Silas Marner

The story of “Silas Marner” is both a sad and a happy one. Silas is a simple weaver in a town. He is a man who loves God till his friends cruelly wrong him. Then he loses his faith in God and Man. He leaves the town to live in the village of Raveloe. For fifteen years, he lives and works there. He has no friends, nor does he want any. His only joy is the gold he has saved. When his gold is stolen from him, his life is a sorrowful one. Then little golden-haired Eppie comes to him out of the night. Silas learns to love Eppie more than his gold. She brings fresh life to the old weaver. She brings him happiness. Poor Silas has been wronged in the town by his false friend, William Dane. He has been wronged in the village by the wicked Dunstan Cass. But in the end, Right triumphs over Wrong. Silas recovers his faith in God and in Man. In “Silas Marner”, George Eliot gives us a true picture of life in an English village at the beginning of the nineteenth century

1. How Silas Marner came to Raveloe

2. Fifteen years in Raveloe

3. Godfrey and Dunstan Cass

4. Silas’s gold is stolen from him

5. Silas finds that his gold has been stolen

6. Silas tells his story to the company at the Inn

7. Dunstan is missing

8. Godfrey has a talk with his father

9. Silas Marner’s neighbors are kind to him

10. Molly Farren is on her way to the Red House

11. Silas finds gold in front of his fire

12. Silas comes to the Red House with Molly’s child

13. Silas loves Eppie more than his gold

14. “Eppie’s in the coal shed”

15. Sixteen years later

16. Eppie is thinking of marrying Aaron

17. “There’s been an accident”

18. “When God wills, all secrets are discovered”

19. Eppie learns about her father but will not leave Silas

20. Eppie and Aaron are married

Questions and Language Practice