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 Victorian
novelist who developed the method of psychological depiction characteristic
of modern fiction - contemporary of Dostoyevsky (1821-1881), who
at the same time in Russia developed his intuitive understanding
of human heart. Eliot's liaison with the married writer and editor
George Henry Lewes made her an outcast until her literary fame overcame
the moralistic irritation.
"Marriage, which has been the bourne of so many narratives,
is still a great beginning, as it was to Adam and Eve, who kept
their honeymoon in Eden, but had their first little one among
the thorns and thistles of the wilderness. It is still the beginning
of the home epic - the gradual conquest or irremediable loss of
that complete union which makes the advancing years as a climax,
and age the harvest of sweet memories in common."
(from Middlemarch, 1871-72)
Eliot was born in Chilvers Cotton, Warwickshire, where her father
was a land agent. When she was a few months old, the family moved
to Griff, a 'cheerful red-brick, ivory-covered house', and there
Eliot spent 21 years of his life among people that he later depicted
in her novels. She was educated at home and in several schools,
and developed a strong evangelical piety at Mrs. Wallington's School
at Neneaton. When her mother died in 1836, she took charge of the
family household. In 1841 she moved with her father to Coventry,
where she lived with him until his death in 1849. During this time
she met Charles Bray, a freethinking Coventry manufacturer. His
wife was a sister of Charles Hennel, the author of a work entitled
An Inquiry Concerning the Origin of Christianity (1838).
The reading of this and other rationalistic works influenced deeply
Eliot's thoughts. After her father's death, Eliot travelled around
Europe. She settled in London and took up work as sub editor of
Westminster Review.
 In
Coventry she met Charles Bray and later Charles Hennell, who introduced
her to many new religious and political ideas. Under Eliot's control
the Westminster Review enjoyed success. She became the centre
of a literary circle, one of whose members was George Henry Lewes,
who would be her companion until his death in 1878. In 1854 she
went to Germany with Lewes. Their unconventional union caused some
difficulties because Lewes was still married when they met and unable
to obtain divorce from his wife.
Eliot's first collection of tales, SCENES OF CLERICAL LIFE, appeared
in 1858 under the pseudonym George Eliot - in those days writing
was considered to be a male profession. It was followed by her first
novel, ADAM BEDE, a tragic love story in which the model for the
title character was Eliot's father, and other major novels, THE
MILL ON THE FLOSS (1860), SILAS MARNER (1861). MIDDLEMARCH (1871-72),
her greatest novel, was probably inspired by her life at Coventry.
When impostors claimed authorship of Adam Bede, it was revealed
that Marian Evans, the Westminster reviewer, was George Eliot.
"'I know that I must expect trials, uncle. Marriage is a state
of higher duties, I never thought of it as mere personal ease,'
said poor Dorothea."
(from Middlemarch)
Middlemarch, a novel of English provincial life in the early
nineteenth century, just before the Reform Bill of 1832, was called
by the famous American writer Henry James a 'treasure-house of detail.'
It fuses several stories and characters, creating a network of parallels
and contrasts. One of Eliot's main concerns is the way which the
past moulds the present and the attempts of various characters to
control the future. Dorothea, an idealistic young woman, marries
the pedantic Casaubon. After his death she marries Will Ladislaw,
Casaubon's young cousin, a vaguely artistic outsider. Doctor Tertius
Lydgate is trapped with the egoistic Rosamond Vincy, the town's
beauty. Lydgate becomes involved in a scandal, and he dies at 50,
his ambitions frustrated. Other characters are Bulstrode, a banker
and a religious hypocrite, Mary Garth, the practical daughter of
a land agent, and Fred Vincy, the son of the mayor of Middlemarch.
 In
1860-61 Eliot spent some time in Italy collecting material for her
historical romance ROMOLA. It was published serially first in the
Cornhill Magazine and in book form in 1863. After Lewes's
death she married twenty years younger friend, John Cross, on May
6, 1880. They made a wedding trip to Italy, and returned to London,
where she died on the same year on December 22.
Among Eliot's translation works are D.F. Strauss's Das Leben
Jesu kritisch bearbeitet (published anonymously in 1846), Ludwig
Feuerbach's Das Wesen des Christentum, and Spinoza's Ethics
(unpublished).
Silas Marner (1861) - Silas Marner, a linen-weaver, has
accumulated a goodly sum of gold. He was falsely judged guilty
of theft 15 years before and left t his community. Squire Cass'
son Dunstan steals Marner's gold and disappears. Marner takes
care of an orphand little girl, Eppie and she becomes for him
more precious than the lost property. Sixteen years later the
skeleton of Dunstan and Marner's gold is found. Godfrey Cass,
Dunstal's brother, admits that he is the father of Eppie. He married
the girl's mother, opium-ridden Molly Farren secretly before hear
death. Eppie and Silas Marner don't wish to separate when Godfrey
tries to adopt the girl. In the end Eppie marries Aaron Winthorp,
who accepts Silas Marner as part of the household.
George Henry Lewes (1817-1878). Born in London. Left school
early. Started writing for the Penny Encyclopaedia and other journals,
edited the Leader and the Fortnightly. His works include The Spanish
Drama, Life and Works of Goethe, and Problems of Life and Mind.
For further reading: Life by G.S. Haigh (1940); The Art
of George Eliot by B. Hardy (1959); George Eliot: Her Life and
Art by J. Bennett (1962); George Eliot by Gordon Haight (1968);
George Eliot: The Emergent Self by Ruby Redinger (1976); George
Eliot by J. Uglow (1987); George Eliot by Alan W. Bellringer (1993);
George Eliot: Voice of a Century by While Frederick Karl (1995);
George Eliot: A Life by Rosemary Ashton (1997) ; George Eliot:
The Last Victorian by Kathryn Hughes (1999) - Museums:
Arbury Hall in Warwickshire, Nuneaton CV10 7PT, former home of
George Eliot
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