Encountering the text or quotes in French or Latin in reading classic novels has been a puzzle for me. I understand the need for citations of Shakespearean works or even words from Geoffrey Chaucer in writing, but why text or words in French or Latin without appropriate translation? For example, the translation is provided for Spanish text but not others in the novel Middlemarch. I would guess that French was considered a prestigious language after Latin in that era. My question is, how would the writer expect the readers to understand the text? Thank you.

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A long time ago, most educated people in Europe would know Latin (often due to usage in the church) and French (because it was a prestigious, high culture thing...very common in old Russian literature, for example). Back then, books were very expensive, so mostly rich people with nothing to do were the only ones reading ;)--I agree, it is inconvenient for the modern reader.

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