Adam Bede

The narrative includes the death of a parent and deals heavily with the consequences of infanticide.

There is no graphic depiction of gore in the novel.

Language is formal, Victorian-era English with no modern offensive content.

Methodism and Anglicanism play central roles in the characterization and moral framework of the village.

Romantic attraction, jealousy, deception, unrequited love, marriage, and their consequences drive the central plot and shape the main characters' choices.

Emotional dread comes from secrecy, abandonment, the infant's death, trial, imprisonment, and threatened execution; the novel is tense and tragic rather than frightening or horror-focused.

Sexual relationships and pregnancy outside marriage are implied and discussed through their consequences, without explicit description.

Occasional references to social drinking in a village pub setting.

Limited to minor physical altercations and the harsh social/legal treatment of a character.