REALISM AND PSYCHOLOGICAL DEPTH IN “THE MILL ON THE FLOSS” BY GEORGE ELIOT

Abstract

This thesis examines George Eliot’s “The Mill on the Floss” as a realist novel with strong psychological depth. The study focuses on the way Eliot represents ordinary family life, social limits, gender expectations, and the inner conflicts of Maggie Tulliver. Special attention is given to the connection between external reality and inner emotional life. The novel is realistic because it presents the provincial world in a believable, detailed, and socially grounded way. At the same time, it is psychologically rich because characters are not shown only through action, but also through memory, moral struggle, feeling, and self-control. The research uses close reading, textual analysis, and a literary-psychological approach. The expected result is a clearer understanding of how Eliot joins realism with deep psychological representation and why this novel remains important in the study of Victorian fiction.