Silas Marner, a weaver, is an eager and promising young member of a Puritan religious community, Lantern Yard. Marner’s supposed best friend, Willam Dane, frames him for the theft of a pouch of coins. Marner suffers from cataleptic fits which leave him as insensible as stone and vulnerable to Dane’s frame-up. The community of Lantern Yard draws lots to determine Marner’s guilt or innocence in the crime. After the lots proclaim Marner guilty, he flees from Lantern Yard, utterly crushed, leaving behind his faith in God and in humankind.
Marner eventually settles at the outskirts of Raveloe, a provincial village in the English Midlands. The villagers appreciate Marner’s trade but find him strange and unapproachable. Marner seems to have supernatural powers–he is able to heal a local woman using herbal arts he learned from his mother–but the villagers of Raveloe do not know his background and thus find his knowledge diabolical and threatening. Marner, for his part, is content to live a life of almost total solitude in his simple cottage beside the Stone-pits.
Marner has one joy in life: gold. The gold coins that he earns at his loom represent for him all the meaning that he has lost, and the faces printed on the coins serve as his only company. He spends as little as he can in order to save more coins, which he hides in two leather bags in a hole in his cottage floor.
Meanwhile, Raveloe is the home of other wealthy citizens. Its most wealthy and distinguished family are the Casses. Squire Cass has two sons, Godfrey Cass and Dunstan Cass, who tend to cause trouble. Dunstan recently talked his older brother into embezzling rent money from one of the Squire’s tenants. The Squire threatens to evict the tenant unless he can pay his rent. In order to replace the money they stole, Godfrey, a weak-willed pawn of his younger brother, agrees to sell his magnificent horse, Wildfire. The next day, while Godfrey attends a dance with Nancy Lammeter, the love of his life, Dunstan will sell Wildfire at a hunt.
But Godfrey has bigger problems than making good on the embezzling debt. Some time before, he rashly married a barmaid named Molly Farrell, who lives in a town to the north. This woman over time has turned into a laudanum addict and an alcoholic. Godfrey is hopelessly miserable, because not only does he loathe his decision to marry Molly, he is also deprived of marrying Nancy. He thus spends his days drinking away his sorrows, seeing Nancy when he can and putting off his seemingly inevitable fall from grace.
Dunstan sells Wildfire. But Dunstan then uses Wildfire in the hunt, in the course of which he impales Wildfire on a hedge-stake, killing the horse. Dunstan hatches a scheme to collect his money anyway. He knows well the rumour that Silas Marner, the crazy weaver, has hidden in his cottage a large hoard. He decides to stop by the weaver’s cottage and use his leverage to “borrow” Marner’s gold.
The night is foggy and dark when Dunstan finally arrives at Marner’s cottage. When Marner doesn’t answer, Dunstan invites himself in. After a quick search he finds Marner’s gold and flees with it.
Marner returns from a short trip into the village to find his gold missing. Devastated, he rushes into Raveloe for assistance and ends up at the Rainbow tavern, where the locals have gathered for pints and conversation. At first the villagers are terrified of Marner. But eventually his sincerity wins them over, and they form a posse to fetch the constable and search for clues.
After several weeks of searching, the only clue uncovered is a tinder-box, which the villagers recall as having belonged to a suspicious travelling pedlar whom no one can find. Marner is left without his gold, utterly miserable, yet having made some headway in connecting with village life. The villagers pity Marner now more than they fear him, and they even bring him gifts of solace.
Nobody thinks much of Dunstan Cass’s absence. He has been known to run off before, and given that he killed Wildfire, nobody doubts that he has good reason to lay low. Godfrey is left with the unpleasant task of approaching his father about the embezzled money. The Squire is miffed, to be sure, but he ends up forgiving Godfrey, who thus maintains his status quo in misery.
The Christmas season arrives at Raveloe, and Marner is visited by Mrs. Dolly Winthrop, a conscientious and charitable soul, whose conversation gives him a little bit of Christmas cheer. But Marner is beyond cheering up. Godfrey Cass, meanwhile, abandons himself to his rotten fate and decides to make the most of the present. He attends the annual Red House ball, still wishing to marry Nancy.
