Please wait while we process your payment
Reset Password
Suggestions
Use up and down arrows to review and enter to select.Please wait while we process your payment
If you don't see it, please check your spam folder. Sometimes it can end up there.
If you don't see it, please check your spam folder. Sometimes it can end up there.
Please wait while we process your payment
By signing up you agree to our terms and privacy policy.
Don’t have an account? Subscribe now
Create Your Account
Sign up for your FREE 7-day trial
Already have an account? Log in
Your Email
Choose Your Plan
Save over 50% with a SparkNotes PLUS Annual Plan!
Purchasing SparkNotes PLUS for a group?
Get Annual Plans at a discount when you buy 2 or more!
Price
$24.99 $18.74 /subscription + tax
Subtotal $37.48 + tax
Save 25% on 2-49 accounts
Save 30% on 50-99 accounts
Want 100 or more? Contact us for a customized plan.
Your Plan
Payment Details
Payment Summary
SparkNotes Plus
You'll be billed after your free trial ends.
7-Day Free Trial
Not Applicable
Renews February 9, 2023 February 2, 2023
Discounts (applied to next billing)
DUE NOW
US $0.00
SNPLUSROCKS20 | 20% Discount
This is not a valid promo code.
Discount Code (one code per order)
SparkNotes Plus subscription is $4.99/month or $24.99/year as selected above. The free trial period is the first 7 days of your subscription. TO CANCEL YOUR SUBSCRIPTION AND AVOID BEING CHARGED, YOU MUST CANCEL BEFORE THE END OF THE FREE TRIAL PERIOD. You may cancel your subscription on your Subscription and Billing page or contact Customer Support at custserv@bn.com. Your subscription will continue automatically once the free trial period is over. Free trial is available to new customers only.
Choose Your Plan
Payment Details
Payment Summary
For the next 7 days, you'll have access to awesome PLUS stuff like AP English test prep, No Fear Shakespeare translations and audio, a note-taking tool, personalized dashboard, & much more!
You’ve successfully purchased a group discount. Your group members can use the joining link below to redeem their group membership. You'll also receive an email with the link.
Members will be prompted to log in or create an account to redeem their group membership.
Thanks for creating a SparkNotes account! Continue to start your free trial.
Please wait while we process your payment
Your PLUS subscription has expired
Please wait while we process your payment
Please wait while we process your payment
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.
Please wait while we process your payment
