Adam Bede
By George Eliot(1819-1880)
Short
summary
The main story revolves around the
life and love of
Adam Bede, a carpenter of good
and honest character.
Adam is a practical head
of his family, which includes his father,
Thais Bede,
Who has taken to drink and has lost
the respect of his son,
Lisbeth, the well meaning but weakly
fussy mother and
Seth Bede, his brother, who is a Methodist.
Seth is in love with his fellow
Methodist, Dinah Morris.
Although, Seth has tried his luck with
Dinah once yet tries his luck once again.
Seth assures her that marriage will not
prove a hindrance in her religious duties.
Dinah respects him very much, but
she does not accept his proposal, because she feels that she should not marry.
However, she assures him that if she ever thinks of marriage, he would be the
first one. Poor
Seth is dejected but tries to find
consolation in her assurance.
Adam is working in the
workshop of Mr. Burge who desires that Adam should marry his daughter. In
that case, he is ready to make him a partner in the business. However, Adam is
in love with the pretty nice of Poysers named Hetty Sorrel.
Hetty is a woman of a very shallow nature.
Moreover, she has a soft corner for the heir of the village squire namely Arthur-Donnithorne.
Arthur is a childhood
friend of
Adam. He is a good man but is
of a weak moral character and cannot resist the charm of Hetty. Unknown to
Adam, Arthur and
Hetty meet in the woods in the cottage
which
Arthur has furnished for
living. At a birthday party,
Arthur has paid great
attention to
Hetty, so that she started thinking
to live a life of with
Arthur and of the charms
of that such a life would provide. Naturally, the offer of
Adam now means nothing to
vain Hetty. Arthur and Hetty are once surprised in the woods by Adam ,who
happens to pass that way just when two lovers are bending down for a kiss.
Adam Gets angry to see
that he is being betrayed by his best friend. He forces a fight on
Arthur and knocks him
unconscious. In fact, for a time it appears to Adam that he has killed
Arthur. Adam insists that the
affair must end at once. He forces Arthur to write a letter to Hetty, in
which he informs her that their love-affair must not continue.
Hetty is shocked to find all her dreams
turning to dust and ashes. In this situation a proposal from
Adam appears to her a best
chance. Burge offers partnership to Adam regardless of marriage with his
daughter .Adam is now in a position to support a wife and makes a proposal
to
Hetty .Hetty accepts him and an early date is fixed for their
marriage. All seems to be well for the major characters, Adam, Arthur and Hetty,
when a tragedy strikes a swift blow which engulfs all of them.
Hetty discovers herself pregnant. She did
not inform anyone about this situation. On the pretext of inviting
Dinah for marriage,
Hetty leaves home. The object of her
journey is
Arthur, how has gone away with
his regiment but has left his address with her in case of an emergency. After a
tiring journey, she reaches the place but discovered that in the meanwhile the
regiment has moved to Ireland. At the end of her resources, she at last
decided to meet Dinah. However, she unexpectedly gives birth to a child in
the house of a kind-hearted and God-fearing couple. She leaves the place on the
very next day. It is known later that she placed the infant in a hollow under a
tree and covered it with grass and small pieces of wood. Later, she comes back
to look for the child, which, in the meanwhile, has been taken away by a man
who has seen a small hand coming out of the grass. On reaching home, he finds
the infant to be dead. He informs authorities and
Hetty is arrested for child-murder. In
Hays lope, this news first reaches the priest,
Mr. Irwin.
In the meanwhile,
Adam has been on the
futile search for
Hetty. He, now, learns the bitter
truth from
Irwin and also tells him that
he knows about Hetty and Arthur.
Hetty is tried for the crime of murdering
her own child, is found guilty and sentenced to death. She is saved from the
very verge of death by a hard won relief by Arthur. Her punishment is changed
into life imprisonment.
Dinah Morris succeeds in moving the
hardened heart of Hetty and
obtaining a full confession from her. During
Hetty’s trial she comes in close contact with
Adam and falls in love
with him.
Seth despairs of success with
Dinah in his love-suit and asks
Adam to try his luck with her. Adam does
so and is accepted. Hetty undergoes
a long imprisonment, is released but dies on her way home.
Arthur decides to join
the army and leaves Hays lope.
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