The Mill on the Floss: Book 1, Chapter 7 Summary & Analysis

Mrs. Glegg is a “handsome” woman, like all the Dodson sisters, but she dislikes buying new clothes, and her dress is out of fashion and slightly moldy. She complains that her sisters Deane and Pullet are late, but when Mrs. Tulliver offers her a cheesecake and a glass of wine, Mrs. Glegg sniffs that she never eats between meals. She also complains that the lunch is being served too late in the day, which violates typical Dodson practice. And she accuses Mr. Tulliver of wasting all the family money on lawsuits, leaving nothing for Tom and Maggie.

Mrs. Tulliver is relieved when Mrs. Pullet arrives, dressed in a comically large silk dress and accompanied by her husband, Mr. Pullet, who is much shorter than her. Mrs. Pullet is crying, and informs her sisters that old Mrs. Sutton has died of the dropsy. Mrs. Glegg scolds her for carrying on about people outside the family, since she thinks she shouldn’t care about people who aren’t family members. But the narrator remarks that Mrs. Pullet can afford to do so, since she married a “gentleman farmer” and lives a life of leisure. Mrs. Tulliver, Maggie, and Tom all prefer Mrs. Pullet to the bad-tempered Mrs. Glegg. Mrs. Pullet, for her part, thinks it’s a shame that Mrs. Tulliver has such “naughty, awkward children,” whom she thinks take after the Tulliver side of the family rather than the Dodson side.

Mrs. Deane arrives with her daughter, Lucy, and Mrs. Tulliver thinks it’s a shame that her own daughter doesn’t have such pretty blonde curls. Maggie greets Lucy warmly, but doesn’t like the attentions of Mrs. Glegg, who talks to the children as if she considers them “rather idiotic” and criticizes Maggie’s messy dark hair. Lucy asks if she can stay to play with the Tulliver siblings. The narrator explains that Mr. Deane is a manager for a company called Guest & Co, and that the Deanes are doing much better than anyone had anticipated.

Mrs. Tulliver tells Maggie to go upstairs and brush her hair. Maggie goes to the attic with Tom and cuts off her hair, hoping that she won’t have to hear any complaints and criticisms anymore. She very quickly regrets what she’s done, however, realizing that she looks ridiculous. As she sits on the floor and cries, refusing to come down to dinner, the narrator remarks on how difficult it is to recall the real pain everyone felt as children, even when their troubles were supposedly “trivial.”

Tom persuades Maggie to come down to dinner, but she soon regrets it, since Mrs. Tulliver shrieks, and her aunts and uncles begin criticizing and shouting at her. Mr. Tulliver, however, defends her and “takes her part,” which Maggie finds very comforting.

Mr. Tulliver sends the children outside so he can announce his decision regarding Tom’s education to the family, explaining that he wants Tom to go into business rather than inheriting the family farm. The uncles are perplexed as to why Mr. Tulliver would send Tom to a clergyman. Indeed, the narrator comments that Mr. Pullet barely knows what a clergyman is. Mrs. Glegg protests that it makes little sense to send a boy to school when he has no financial prospects. Mr. Tulliver takes offense at this and begins quarreling with Mrs. Glegg, who points out that she has loaned money to the Tullivers.

Mrs. Glegg leaves in a huff, and the other women go outside to see to the children. Mr. Tulliver is pleased to be able to discuss politics with Mr. Deane, whom he greatly admires. They discuss the Duke of Wellington, a prominent politician and military hero of the Battle of Waterloo, and the “Catholic Question”—the question of whether Catholics in England should be allowed to vote and openly practice their religion. The men are afraid that greater religious tolerance would lead to the country being “utterly the prey of Papists and Radicals.”