Silas Marner

Silas Marner

Plot Summary

Eliot's novel opens with a brief summary of Silas's history: he once lived in a town called Lantern Yard, where he was revered as a religious man. He fell into a fit one day at church, however, and while most of the community took this as a sign of his piety, his friend William Dane suggested that such lapsing into unconsciousness might be the sign of something satanic within Silas. Soon after this incident, Silas is accused of stealing money from a dying deacon, and he's found guilty, even though it turns out William has framed Silas. This supposed friend then steals Silas's fiancee, Sarah, and Silas leaves town in disgrace.

Silas comes to Raveloe -- a prosperous small town in central England and sets up shop there, weaving for the community. He's self-employed and soon begins making quite a bit of money. He's not particularly well-liked because he keeps to himself and is a notorious miser. His stash of gold is his life, and each evening he takes it out from its hiding spot and gazes at it lovingly.

After he's been living in Raveloe for some time, Silas's life intersects with the lives of the Cass family in unexpected ways. The Cass's are the most prominent, important family in town. Squire Cass -- the patriarch -- and his two sons, Dunstan and Godfrey, live in a large house in the center of Raveloe, called the Red House. Godfrey is the eldest, and has traditionally been a good son but lately has been acting strangely. He apparently has a secret that only his brother knows, and that Dunstan holds over Godfrey's head as a way to manipulate Godfrey into lending him money. When Godfrey tries to collect on a debt, Dunstan -- an infamous bad seed -- flies into a rage and, the next morning, steals Godfrey's favorite horse, Wildfire, and sets off to sell him to get the money to pay Godfrey back.

On his way home from making the sale, however, Dunstan decides to take Wildfire hunting, and when he's jumping the horse, he miscalculates the effort required and impales Wildfire on a stake, killing him. Not only will he not be able to collect the money for Wildfire, but he's now got to walk home in the rain. On his way, he spots Silas's house and decides to go in and coerce Silas into lending him the money. When he sees that Silas isn't home, he plunders the cottage, finds his gold, and steals it. Dunstan isn't heard from again for the rest of the novel.

When Silas finds his money missing, he falls into a deep depression. The villagers warm to him somewhat because of his loss, and begin taking pity on him. One such villager, Dolly Winthrop, strikes up a friendship with Silas, coming by at Christmastime to bring him lardcakes. Silas's misery continues somewhat unabated, however, until, fifteen years into his time at Raveloe, a small child finds her way into his cottage. It's a snowy New Year's Eve, and Silas is at home feeling sorry for himself. He periodically opens his door and looks out, as if expecting the money to come back to him. Meanwhile, a woman named Molly is carrying her small child through the snow, en route to crash the Cass New Year's party. Molly, it turns out, is Godfrey's wife, though he's kept her secret from everyone but Dunstan, and the child is theirs together. Molly is an opium addict, though, and on her way to announce herself at the Cass's door, she takes a hit of opium and lays down to sleep in the snow just outside Silas's house, releasing her grip on the baby. The baby wanders into Silas's house and sits down in front of the fire, but Molly dies outside in the cold.

When Silas finds the child he is unexpectedly drawn to her. He decides to keep her, and so begins a radically new chapter in his life. When Godfrey finds out about the dead woman and the child, he realizes that it's Molly, and doesn't say anything about the fact that he's the child's father. He takes Molly's death as an opportunity to court his true love, Nancy Lammeter, in earnest. Silas and Eppie -- as he names the girl -- begin to have a bucolic life together, taking walks out in the fields and enjoying each other's company.

The novel now cuts to sixteen years later. Eppie is a young woman of eighteen, and she and Silas are as close as ever. She is also being courted by Aaron Winthrop, Dolly's son, and while she's interested in him, she's also apprehensive that marrying him will mean having to leave her father -- something that she doesn't want to do. She decides to accept on the condition that the three of them can all live together, an arrangement that Aaron readily agrees to, saying that he could never take Eppie away from Silas. Around this time, Dunstan's skeleton is found at the bottom of a stone-pit near Silas's house, and Silas's bag of gold is with him. Godfrey takes this opportunity to confess to Nancy that Eppie is his child, since he figures that if Dunstan's theft can be found out, sixteen years later, that all secrets will eventually be revealed. He and Nancy are still childless, and the two of them decide to try to get Eppie to live with them and recognize Godfrey as her father. Eppie refuses, however, wanting only to be with Silas. Father and daughter make a quick trip to Lantern Yard with Dolly Winthrop in the hopes that Silas can exonerate himself, but the town is gone, replaced with a bustling industrial center. When they return to Raveloe, Eppie and Aaron get married in front of the town pub, the Rainbow. And the novel ends with Eppie's happy outburst that she and Silas are the happiest two people she can imagine.




