Exactly how steamy is this story?
G
On the steaminess scale, Silas Marner is about as foggy as tepid bathwater. And the only reason that we're giving this even a rating of "tepid" is the descriptions of Eppie as:
[A] blond dimpled girl of eighteen, who has vainly tried to chastise her curly auburn hair into smoothness under her brown bonnet: the hair ripples as obstinately as a brooklet under the March breeze, and the little ringlets burst away from the restraining comb behind and show themselves below the bonnet-crown. (2.16.4)
These dimples and unrestrained hair are, let's just say it, sexy: they "burst," they "show themselves," and there's even talk of chastisement. No wonder Aaron Winthrop wants to marry her.