Ten of the best: deathbed scenes in literature

At the Guardian, John Mullan named ten of the best deathbed scenes in literature.

One book on the list:

Middlemarch by George Eliot

Everyone, it seems, is waiting for the death of the misanthropic miser Peter Featherstone. In his bedchamber he plots to torment those who hope for some share of his wealth, but, tended by the stalwart Mary Garth, still dies in fear and bitterness. A lesson to us.

Read about the other deathbed scenes on Mullan's list.

Middlemarch also made John Mullan's lists of ten of the best marital rows, ten of the best examples of unrequited love, and ten of the best funerals in literature, as well as Tina Brown's five best list of books on reputation. While it is one of Miss Manners' favorite novels, John Banville and Nick Hornby have not read it.

--Marshal Zeringue