Who Tertius Lydgate is
Tertius Lydgate arrives in Middlemarch after studying medicine in Edinburgh and Paris. He is generous and honest, but he believes his birth and learning set him above the town's small concerns. Local doctors resent his new methods and his refusal to sell medicines at a profit.
What Tertius Lydgate wants
Lydgate wants to make a scientific discovery while bringing better medical care to the town. He accepts a position at a new fever hospital supported by Nicholas Bulstrode, the powerful banker. This support gives him a way to pursue his aims, though people gossip about the connection.
Tertius Lydgate and the others in the story
Lydgate sees Rosamond Vincy as a graceful woman who will provide a peaceful home for his research. Rosamond expects marriage to bring refinement and a rise in social standing. Neither understands what the other wants, and their household soon faces costs his income cannot meet.
How Tertius Lydgate changes
As debts grow, Lydgate turns toward Bulstrode for financial help, strengthening a connection the town already distrusts. Money worries begin to interrupt his work and weaken his focus on discovery. His troubles reveal the limits of scientific intelligence when pride keeps him from understanding other people.
Questions
What does Tertius Lydgate want to discover?
He hopes to identify the basic structure of living tissue and advance medical science.
Who does Tertius Lydgate marry?
He marries Rosamond Vincy, whose hopes for a refined life clash with his expectations of a quiet home.
Is Tertius Lydgate a good person?
He is honest and generous, but also proud and careless in his judgments of people. Eliot shows both his desire to help others and his blindness to his own faults.