At the same time Godfrey Cass’s wife trudges through the snow towards Raveloe, carrying with her their two-year-old daughter. She plans to surprise Godfrey and everyone else, but on the way she is gripped by a need for laudanum. She drinks her drug just outside of Silas Marner’s cottage and slips into an opium stupor. Her two-year-old daughter, seeing the lights in Marner’s cottage, toddles over to the weaver’s door. His door is open. She enters and falls asleep on his hearth, next to his fire.
At the time of the baby-girl’s entry, Marner is having a cataleptic fit. He awakes from the fit to see the baby girl, whom he at first mistakes for his gold come back again. After feeding and caring for the child, Marner realizes that she must have come in from outside. He follows her footprints in the snow until he reaches the stone-cold body of her mother.
Taking the child with him, Marner makes his way into the Red House ball in order to alert the doctor about the woman. Godfrey Cass looks at the ghastly apparition of Marner holding his child and nearly passes out from the shock. He volunteers himself as one of the party to go out and check on the woman, his only concern being that she is, in fact, dead.
And, yes, she is dead. Godfrey finds himself–miracle of miracles–single again. He instantly proposes to Nancy and determines to use this stroke of fortune to his advantage: he will live a good life, raise a family he can be proud of, and be the most sober and responsible man in Raveloe.
Silas Marner grows fiercely attached to the child he found curled up on his hearth. She comes to replace his gold as the object of his love, yet unlike his gold she is living and developing as she grows. He reaches out to the community for help in raising his newly adopted daughter. He christens her “Eppie” in the Raveloe church. Though the community is at first surprised, they more or less support him in his act of charity–otherwise, she would have ended up in the orphans’ workhouse. Mrs. Winthrop in particular guides Marner by means of her care and experience.
The narrative moves sixteen years ahead in time. Marner, a happy, proud old father of a beautiful, nature-loving daughter, is now planning to build a garden with Eppie. She, meanwhile, plans to marry Aaron Winthrop, Mrs. Winthrop’s industrious son, as well as to be a loving companion to her father for the rest of his days.
Sixteen years have not been so good to Godfrey Cass and his wife Nancy. Their plans to have children have not amounted to anything but a tragic infant death, while Nancy rejects Godfrey’s ensuing conviction that they ought to adopt Eppie as their own daughter. Godfrey has kept the secret that he is in fact Eppie’s biological father for the whole sixteen years.
Godfrey drains the Stone-pits to clear new land, which results in a shocking discovery at the bottom: Dunstan’s skeleton. And with Dunstan lies Marner’s gold coins. The coins are restored to him. Godfrey, seeing that time makes known all painful truths, finally reveals his secret to Nancy. Nancy is not angry at Godfrey but disappointed that he did not tell her sooner, because on that basis they could have raised Eppie as their own. With the truth finally known, the Casses decide that it is their duty to offer their parentage to Eppie.
That very night they call on Marner and Eppie in their cottage. They make known that they want to adopt Eppie as their own daughter, figuring that both she and Marner would delight at her chance to join the most famous family in Raveloe. When Eppie refuses, saying she is happy at the cottage with Marner, Godfrey Cass reveals that she is his biological daughter. Marner stands up to Godfrey, saying that he passed up the blessing of Eppie when he had his chance, and that he has no right to the child now. Eppie, too, refuses his parentage. The Casses exit Marner’s cottage, their hope for a child again defeated.
This visit reawakens in Marner the desire to show Eppie the country of his birth. They plan a trip to Lantern Yard, where Marner may also discover whether he was ever cleared of theft. The two of them travel four days north until they arrive at a manufacturing town. Nobody in the town remembers Lantern Yard, but Marner is able to find the place where his religious community once stood. Lantern Yard is no more. The site of the settlement has been transformed into a factory. Marner returns to Raveloe with Eppie, resigned to entrust himself to the good that he knows is in the world rather than beyond it.
