom, and is later distressed by his reproach.
- Tom Tulliver
Demonstrates a rigid sense of fairness and justice, feeling aggrieved when Maggie does not reciprocate his generosity.
- Mrs. Tulliver
Anxious about the upcoming family visit, she frets over her children's behavior and her sisters' opinions.
- Mr. Tulliver
Dismisses his wife's worries about the Dodson sisters and insists on inviting sister Deane, showing his independent streak.
- Bob Jakin
Mentioned as Tom's companion by the river; Maggie considers him wicked without fully understanding why.
- Lucy Deane
Referenced by Mrs. Tulliver as a model child, contrasting with Maggie's naughtiness.
Key passages
“Tom, you perceive, was rather a Rhadamanthine personage, having more than the usual share of boy's justice in him—the justice that desires to hurt culprits as much as they deserve to be hurt, and is troubled with no doubts concerning the exact amount of their deserts.”
Tom had a strict sense of fairness, wanting to punish wrongdoers exactly as they deserved without any second thoughts.
Highlights Tom's rigid moral code, which contrasts with Maggie's more empathetic nature.
“Maggie, gifted with that superior power of misery which distinguishes the human being, and places him at a proud distance from the most melancholy chimpanzee, sat still on her bough, and gave herself up to the keen sense of unmerited reproach.”
Maggie's capacity for deep unhappiness set her apart from animals, and she dwelled on the feeling of being unfairly blamed.
Emphasizes Maggie's emotional intensity and her tendency to internalize guilt.
“Few wives were more submissive than Mrs. Tulliver on all points unconnected with her family relations; but she had been a Miss Dodson, and the Dodsons were a very respectable family indeed—as much looked up to as any in their own parish, or the next to it.”
Mrs. Tulliver usually deferred to her husband, except when it came to her own family, the Dodsons, who were highly respected in the area.
Illustrates the tension between marital submission and family loyalty in Mrs. Tulliver's character.