Middlemarch: The Web of Affinities, by Gillian Beer

In ‘Middlemarch: The Web of Affinities’, Gillian Beer traces the influence that Darwin had on the work of George Elliot. In her analysis of Darwin’s metaphor of ‘the inextricable web of affinities’, Beer quotes the central notions inherent in “The Origin of the Species”, as well as its implications for Eliot’s writing. Darwin writes that we it is possible for us to see, distinctly, the manner in which all ‘living and extinct beings are able to be linked together in one extensive classification, and the manner in which the many components of each category is bound up together. He goes on to not that we will in all probability not be able to ‘disentangle the inextricable web of affinities between the members of any one class:’ but when we have a definite item in sight, and when we do not look to a specific unnamed scheme of conception, we have the possibility of making slow, but certain advancement.

In the context of Darwin’s theory all things and beings are connected in such a way that they are inexorably bound up. In this scenario there are clear indications of a cause and effect paradigm in which whatever occurs, with or without agency impacts on the whole fabric of existence. What is of cause dynamic in Darwin’s conception of ‘The Web of Affinities” is that human-beings are perceived as, simply a species, without any superiority over other species.

Spinoza argues that there is only one substance that exists which he names as God who is immeasurable and boundless. In this perspective nothing is outside the bounds of, or apart from God. If one relates these ideas of Spinoza to his idea of ‘the web of social relations’ expresses the fundamental conviction that connected and dependent on each other. Every event or matter i...

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...erstanding of Casaubon who is after all irrevocably linked to all members of society and suggest that if he appears different then it is only because he has been too harshly judged. This appeal which consists in a call for Casaubon to be viewed as just one of us, all linked, influenced and impacted, on through our connection in the vast webs of affinity and social relations.

It should be noted while there is evidence that Eliot utilized the ideas of both Darwin and Spinoza she was familiar with a vast range of other theorists and their ideas, furthermore Gillian Beer makes it clear that she had some difficulty in accepting the entire notions propounded by these theorist. It is more likely that Eliot used those aspects of philosophical and scientific ideas that she found useful while discarding or reimagining other ideas to suit the purposes of her writing.