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StoryPDFAdam BedeGeorge Eliot

Adam Bede

George Eliot

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NovelEnglish

In the village of Hayslope, carpenter Adam Bede admires Hetty Sorrel, while the young landowner Arthur Donnithorne also draws her attention. Around them, work, preaching, family expectations, and unequal opportunities shape choices whose consequences cannot be contained within an attractive rural scene.

56 sections214,924 wordsAbout 16 h 17 min
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About Adam Bede

Eliot's narrator asks for patient attention to ordinary people, including those whose vanity or limitations make sympathy difficult. Detailed scenes of labor and domestic routine establish the social world before its moral crisis. The contrast between Hetty's dreams and Dinah Morris's practical compassion gives the novel much of its emotional tension.

Reading focus

Read for closely observed rural work and the difficult distance between moral judgment and understanding another person's life.

This reading edition contains 214,924 words in 56 original sections. Read the text online with adjustable type and three colour themes, or keep a printable PDF.

Author: George Eliot. Language: English. Reading edition: 28 October 2026.

Opening excerpt

With a single drop of ink for a mirror, the Egyptian sorcerer undertakes to reveal to any chance comer far-reaching visions of the past. This is what I undertake to do for you, reader. With this drop of ink at the end of my pen, I will show you the roomy workshop of Mr. Jonathan Burge, carpenter and builder, in the village of Hayslope, as it appeared on the eighteenth of June, in the year of our Lord 1799.

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Contents

All sections
  1. Book First — Chapter I The Workshop15 min
  2. Book First — Chapter II The Preaching37 min
  3. Book First — Chapter III After the Preaching12 min
  4. Book First — Chapter IV Home and Its Sorrows29 min
  5. Book First — Chapter V The Rector32 min
  6. Book First — Chapter VI The Hall Farm24 min
  7. Book First — Chapter VII The Dairy10 min
  8. Book First — Chapter VIII A Vocation16 min
  9. Book First — Chapter IX Hetty’s World13 min
  10. Book First — Chapter X Dinah Visits Lisbeth23 min
  11. Book First — Chapter XI In the Cottage16 min
  12. Book First — Chapter XII In the Wood20 min
  13. Book First — Chapter XIII Evening in the Wood10 min
  14. Book First — Chapter XIV The Return Home17 min
  15. Book First — Chapter XV The Two Bed-Chambers26 min
  16. Book First — Chapter XVI Links25 min
  17. Book Second — Chapter XVII In Which the Story Pauses a Little18 min
  18. Book Second — Chapter XVIII Church42 min
  19. Book Second — Chapter XIX Adam on a Working Day13 min
  20. Book Second — Chapter XX Adam Visits the Hall Farm34 min
  21. Book Second — Chapter XXI The Night-School and the Schoolmaster30 min
  22. Book Third — Chapter XXII Going to the Birthday Feast21 min
  23. Book Third — Chapter XXIII Dinner-Time9 min
  24. Book Third — Chapter XXIV The Health-Drinking16 min
  25. Book Third — Chapter XXV The Games15 min
  26. Book Third — Chapter XXVI The Dance21 min
  27. Book Fourth — Chapter XXVII A crisis21 min
  28. Book Fourth — Chapter XXVIII A Dilemma14 min
  29. Book Fourth — Chapter XXIX The Next Morning15 min
  30. Book Fourth — Chapter XXX The Delivery of the Letter25 min
  31. Book Fourth — Chapter XXXI In Hetty’s Bed-Chamber19 min
  32. Book Fourth — Chapter XXXII Mrs. Poyser “Has Her Say Out”18 min
  33. Book Fourth — Chapter XXXIII More Links13 min
  34. Book Fourth — Chapter XXXIV The Betrothal9 min
  35. Book Fourth — Chapter XXXV The Hidden Dread12 min
  36. Book Fifth — Chapter XXXVI The Journey of Hope17 min
  37. Book Fifth — Chapter XXXVII The Journey in Despair24 min
  38. Book Fifth — Chapter XXXVIII The Quest26 min
  39. Book Fifth — Chapter XXXIX The Tidings14 min
  40. Book Fifth — Chapter XL The Bitter Waters Spread17 min
  41. Book Fifth — Chapter XLI The Eve of the Trial10 min
  42. Book Fifth — Chapter XLII The Morning of the Trial9 min
  43. Book Fifth — Chapter XLIII The Verdict14 min
  44. Book Fifth — Chapter XLIV Arthur’s Return14 min
  45. Book Fifth — Chapter XLV In the Prison20 min
  46. Book Fifth — Chapter XLVI The Hours of Suspense11 min
  47. Book Fifth — Chapter XLVII The Last Moment2 min
  48. Book Fifth — Chapter XLVIII Another Meeting in the Wood17 min
  49. Book Sixth — Chapter XLIX At the Hall Farm18 min
  50. Book Sixth — Chapter L In the Cottage21 min
  51. Book Sixth — Chapter LI Sunday Morning23 min
  52. Book Sixth — Chapter LII Adam and Dinah16 min
  53. Book Sixth — Chapter LIII The Harvest Supper23 min
  54. Book Sixth — Chapter LIV The Meeting on the Hill10 min
  55. Book Sixth — Chapter LV Marriage Bells5 min
  56. Epilogue7 min

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Is this the complete Adam Bede?

This edition contains the complete English literary text, with 56 sections and 214,924 words. This reading edition preserves the checked English text and its section order. No study notes have been added.

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