Silas Marner

1. Why are weavers typically objects of suspicion in Silas’s day?

2. How does Silas know about herbal medicine?

3. What is dropsy?

4. Why doesn’t Silas protest his innocence when he is framed for theft?

5. During the period in his life when all he does is work and hoard money, Silas is likened to:

6. From where does Godfrey obtain the one hundred pounds that he lends Dunsey?

7. Why does Godfrey put up with Dunsey’s bullying?

8. Why does Dunsey almost turn around and return home before he gets to the hunt?

9. Where does Silas go when he finds his gold missing?

10. What is a farrier?

11. To whom does everyone in town suspect the mysterious tinder-box belongs?

12. What do Mr. Crackenthorp, Mr. Macey, and Dolly Winthrop all suggest when they come to visit Silas after he loses his money?

13. Why does Nancy arrive at the New Year’s dance resolved to reject Godfrey?

14. Why is Molly Farren coming to the New Year’s dance?

15. Why do Nancy and Priscilla wear the same dress to the New Year’s dance?

16. How is Eppie able to enter Silas’s cottage so easily?

17. What is Silas’s first thought when he notices that the mass of gold on his hearth is in fact a baby girl?

18. What does Silas attempt to do to discipline Eppie?

19. Why doesn’t Godfrey go by the title of Squire?

20. What is Godfrey’s role in Eppie’s life?

21. Why does Nancy refuse for so long to adopt Eppie?

22. What prompts Godfrey to confess his secret?

23. When Godfrey confesses to Eppie that he is her father, what is her reaction?

24. Why does Silas decide to return to Lantern Yard for a visit?

25. What is Nancy’s reaction to Godfrey’s confession that he had a previous marriage and child?