The economy of England is changing, from an aristocratic, inheritance- based system of holding wealth and land, to one based on commerce, business, and manufacturing. Technology is also changing, in medical science, and in areas like transportation, and these are changes that are beginning to sweep through Middlemarch. This is something which both helps and hinders many people in the book, and is most applicable to Dorothea, Will Ladislaw, and Lydgate. With Lydgate, pride is a tumbling block, something that keeps him from putting his affairs in order, and sometimes doing what is necessary in his marriage and practice. Dorothea and Will's pride is more involved in who they are personally neither of them likes to be regarded poorly, will defend themselves and their decisions if needed, and follow their own course with regards to everything.
Money is the root of many evils, but much good, in the novel.
Lydgate gets desperate for want of it, Fred despairs when he has little, Dorothea becomes generous when she has too much, and the Garths save carefully since their money is limited. Money has a profound effect on character within the novel, and though many people are judged by how much money they have, many of the best people in the novel, like Will Ladislaw and Mr. Farebrother, have very little. Both Bulstrode and Lydgate are blackened by rumors passed around society, and Will is blackened as well, though he is falsely accused. Everything is political in Middlemarch, with most people strongly backing the conservative party. Personal alliances and aversions are based on matters of politics and political identification.