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Definition of Foreshadowing
Foreshadowing is a literary device in which authors hint at plot developments that don't actually occur until later in the story. Foreshadowing can be achieved directly or indirectly, by making... read full definition
Foreshadowing is a literary device in which authors hint at plot developments that don't actually occur until later in the story. Foreshadowing can be achieved... read full definition
Foreshadowing is a literary device in which authors hint at plot developments that don't actually occur until later in the... read full definition
Chapter 4
Explanation and Analysis—Dunstan the Thief:
Eliot foreshadows both Dunstan's grim accidental death and his decision to steal Silas's gold in the imagery in Chapter 4, which directly precedes Cass's stealthy entry into the weaver's house. As Dunstan walks in the dusk, he observes that:
The spot looked very dreary at this season, with the moist trodden clay about it, and the red, muddy water high up in the deserted quarry. That was Dunstan’s first thought as he approached it; the second was, that the old fool of a weaver, whose loom he heard rattling already, had a great deal of money hidden somewhere.
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Chapter 5
Explanation and Analysis—Theft and Thievery :
Eliot populates much of the novel with motifs of theft and thievery, showing the reader that bad behavior and its consequences are unpredictable, and that theft can be experienced and committed by people of any social class. For example, in Chapter 5 when Silas leaves his cottage and Dunstan immediately steals his gold, the weaver thinks to himself that:
Unlock with LitCharts A+He could not have locked his door without undoing his well-knotted string and retarding his supper; it was not worth his while to make that sacrifice. What thief would find his way to the Stone-pits on such a night as this? and why should he come on this particular night, when he had never come through all the fifteen years before?
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Chapter 12
Explanation and Analysis—Golden Hair:
In Chapter 12, when Silas finds Eppie sleeping by his hearth, he believes for a moment that the toddler is actually his stolen gold miraculously returned. Eliot uses the imagery of gold—previously only aligned with greed and miserliness—to foreshadow to the reader that the protagonist has come into possession of an even larger treasure than his mass of coin:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Gold!—his own gold—brought back to him as mysteriously as it had been taken away! He felt his heart begin to beat violently, and for a few moments he was unable to stretch out his hand and grasp the restored treasure. The heap of gold seemed to glow and get larger [...] but instead of hard coin with the familiar resisting outline, his fingers encountered soft warm curls. In utter amazement, Silas fell on his knees and bent his head low to examine the marvel: it was a sleeping child—a round, fair thing with soft yellow rings all over its head.
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Chapter 17
Explanation and Analysis—Foreshadowing Beauty:
At the end of Chapter 17, Nancy is standing by the door of her cottage anxiously awaiting Godfrey's return. In this scene, Eliot foreshadows the startling nature of Nancy's upcoming discussion with her husband; he is about to disclose finding Dunstan's skeleton and the truth about his relationships with Eppie and Molly. The author gives the reader a sense of foreboding by juxtaposing images of the sublime natural world with the language of death and shadow:
Unlock with LitCharts A+She continued to stand, however, looking at the placid churchyard with the long shadows of the gravestones across the bright green hillocks, and at the glowing autumn colours of the Rectory trees beyond. Before such calm external beauty the presence of a vague fear is more distinctly felt—like a raven flapping its slow wing across the sunny air. Nancy wished more and more that Godfrey would come in.
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