Eppie gets married the following summer to Aaron Winthrop, and the Casses furnish the entire wedding. Marner’s cottage also has been much improved by his new landlord, Godfrey Cass. Though he cannot claim Eppie for his daughter, Godfrey still pays off his debt of conscience in small, material ways. Eppie, Silas, Mrs. Winthrop and Aaron close the novel, looking at the fine new garden that, with Mr. Cass’s help, they now have to tend and enjoy. “Oh father,” Eppie says to Silas, “what a pretty house! I think nobody could be happier than we are!”
Explanation of Characters
Silas Marner—The title character, Silas is a solitary weaver who, at the time we meet him, is about thirty-nine years old and has been living in the English countryside village of Raveloe for fifteen years. Silas is reclusive and his neighbours in Raveloe regard him with a mixture of suspicion and curiosity. He spends all day working at his loom and has never made an effort to get to know any of the villagers. Silas’s physical appearance is odd: he is bent from his work at the loom, has strange and frightening eyes, and generally looks much older than his years. Because Silas has knowledge of medicinal herbs and is subject to occasional cataleptic fits, many of his neighbors speculate that he has otherworldly powers.
Despite his anti-social behaviou r, however, Silas is at heart a deeply kind and honest person. At no point in the novel does Silas do or say anything remotely malicious and, strangely for a miser, he is not even particularly selfish. Silas’s love of money is merely the product of spiritual desolation, and his hidden capacity for love and sacrifice manifests itself when he takes in and raises Eppie.
Silas’s outsider status makes him the focal point for the themes of community, religion, and family that Eliot explores in the novel. As an outcast who eventually becomes Raveloe’s most exemplary citizen, Silas serves as a study in the relationship between the individual and the community. His loss and subsequent rediscovery of faith demonstrate both the difficulty and the solace that religious belief can bring. Additionally, the unlikely domestic life that Silas creates with Eppie presents an unconventional but powerful portrait of family and the home.
Though he is the title character of the novel, Silas is by and large passive, acted upon rather than acting on others. Almost all of the major events in the novel demonstrate this passivity. Silas is framed for theft in his old town and, instead of proclaiming his innocence, puts his trust in God to clear his name. Similarly, Dunsey’s theft of Silas’s gold and Eppie’s appearance on Silas’s doorstep-rather than any actions Silas takes of his own accord-are the major events that drive the narrative forward. Silas significantly diverges from this pattern of passivity when he decides to keep Eppie, thereby becoming an agent of his eventual salvation.
Godfrey Cass— Godfrey is the eldest son of Squire Cass and the heir to the Cass estate. He is a good-natured young man, but weak-willed and usually unable to think of much beyond his immediate material comfort. As a young man he married an opium addict, Molly Farren, with whom he had a daughter. This secret marriage and Godfrey’s handling of it demonstrate the mixture of guilt and moral cowardice that keep him paralyzed for much of the novel. Godfrey consented to the marriage largely out of guilt and keeps the marriage secret because he knows his father will disown him if it ever comes to light.
Despite his physically powerful and graceful presence, Godfrey is generally passive. In this respect he is similar to Silas. However, Godfrey’s passivity is different from Silas’s, as his endless waffling and indecisiveness stem entirely from selfishness. Godfrey is subject to constant blackmail from Dunsey, who knows of Godfrey’s secret marriage, and Godfrey is finally freed of his malicious brother simply by an accident. He is delivered from Molly in a similarly fortuitous way, when Molly freezes to death while en route to Raveloe to expose their marriage to Godfrey’s family. Even Godfrey’s eventual confession to Nancy is motivated simply by his fright after the discovery of Dunsey’s remains. This confession comes years too late-by the time Godfrey is finally ready to take responsibility for Eppie, she has already accepted Silas as her father and does not want to replace him in her life.
