Lucy Deane Character Analysis in The Mill on the Floss

Lucy Deane is Tom and Maggie’s cousin. Demure, sweet, and beautiful, Lucy is in many ways the perfect emblem of Victorian femininity. Mrs. Tulliver frequently laments that Maggie isn’t more like Lucy in looks and temperament. Known as the “belle of St. Ogg’s,” Lucy leads a leisured life of social outings and enjoys her family’s comfortable wealth. However, Lucy does have some depth to her, as she also cares deeply for other people’s happiness. For example, she delights in bringing Maggie to stay with her and trying to facilitate her marriage with Philip. She is in love with the wealthy Stephen Guest, her probable fiancé, and because of her trusting nature does not think the question the nature of his attachment to Maggie. She takes the news of Stephen and Maggie’s elopement badly, falling ill for several weeks. However, she ultimately recovers and visits Maggie in her lodgings at St. Ogg’s to tell her that she forgives her, an act of kindness and generosity that means a great deal to Maggie.

Lucy Deane Quotes in The Mill on the Floss

The The Mill on the Floss quotes below are all either spoken by Lucy Deane or refer to Lucy Deane. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

But the rain is to be depended on. You gallop through it in a mackintosh, and presently find yourself in the seat you like best—a little above or a little below the one on which your goddess sits (it is the same thing to the metaphysical mind, and that is the reason why women are at once worshipped and looked down upon), with a satisfactory confidence that there will be no lady-callers.

Related Characters: Lucy Deane, Maggie Tulliver

Related Literary Devices:

Page Number and Citation: 378

Explanation and Analysis:

If Miss Tulliver, after a few months of well-chosen travel, had returned as Mrs. Stephen Guest, with a post-marital trousseau, and all the advantages possessed even by the most unwelcome wife of an only son, public opinion, which at St. Ogg's, as elsewhere, always knew what to think, would have judged in strict consistency with those results.

Related Characters: Maggie Tulliver, Stephen Guest, Lucy Deane

Related Literary Devices:

Page Number and Citation: 453

Explanation and Analysis:

Lucy Deane Character Timeline in The Mill on the Floss

The timeline below shows where the character Lucy Deane appears in The Mill on the Floss. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

Women’s Roles and Social Pressures Theme Icon

...jealous of her sister Mrs. Deane, who has a very pretty and neat daughter named Lucy. (full context)

...and so are unlikely to get any inheritance from them. She compares Maggie unfavorably to Lucy Deane, a very sweet and obedient girl whom Mrs. Tulliver loves as if she were... (full context)

Mrs. Deane arrives with her daughter, Lucy, and Mrs. Tulliver thinks it’s a shame that her own daughter doesn’t have such pretty... (full context)

...make her uncomfortable and irritated. While building card houses with the other children, Tom praises Lucy’s house and calls Maggie “stupid.” Maggie knocks over Tom’s house of cards, which makes him... (full context)

...stairs and floors), which ruins the children’s fun. Mrs. Pullet takes Mrs. Tulliver, Maggie, and Lucy, into her “best room” to show them her extravagant new bonnet. She even cries over... (full context)

Just then, Lucy appears in the doorway smeared with mud. When the children went outside to play, Tom... (full context)

...be considered “failed”—meaning that his house and mill will be sold. Prompted in part by Lucy’s concern for her cousins, Mr. Deane tries to persuade Guest & Co to purchase the... (full context)

...dark woman triumphs.” Philip tells her that he thinks she is more beautiful than blonde Lucy Deane, but Maggie laughs and says that she usually takes the side of the dark-haired... (full context)

The action shifts to St. Ogg’s, where eighteen-year-old Lucy Deane is being courted by Stephen Guest, heir to the Guest & Co shipping fortune.... (full context)

Stephen and Lucy sing a charming duet before Stephen leaves for the day. Lucy plays with her dog,... (full context)

