George Eliot’s Middlemarch, A Study of Provincial Life was first published in 1871-72 in a series of eight volumes. Set in 1829-32 in the fictitious town of Middlemarch, it follows several separate but related stories featuring a large cast of characters. In it, Eliot explores themes of marriage and women’s roles in society, idealism and religion, self-interest and hypocrisy, and political reform and education. Featuring the realism that Eliot is known for, Middlemarch is considered her best work and one of the greatest English language novels.