Nancy Lammeter—Nancy is the pretty, caring, and stubborn young lady whom Godfrey pursues and then marries. Like Godfrey, Nancy comes from a family that is wealthy by Raveloe standards. However, her father, unlike Squire Cass, is a man who values moral rectitude, thrift, and hard work. Nancy has inherited these strict values and looks disapprovingly on what she sees as Godfrey’s weakness of character. She is, however, exhilarated by Godfrey’s attention, in part because of the status he embodies.
Nancy lives her life according to an inflexible code of behavior and belief. She seems to have already decided how she feels about every question that might come up in her life, not necessarily on the basis of any reason or thought, but simply because anything else would represent a sort of weakness in her own eyes. When Nancy is younger, this “code” of hers demands that she and her sister dress alike on formal occasions. When she is older, Nancy’s code forbids her to adopt a child, as in her mind such an action represents a defiance of God’s plan. Nancy is neither well educated nor particularly curious, and her code marks her as just as much a product of Raveloe’s isolation and rusticity as Dolly Winthrop. Nancy is, however, a genuinely kind and caring person, as evidenced by her forgiveness of Godfrey after his confession.
Eppie—A girl whom Silas Marner eventually adopts. Eppie is the biological child of Godfrey Cass and Molly Farren, Godfrey’s secret wife. Eppie is pretty and spirited, and loves Silas unquestioningly.
Dunstan Cass—Godfrey’s younger brother. Dunsey, as he is usually called, is cruel, lazy, and unscrupulous, and he loves gambling and drinking.
Squire Cass—The wealthiest man in Raveloe. The Squire is lazy, self-satisfied, and short-tempered.
Dolly Winthrop—The wheelwright’s wife who helps Silas with Eppie. Dolly later becomes Eppie’s godmother and mother-in-law. She is kind, patient, and devout.
Molly Farren—Godfrey’s secret wife and Eppie’s mother. Once pretty, Molly has been destroyed by her addictions to opium and alcohol.
William Dane—Silas’s proud and priggish best friend from his childhood in Lantern Yard. William Dane frames Silas for theft in order to bring disgrace upon him, then marries Silas’s fiancée, Sarah.
Mr. Macey—Raveloe’s parish clerk. Mr. Macey is opinionated and smug but means well.
Aaron Winthrop—Dolly’s son and Eppie’s eventual husband.
Priscilla Lammeter—Nancy’s homely and plainspoken sister. Priscilla talks endlessly but is extremely competent at everything she does.
Sarah—Silas’s fiancée in Lantern Yard. Sarah is put off by Silas’s strange fit and ends up marrying William Dane after Silas is disgraced.
Mr. Lammeter—Nancy’s and Priscilla’s father. Mr. Lammeter is a proud and morally uncompromising man.
Jem Rodney—A somewhat disreputable character and a poacher. Jem sees Silas in the midst of one of Silas’s fits. Silas later accuses Jem of stealing his gold.
Mr. Kimble—Godfrey’s uncle and Raveloe’s doctor. Mr. Kimble is usually an animated conversationalist and joker, but becomes irritable when he plays cards. He has no medical degree and inherited the position of village physician from his father.
Mr. Dowlas—The town farrier, who shoes horses and tends to general livestock diseases. Mr. Dowlas is a fiercely contrarian person, much taken with his own opinions.
Mr. Snell—The landlord of the Rainbow, a local tavern. By nature a conciliatory person, Mr. Snell always tries to settle arguments.
The peddler—An anonymous peddler who comes through Raveloe some time before the theft of Silas’s gold. The peddler is a suspect in the theft because of his gypsylike appearance-and for lack of a better candidate.
Bryce—A friend of both Godfrey and Dunsey. Bryce arranges to buy Wildfire, Dunsey’s horse.
Miss Gunns—Sisters from a larger nearby town who come to the Squire’s New Year’s dance. The Misses Gunn are disdainful of Raveloe’s rustic ways, but are nonetheless impressed by Nancy Lammeter’s beauty.
Sally Oates—Silas’s neighbor and the wheelwright’s wife. Silas eases the pain of Sally’s heart disease and dropsy with a concoction he makes out of foxglove.
