As the two siblings at the center of the novel, Maggie and Tom act as foils for each other, meaning their juxtaposition offers insights into each of their characters. While Maggie and Tom are similar—they both care deeply about acting morally—their characters diverge in key ways.
For example, Maggie’s morality is fluid and tied to her emotions (she does what she feels is right), while Tom’s morality is rigid and judgmental (as seen in him refusing to forgive Maggie for running away with Stephen). Maggie is also more open-hearted—Tom is disgusted by Philip’s disability, while Maggie doesn’t mind and, in fact, falls in love with him.
Additionally, Maggie is bookish and intellectual, while Tom is better with practical matters, a fact that becomes clear as Maggie longs to attend school even though she is a girl and Tom struggles with all of the school subjects at which Maggie would excel. Mr. Tulliver comments directly on this final difference between them early on in the novel:
“But,” continued Mr Tulliver after a pause, “what I’m a bit afraid on is, as Tom hasn’t got the right sort o’ brains for a smart fellow. I doubt he’s a bit slowish […] It seems a bit of a pity, though […] as the lad should take after the mother’s side istead o’ the little wench.”
This passage highlights the ways that Maggie and Tom, as foils for each other, demonstrate the contradictions of gender norms at the time—if there were less pressure on each of them to fit into ideals of “masculine” and “feminine,” then they would both be happier. Here Eliot is indirectly arguing that in a more liberated world, Mr. Tulliver would not have to be upset that Tom “take[s] after the mother’s side” and that the “little wench” (Maggie) is smarter than he is.
As the only two young women in the novel—who are often compared to each other—Lucy and Maggie act as foils to each other. Lucy is sweet and pretty while Maggie—though also beautiful—is bookish and messy. Maggie’s mother Mrs. Tulliver often complains that Maggie is not more like Lucy, as seen in the following passage:
“She’s too big a gell, gone nine, and tall of her age, to have her hair cut short; an’ there’s her cousin Lucy’s got a row o’ curls round her head, an’ not a hair out o’ place. It seems hard as my sister Deane should have that pretty child; I’m sure Lucy takes more after me nor my own child does.”
This quote shows how the adults in the novel put a lot of emphasis on Lucy’s curly blonde hair, valuing it more than Maggie’s long, straight, and dark hair (as, at the time, it was closer to the feminine ideal).
Beyond mere looks, Lucy fulfills Victorian gender ideals by behaving properly and desiring nothing more than to marry and become a mother, while Maggie acts against the gender norms of the day by working independently as a governess and refusing to marry either of the men who want to be with her.
That Maggie ends up dead and Lucy ends up marrying Stephen (as she was planning to do before Maggie ran away with him) is possibly Eliot’s way of showing that women who challenge social norms do not necessarily end up happier or more free.
As Maggie’s two love interests in the novel, Philip and Stephen act as foils for each other, meaning their juxtaposition reveals aspects of each other’s character. While Philip and Stephen are similar in some respects—they are both intelligent, educated men who come from wealthy families—they are different in some key ways.
For example, Philip is humble and self-reflective, evidenced in his ability to apologize and take responsibility for his actions. This quality of his comes through in his final letter to Maggie after she runs away with Stephen, in which he apologizes to her:
“Then — dear one — in spite of all, you have been the blessing of my life. Let no self-reproach weigh on you because of me. It is I who should rather reproach myself for having urged my feelings upon you, and hurried you into words that you have felt as fetters.”
Here Philip shows that he forgives Maggie for running away with Stephen and also trusts her word that she did not have a sexual relationship with him, while also apologizing for pressuring her to reciprocate his romantic feelings for her.
Stephen, on the other hand, is more arrogant and aggressive, as evidenced in his pushiness when it comes to being with Maggie. Unlike Philip who apologizes in his final letter for pressuring Maggie, Stephen continues to pressure her to be with him even after their actions led her to be rejected by her family and community, writing the following in his letter:
“Maggie! whose pain can have been like mine? Whose injury is like mine? Who besides me has met that long look of love that has burnt itself into my soul, so that no other image can come there? Maggie, call me back to you! — call me back to life and goodness! I am banished from both now.”
Here Stephen centers his experience, ignoring what it must be like for Maggie to be ostracized, while also trying to convince her to risk her reputation yet again for him.
Maggie concludes the novel torn between her feelings for the two men, as they each ignite different parts of her—Philip is part of her past, connecting her to fond memories of childhood (like her first kiss with him), while Stephen is more part of her present.
As Maggie’s two love interests in the novel, Philip and Stephen act as foils for each other, meaning their juxtaposition reveals aspects of each other’s character. While Philip and Stephen are similar in some respects—they are both intelligent, educated men who come from wealthy families—they are different in some key ways.
For example, Philip is humble and self-reflective, evidenced in his ability to apologize and take responsibility for his actions. This quality of his comes through in his final letter to Maggie after she runs away with Stephen, in which he apologizes to her:
“Then — dear one — in spite of all, you have been the blessing of my life. Let no self-reproach weigh on you because of me. It is I who should rather reproach myself for having urged my feelings upon you, and hurried you into words that you have felt as fetters.”
Here Philip shows that he forgives Maggie for running away with Stephen and also trusts her word that she did not have a sexual relationship with him, while also apologizing for pressuring her to reciprocate his romantic feelings for her.
Stephen, on the other hand, is more arrogant and aggressive, as evidenced in his pushiness when it comes to being with Maggie. Unlike Philip who apologizes in his final letter for pressuring Maggie, Stephen continues to pressure her to be with him even after their actions led her to be rejected by her family and community, writing the following in his letter:
“Maggie! whose pain can have been like mine? Whose injury is like mine? Who besides me has met that long look of love that has burnt itself into my soul, so that no other image can come there? Maggie, call me back to you! — call me back to life and goodness! I am banished from both now.”
Here Stephen centers his experience, ignoring what it must be like for Maggie to be ostracized, while also trying to convince her to risk her reputation yet again for him.
Maggie concludes the novel torn between her feelings for the two men, as they each ignite different parts of her—Philip is part of her past, connecting her to fond memories of childhood (like her first kiss with him), while Stephen is more part of her present.
