and so droll and genuine,and yet so selected and polished by art,thatI cannot praise it enough to you."(Hunter,S. 122) In fact,in early criticism,the tragedy ofinfanticide has often been overlooked in favor ofthe peaceful idyllic world and familiar personalities Eliot recreated.[6] Other critics have been less generous.Henry James,among others,resented the narrator's interventions.In particular, Chapter 15 has fared poorly amongscholars because ofthe author's/narrator's moralizingand meddling in an attempt to 10: sway readers'opinions of Hetty and Dinah.Other critics have objected to the resolutionofthe story.In the final moments. Hetty,about to be executed for infanticide,is saved by her seducer,Arthur Donnithorne.Critics have argued that this deus ex machina ending negates the moral lessons learned by the main characters.Without the eleventh hour reprieve,the suffering of Adam,Arthur,and Hetty would have been more realistically concluded.In addition,somescholars feel that Adam's marriage to Dinah is another instance ofthe author's/narrator's intrusiveness.These instances have been found to directly conflict with the otherwise realistic images and so droll and genuine, and yet so selected and polished by art, that I cannot praise it enough to you." (Hunter, S. 122) In fact, in early criticism, the tragedy of infanticide has often been overlooked in favor of the peaceful idyllic world and familiar personalities Eliot recreated.[6] Other critics have been less generous. Henry James, among others, resented the narrator's interventions. In particular, Chapter 15 has fared poorly among scholars because of the author's/narrator's moralizing and meddling in an attempt to sway readers' opinions of Hetty and Dinah. Other critics have objected to the resolution of the story. In the final moments, Hetty, about to be executed for infanticide, is saved by her seducer, Arthur Donnithorne. Critics have argued that this deus ex machina ending negates the moral lessons learned by the main characters. Without the eleventh hour reprieve, the suffering of Adam, Arthur, and Hettywould have been more realistically concluded. In addition, some scholars feel that Adam's marriage to Dinah is another instance of the author's/narrator's intrusiveness. These instances have been found to directly conflict with the otherwise realistic images 10’