SUMMARY (IN NUTSHELL)
Tom and Maggie Tulliver are
two kids growing up at Dorlcote Mill, which has been in their family for
generations. The kids have a lot o f extended family living
nearby, and their aunts and uncles frequently come by to argue amongst
themselves and to scold Tom and Maggie. The Tulliver kids have a stormy
relationship. They spend most of their time getting along really well or else
fighting horribly. Maggie in particular is very smart and very emotional and is
always getting into trouble.
Two major things
are in the works for the Tullivers: school and a lawsuit. Tom and Maggie are both sent to schools and Tom gets
a fancy, if useless, education. While at school he meets a deformed boy named
Philip Wakem, who is the son of Mr. Tulliver’s arch-nemesis. Mr. Tulliver
dislikes Mr. Wakem, a lawyer, since he is involved in a lawsuit against one of
Wakem’s clients. Mr. Tulliver loses his lawsuit and things go rapidly downhill for the
Tulliver family. They go bankrupt and Mr. Tulliver’s health begins to fail. Mr.
Wakem buys the Tulliver family mill, which causes Mr. Tulliver to hate the
Wakems even more and to curse them in the family Bible.
After the lawsuit fiasco, the Tulliver kids are
forced to leave school and start working. Tom slaves away for one of his uncles
and is obsessed with paying off the family debts. Maggie finds comfort in an
extreme form of religion, but she later puts that aside in favor of a secret
friendship with Philip Wakem, who has been in love with Maggie ever since they
first met. Maggie’s passionate nature continues to cause her a lot of emotional
distress.
Tom discovers Maggie’s relationship with Philip
and forbids her from seeing him again. Maggie is torn but decides that family
loyalty comes first. Her relationship with Tom is badly damaged. Shortly after
this, Tom manages to pay off the family debts, but the triumph is ruined when
Mr. Tulliver attacks Mr. Wakem and then dies shortly afterwards. The Tullivers
must move away from the mill.
A few years go by and Maggie returns from a
stint as a governess to stay with her cousin Lucy. Tom has worked his way up in
his uncle’s business and is now successful. Maggie meets Stephen Guest, Lucy’s
boyfriend, and the two quickly fall in love. Philip also returns and Maggie is
embroiled in a messy love quadrangle. Eventually, Stephen and Maggie are unable
to control their feelings and the two try to elope. But Maggie has a crisis of
conscience and leaves Stephen, returning home in disgrace.
Though Maggie reconciles with those closest to
her, she is unable to make amends with the judgmental Tom. After a period of
intense emotional suffering for Maggie, the local river floods. Maggie goes to
rescue Tom and the two reconcile their differences. But Tom and Maggie are
drowned in the flood. The other characters all survive and move on with their
lives and Tom and Maggie are buried together.
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