The Mill on the Floss: Character Mind Map & Summary
George Eliot’s The Mill on the Floss: the key characters, Maggie’s three loves, the seven books, a quick summary and the exam facts.
The Character Mind Map
Tap any name to open the details.
Maggie Tulliver
A passionate, clever, impulsive girl who longs for love and learning but is constantly scolded for not being a “proper” girl. Devoted to her stern brother Tom, she is torn between her duty to her family and her own desires, and finds peace only in a final reunion with Tom.
Fate: drowns with Tom in the flood🏭 The Tullivers
Dorlcote MillTom TulliverMaggie’s elder brother
Role: Proud, rigid and dutiful. He works to pay off the family debts and harshly rejects Maggie after her disgrace.
Drowns with MaggieMr TulliverThe miller
Role: Hot-tempered and fond of lawsuits; he loses the mill to his enemy, the lawyer Wakem.
Dies after thrashing WakemMrs Tulliver & the DodsonsMaggie’s mother and aunts
Role: The Dodson sisters (Aunts Glegg, Pullet and Deane) stand for narrow, respectable middle-class values.
💔 Maggie’s Loves
Love vs dutyPhilip WakemThe lawyer’s son
Role: Sensitive, artistic and physically disabled; he loves Maggie and meets her secretly in the Red Deeps. Tom forbids the friendship.
Stephen GuestEngaged to Maggie’s cousin Lucy
Role: Handsome and charming; he and Maggie drift down the river together, but she refuses to marry him.
Lucy DeaneMaggie’s sweet cousin
Role: Gentle and kind; she forgives Maggie.
Memory Hook: Maggie’s 3 Loves
Each love tests Maggie’s loyalty to family and conscience.
The 7 Books
The novel’s own divisions.
Quick Summary
The plot in five lines.
Stage 1Childhood
- Maggie adores Tom; she cuts off her hair and runs away to the gypsies.
Stage 2Downfall
- Mr Tulliver loses his lawsuit to Wakem and goes bankrupt; Tom leaves school to work.
Stage 3The Red Deeps
- Maggie secretly meets Philip; Tom ends it. Mr Tulliver beats Wakem and dies.
Stage 4Temptation
- Maggie and Stephen drift away by boat; she refuses him and returns in disgrace, rejected by Tom.
Stage 5The Flood
- A great flood comes; Maggie rows to rescue Tom at the mill. They are reconciled, then drown together.
Must-Know Exam Facts
Quick points for UGC NET, SET and PGT.
Publication
Published in 1860, Eliot’s second novel.
Autobiography
Strongly autobiographical: Maggie and Tom are based on Eliot and her brother Isaac Evans, who cut her off.
The Epitaph
Maggie and Tom’s tomb reads: “In their death they were not divided.”
Maggie’s Reading
She finds comfort in Thomas à Kempis‘s The Imitation of Christ, which teaches renunciation.
Key Themes
Duty vs desire, family loyalty, the limits placed on women, and memory and childhood.
100+ Key Works of English Literature
All the character mind maps in one printed book.
© Limitless Literature · www.limitlessliterature.com
