Middlemarch is a 'realism' novel set in the fictional town of Middlemarch in the English Midlands. Written by George Eliot (the pen name of Mary Anne Evans) in the late 1860s/early 1870s, the novel tackles many of the political issues of the day, such as the Great Reform Bill and the death of King George IV.

Pip is content with his simple life until a bitter gentlewoman employs him as a sometime companion to herself and her adopted daughter. Pip then aspires to become a gentleman himself, though his dreams are unrealistic until the day he mysteriously comes into a fortune and is sent to London to become refined. The story follows Pip's journey into adulthood and emotional maturity and understanding.