B2;C17
The story of Lydgate and the actress is fun and also telling. Just as Laure says “… I do not like husbands”, she could very well be talking about Middlemarch which “counted on swallowing Lydgate and assimilating him very comfortably”.
Lydgate stands out as being someone who wants to make something of himself – like Mr. Bulstrode – but does not want to be assimilated. He dreams of fame perhaps.