Middlemarch Society and Class Quotes

The town of Middlemarch is personified in this passage – the entire town is about to "swallow" Lydgate and "assimilate" him. Society seems like an ominous force of assimilation here – it's something that can consume you and take away your individuality and make you part of a whole, and Middlemarchers aren't always fond of thinking independently. So Lydgate's "assimilat[ion]" will take away his power to think for himself.

Dorothea reflects on how little people understand each other. People don't bother to try to stop and think about "what sort of lives other people lead, and how they take things." The exception, though, is the "cottagers." Is Dorothea saying that poor people are easier to understand that members of the wealthy upper class? Are they less complex as people? Or is she suggesting that members of the upper class are more concerned about hiding their true feelings because they have more to hide? It's not clear.