When Maggie arrives, Lucy tells her all about Stephen, blushingly observing that he is very handsome. There is a... (full context)

Lucy mentions that Philip Wakem sometimes comes to sing with them. Maggie tells her that she... (full context)

Stephen, Maggie, and Lucy discuss Dr. Kenn, the local vicar, a very pious man who gives away two-thirds of... (full context)

...“a world of love and beauty and delight” that had previously been closed to her. Lucy comes into the room and laughs at Maggie for not having changed into her nightdress... (full context)

Lucy confesses that she loves Stephen, and prompts Maggie to reveal her secrets as well. Maggie... (full context)

...where Tom is now lodging after the loss of Dorlcote Mill. She tells him that Lucy wishes to invite Philip to dinner, but promises that she won’t speak to him in... (full context)

...or how to act around men. Maggie, for her part, very much enjoys partaking in Lucy’s leisured life and rediscovering pursuits such as horse-riding and playing the piano. (full context)

One evening, Stephen visits the house while Lucy is out preparing for the charity bazaar. He tells Maggie that he has come to... (full context)

Philip visits Lucy’s house and sees Maggie for the first time since their separation. In front of Lucy,... (full context)

...about whether Mr. Wakem has gotten tired of farming, a line of inquiry that puzzles Lucy. That night, she pulls her father aside and asks why he is so suddenly interested... (full context)

Lucy tells Philip about her scheme to get Guest & Co to buy Dorlcote Mill for... (full context)

...customers to her stall, where she is selling mittens and hats that she has sewn. Lucy and Stephen observe as Mr. Wakem approaches Maggie, and Lucy whispers to Stephen that the... (full context)

...bar, her sense of duty was stronger than her vanity. Consequently, that night, she tells Lucy that she has to leave to visit her aunt Mrs. Moss and then to take... (full context)

...that if they love one another, they must break off their engagements with Philip and Lucy. It is “natural” for them to be together, he tells her, because they can’t help... (full context)

...Wakem is willing to sell Dorlcote Mill back to Guest & Co. Mrs. Pullet and Lucy begin consulting about which linens they will give Mrs. Tulliver, who is also returning to... (full context)

Lucy finds a way to have a private conversation with Tom. She tells him that Philip... (full context)

...by the possibility of seizing some happiness for herself, after so many years of pain. Lucy notices that Maggie seems depressed, but attributes this to Tom’s continuing opposition to her marriage... (full context)

...like in the legend. However, when she looks closer, she sees that the Virgin is Lucy, and the boatman is Tom. She wakes up horrified by the wrong she has done... (full context)

...Dr. Kenn believes her, explaining that Stephen has written a letter to his father and Lucy, exonerating Maggie from any part in the elopement. He suggests that Maggie might come and... (full context)

...Glegg is very much on Maggie’s side. Having also read the letter that Stephen sent Lucy, she believes that Maggie is innocent and has taken to harshly castigating anyone who speaks... (full context)

Mrs. Tulliver passes on the news to Maggie that Lucy has gone to the seaside for her health, but is feeling much better. Maggie remains... (full context)

Maggie learns that Lucy is going to the seaside with Stephen’s sisters. However, before Lucy leaves, she makes a... (full context)

...she suppresses this impulse in herself, remembering the joy she felt at being forgiven by Lucy and Philip. (full context)

...old childhood nickname. Maggie and Tom begin to row the boat to try to rescue Lucy, but before they make it, they are swept away in the current. Just before they... (full context)

...Mill has been rebuilt, and the Tulliver family graveyard is quiet again. Philip, Stephen, and Lucy often visit the grave marking Tom and Maggie’s burial place. Philip always visits alone, whereas... (full context)

Lucy Deane Character Analysis

Lucy Deane Quotes in The Mill on the Floss

Book 6, Chapter 7 Quotes

Book 7, Chapter 2 Quotes

Lucy Deane Character Timeline in The Mill on the Floss