# Mr. Tulliver Shows His Weaker Side explained — The Mill on the Floss

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

## What happens

Mr. Tulliver visits his sister Mrs. Moss and her family, revealing his softer feelings toward Maggie and his conflicted sense of duty and pride. He resolves to call in a debt from his brother-in-law to pay off Mrs. Glegg's loan, but his good-natured weakness and the family's financial entanglements complicate his resolve.

## Themes in this chapter

### Family Obligation and Conflict

Mr. Tulliver's visit to his sister reveals the tension between financial duty and familial affection, as he struggles to demand repayment of a loan.

### Pride and Fall

Mr. Tulliver's pride in his perceived substance contrasts with his actual financial vulnerability, foreshadowing potential ruin.

### Gender Roles and Limitations

Mrs. Moss's dependence on her brother and Mrs. Tulliver's limited influence in financial matters reflect the constraints on women.

## Character check-ins

### Mr. Tulliver

Shows his weaker side through affection for Maggie and reluctance to press his sister, while trying to assert financial resolve.

### Mrs. Moss

Mr. Tulliver's sister, poor and burdened with many children, who defends her family and hopes for brotherly kindness.

### Maggie Tulliver

Praised by her aunt Moss and compared to her cousin Lizzy; Mr. Tulliver reflects on her future and Tom's duty to her.

### Tom Tulliver

Mentioned in Mr. Tulliver's thoughts about his duty to Maggie.

### Mrs. Tulliver

Anxiously discusses finances with her husband and plans to visit her sister Pullet.

### Mrs. Glegg

Her loan of five hundred pounds is the source of Mr. Tulliver's financial worry.

## Key lines

> But Maggie always appeared in the most amiable light at her aunt Moss's; it was her Alsatia, where she was out of the reach of law⁠—if she upset anything, dirtied her shoes, or tore her frock, these things were matters of course at her aunt Moss's.

At her aunt Moss's house, Maggie could be free and messy without punishment, unlike at home.

_Highlights Maggie's need for a place where she is not judged._

> He had been always used to hear pleasant jokes about his advantages as a man who worked his own mill, and owned a pretty bit of land; and these jokes naturally kept up his sense that he was a man of considerable substance.

Flattering remarks from others made Mr. Tulliver believe he was wealthier than he actually was.

_Illustrates his self-deception and pride._

> Mr. Tulliver, when under the influence of a strong feeling, had a promptitude in action that may seem inconsistent with that painful sense of the complicated, puzzling nature of human affairs under which his more dispassionate deliberations were conducted.

When emotionally charged, Mr. Tulliver acted quickly, even though he usually found life's problems confusing.

_Shows his impulsive nature when driven by emotion._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_mill_on_the_floss_se/chapters/viii-mr-tulliver-shows-his-weaker-side
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