Key Facts
full title · Adam Bede
author · George Eliot
type of work · Novel
genre · Bildungsroman; tragedy
language · English
time and place written · 1857–1859,
England
date of first publication · February 1, 1859
publisher · William Blackwood and Sons
narrator · The narrator is an anonymous historian who knows Adam
later in life. The narrator has a low opinion of the reader, whom
he imagines as a socialite woman.
point of view · The narrator speaks primarily in the third person,
centering on characters one at a time and revealing their thoughts
and feelings in turn. Sometimes, the narrator breaks through to
comment on the actions and feelings of the character in the first
person.
tone · The narrator is generally empathetic with the characters, although
sometimes the narrator is very sarcastic about the reader's imagined
response to the characters.
tense · Past tense
setting (time) · June 1799–June 1807
setting (place) · Hayslope, England
protagonist · Adam Bede
major conflict · Adam Bede comes to terms with the disgrace and crimes
of his fiancée and learns how evil acts in the world.
rising action · When Hetty Sorrel has an affair with Captain Donnithorne,
gets pregnant, and murders her newborn child, Adam Bede must face the
reality that not all people conform to his conception of goodness.
climax · Adam's discovery of Hetty's crime forces upon him the knowledge
of her pregnancy and the death of her child; for him, life will
forever be marked by the sorrow he feels over her disgrace.
falling action · Adam observes Hetty's trial from afar, forgives Hetty,
and returns to life in Hayslope. Only over time is he able to come
to terms with Hetty's disgrace and exile from England.
themes · The value of hard work; the power of love; the consequences
of bad behavior
motifs · Natural beauty; dogs; narrative sarcasm
symbols · Gates; hearth and home; clothing
foreshadowing · Adam hears the omen of death the night before his father
dies; Hetty's impending shame is her pregnancy; Dinah blushes when Adam
surprises her at the Bede home, foreshadowing their love and marriage.