Main Characters

Silas Marner

Silas is a young man when we get our first glimpse of him in the town of his birth, Lantern Yard. He is renowned there for his great piety, which is evidenced in a notorious fit that he falls into while at church one day. After fainting, the townspeople revere him for what must have been his religious visions. But his close friend, William Dane, suspects the faint to have been caused by satanic -- not divine -- forces. William accuses Silas of stealing money from a dying deacon that the two had volunteered to look after, and the town finds Silas guilty. He leaves in disgrace for Raveloe. He spends his first fifteen years in this new town living a hermit-like existence, weaving day and night, and stockpiling the gold he gets in return for his wares. Silas's life revolves around his gold, and he takes it out each evening to admire. One evening while he's out on an errand, however, a young man named Dunstan Cass, who is the son of Squire Cass -- one of the best-respected and most seemingly well-off men in the community -- stumbles by and steals Silas's money in the hopes of paying off a debt to his father and brother. When Silas discovers his money gone, he's thrown into a deep depression that isn't lifted until an unusual event happens. In his fifteenth year at Raveloe, Silas finds a young child sitting in front of his fire one evening. She is the daughter of Godfrey Cass (Dunstan's brother), who wed a woman named Molly, fathered her child, and has kept these two secret from the rest of the community. The child has wandered away from Molly, an opium addict who died in the snow outside Silas's house. Silas names the girl Eppie, and his life is instantly changed. He becomes well-liked by the townspeople, who respect him for taking in an orphan (no one knows that Eppie is actually Godfrey's daughter, of course). The novel jumps sixteen years, and Silas is a man of fifty-five, living a delightful existence with Eppie. The two remain devoted to each other until the end of the novel, living together in Silas's small cottage.

Eppie Marner

She's only a small child when she makes her entrance in the novel. She's a toddler in her mother's arms one night, being carried to the Cass's New Year's Eve party, where the two are most emphatically not expected. When her mother, Molly, passes out in an opium-induced haze, she wanders off into Silas's house. She lives with him after that, and she grows up to be a boisterous, vibrant girl with flowing brown curls. She is absolutely grateful to Silas and deeply attached to him. She marries Aaron Winthrop.

Godfrey Cass

Godfrey is the eldest son of the Cass family. He doesn't get along well with his younger brother Dunstan, and this may be partially to do with the fact that Dunstan knows a secret about Godfrey that no one else knows, and that he constantly threatens to bring to light. Godfrey has married a woman named Molly and fathered her child. He does not associate with either of them, and wishes to keep it that way, since he is in love with Nancy Lammeter. He eventually marries Nancy, however, once it becomes clear that Molly has died.

Dunstan Cass

The bad seed of the Cass family, Dunstan is a hard-drinking, money-blowing, irresponsible young man. He borrows money from Godfrey early in the novel, and in order to pay it back, steals Godfrey's favorite horse, Wildfire, and sells him. Before making the trade, however, Dunstan gets Wildfire killed in a hunting accident. On his way home from the accident, Dunstan passes by Silas's house, finds his gold, and steals it. He isn't heard from again in the novel, and it later turns out that he fell (or threw himself -- no one's quite sure) into the stone-pits near Silas's house and died there.

Squire Cass

Dunstan and Godfrey's father. He lives in a mansion in the center of town referred to as the Red House. He hosts parties and keeps a bountiful kitchen, perhaps as a way of overcompensating for the absence of his wife, who has left him widowed. Red House appears to be a quite prosperous place, but all is not as it seems. The Cass's are less well-off than the townspeople think, and it is for this reason that Squire Cass is eager to see Godfrey married to Nancy Lammeter, whose family is quite rich.

Nancy Lammeter

Godfrey's love interest is capable of being quite cold to him. She's turned down his marriage proposal once before, and when the novel opens they're only capable of the most awkward interactions. She marries Godfrey eventually, and they have a marriage that she's quite happy with, although she worries that he's frustrated with their lack of children.

Priscilla Lammeter

The most relevant thing we learn about Nancy's sister is that she never marries and instead takes the place of her deceased mother, tending to the Lammeter farm and household.

Dolly Winthrop

Dolly is one of Silas's closest friends in Raveloe. They become close after Silas's money is stolen, and she comes over at Christmastime to bring him lardcakes. The two are fond of discussing and debating religion, and Dolly is somewhat forceful with Silas that he accept her version of faith.

Aaron Winthrop

Dolly's son grows up to court Eppie and ask for her hand in marriage, which she accepts. He is devoted to her and dedicates himself to building her a garden.

Molly, Godfrey's first wife

We don't know much about Molly. She only has one scene, and in it she is carrying her daughter through the evening streets of Raveloe, determined to crash the Cass New Year's Eve party and force Godfrey to own up to his relationship with her. After imbibing some opium, however, she lies down in the snow outside Silas's house and dies.

William Dane

Silas's first and closest friend betrays him early on in the novel, when Silas lived in Lantern Yard. He steals money from a dying deacon and frames Silas, then steals his fiancee, Sarah, and marries her.