Adam BedeHailed for its sympathetic and accurate rendering of nineteenth-century English pastoral life, Adam Bede was George Eliot’s first full-length novel and a bestseller from the moment of publication. Eliot herself called it “a country story—full of the breath of cows and scent of hay.” Adam Bede is an earnest and virtuous carpenter who is betrayed by his love, Hetty Sorrel, a pretty yet foolish dairymaid who is seduced by a careless young villager. The bitter, tragic consequences of her actions shake the very foundations of their serene rural community. While Adam Bede represents a timeless story of seduction and betrayal, it is also a deeper, impassioned meditation on the irrevocable consequences of human actions and on moral growth and redemption through suffering. |
Contents
After the Preaching | |
Home and Its Sorrows | |
The Rector | |
The Hall Farm | |
The Delivery of the Letter | |
In Hettys BedChamber | |
Mrs Poyser Has Her Say Out | |
More Links | |
The Betrothal | |
The Hidden Dread | |
Book V | |
The Journey in Hope | |
The Dairy | |
AVocation | |
Hettys World | |
Dinah Visits Lisbeth | |
In the Cottage | |
In the Wood | |
Evening in the Wood | |
The Return Home | |
The Two BedChambers | |
Links | |
Book II | |
In Which the Story Pauses a Little | |
Church | |
Adam on a Working | |
Adam Visits the Hall Farm | |
The NightSchool and the Schoolmaster | |
Book III | |
Going to the Birthday Feast | |
DinnerTime | |
The HealthDrinking | |
The Games | |
The Dance | |
Book IV | |
A Crisis | |
A Dilemma | |
The Next Morning | |
The Journey in Despair | |
The Quest | |
The Tidings | |
The Bitter Waters Spread | |
The Eve of the Trial | |
The Morning of the Trial | |
The Verdict | |
Arthurs Return | |
In the Prison | |
The Hours of Suspense | |
The Last Moment | |
Another Meeting in the Wood | |
Book VI | |
At the Hall Farm | |
IntheCottage | |
Sunday Morning | |
Adam and Dinah | |
The Harvest Supper | |
The Meeting on the Hill | |
Marriage Bells | |
Epilogue | |
Afterword | |
Selected Bibliography | |
A Note on the Text | |
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Common terms and phrases
Adam Adam’s Arthur aunt Bartle bear Bede began believe better brought called carry church close comfort coming dark deal Dinah Donnithorne door entered eyes face Farm feel fellow felt folks give gone hand happened hard head hear heard heart Hetty Hetty’s hope Irwine it’s knew leave light Lisbeth live look marry mean mind morning mother nature never night once pain perhaps poor Poyser preaching present pretty rest round seemed seen sense Seth side sight soon sort soul speak stay stood strong sure talk tell thee there’s things thought told took Totty trouble turned usual voice walked wish woman women wonder young