Middlemarch: Book 5, Chapter 48 Summary & Analysis

Dorothea is miserable over the fact that Casaubon refused to acknowledge Will. Her life feels empty, as she cannot do anything to truly please Casaubon. She can’t see Celia, who is resting after having just given birth to a baby. That Sunday night after dinner Casaubon suggests they go to the library, where he asks her to read a document to him and make notes that he requests. Later, she finds Casaubon wrapped in a blanket, and asks if he is ill. He says he is simply uncomfortable and asks her to read to him.  

Before he goes to sleep, Casaubon asks Dorothea if she will promise to act according to his wishes after he dies. She is uncertain about making the promise before knowing what those wishes are, and asks that he give her some time to think about it. Casaubon falls asleep, but Dorothea is kept awake by her thoughts. She expects that Casaubon sees her as the last hope that his scholarship will actually be published. She is hesitant to agree to keep working on it after his death, as she finds it hard to believe that the project will ever amount to anything.

At the same time, Dorothea cannot bear the cruelty of denying his request. Tormented, she is not able to fall asleep until the morning. Upon waking she goes to see Casaubon in the library, and he tells her that he doesn’t feel well and is going to take a walk outside. First, however, he asks if she has an answer for him. Dorothea doesn’t reply, but asks if she can meet him outside momentarily; Casaubon agrees and leaves. Dorothea intends to agree to his request, even though this decision makes her very sad and weary. 

Eventually Dorothea reluctantly goes out to meet Casaubon in the garden. She finds him sitting at a bench, seemingly asleep. She tells him that she is ready to give him an answer, but he doesn’t respond. Beginning to panic, she tries to wake him and fails. Casaubon is dead. Later, Lydgate sits with her while she talks hysterically, apparently in denial about her husband’s death. She asks Lydgate to convey messages to Casaubon, declaring that she is ready to make her promise.