The Mill on the Floss - I'm baffled, help me out....

[VeronicaBeccabunga]

I have not read any other George Eliot before, but I'm tackling authors I feel I ought to have read.
The whole book depends on the 'fall' of the Tulliver family following Mr T's loss of a lawsuit.
He is in dispute with Mr Pivart, over his taking water from the Floss upstream from the mill for an irrigation scheme, affecting the flow at Dorlcote and therefore the viability of the mill.
So: Mr Tulliver loses and is ruined by the legal costs. The mill, however, continues to run and Tom devotes his life to restoring its ownership to the Tulliver family.
Surely if Mr Pivart has won, and can abstract water from the river, then the mill is no longer functional, Tom has nothing to work for and the entire story is, frankly, dodgy?

The whole book is dodgy. Why didn’t she just marry him?

Which one though? Philip or Stephen?
To be honest by the end I no longer cared much and as for the final scene: I think the poor author had had enough and just decided to bump them off.

I did this for A Level, along with Tess of the d'Urbervilles. I was so fed of martyr women and useless men by the time I reached 18!

George Elliot's life was interesting though - a long relationship with a married man, who was good at spending her money, which had been paid to him because she was female.

Never read the book but I used to live in the town. The river is plenty big enough for everyone to take water out of it so no idea why there was a dispute. 🤷‍♀️👍

Maybe that's why Mr Tulliver lost - because he was trying to make a case which wasn't true?

And actually that would answer the OPs question I guess. Water was extracted but still plenty left for the mill. Solved. Don’t ever visit btw, it’s a shit hole! 😱😂

I refuse to reread Mill on the Floss because Maggie is never properly justified. But it would have opened up a lot of eyes when it was published. Middlemarch is glorious and has a gallimaufrey of female and male characters and a much better balance. Daniel Deronda is interesting and deals with women's rights.

I did Tess for A Level, too, and haven't read any other Hardy since *shudder

@QuintanaRoo
Thanks for the warning. Funnily enough I don't really feel the urge to make a pilgrimage. Although if I ever happen to be in the area I might go and see where Tom and Maggie abruptly met their maker 😂

I read it a long time ago so can't recall all the details, but I will always remember 'the little wench' and her tragic end.