George Eliot AKA Mary Anne Evans (Marian Evans)

George Eliot AKA Mary Anne Evans (Marian Evans)

Introduction

George Eliot AKA Mary Anne Evans was one of the leading writers of nineteenth century. She was one of the best novelists, journalist, and translator of Victorian era. It was the time when women and their work were not easily acceptable in the male dominating society(Gatens, 2008). It was a time when it was very difficult for women to be accepted with their intellectual thoughts and creative mind. This is the reason that a woman Mary Anne Evans or Marian Evans when started writing, she was not sure about whether her work will be accepted in the male dominating society or not. This insecurity and gender discrimination made her write with the male pen name of 'George Elliot”.

It was the time when there were only a few women writers, and their writings reflect the stereotypical femininity in their romantic or simple novels. Marian Evans was always an ambitious person whose works reflect her extraordinary intellectuality and thought (Gatens, 2008). This was the reason that she wanted to show people about her extraordinary works and writings. She wanted to prove her as not inferior from any male and especially her different perspectives about life and extraordinary work experience and creative thought made her working in the extraordinary style of writing which was not inferior then any male. Another important reason for the hiding her name was that she always wanted to escape the society and to conceal her private life from the public. She had an affair with George Henry Lewes, who had influence on her life and it was the name of “George” which she chose as her identity. G.H. Lewes was a married man and this was the reason that she never wanted to reveal her private life to the public (Gatens, 2008).

Discussion

Profile of George Eliot

George Elliot was born on 22 November, 1819in England. She had religious thoughts and started teaching at the Sunday school. She also assisted her father in his work as a land agent (www.pbs.org). She was always different than ordinary girls and from the very beginning her religious activities and her work with her father when women and girls never considered participating in the activities like this.

This was the beginning of her intellectual thoughts and she became more interested in the religious activities and this resulted in her acquaintances with the free-religious thinkers, and questioned orthodoxy of the Anglican Church (www.pbs.org). Her first work was the translation of the D. F. Strauss's The Life of Jesus Critically Examined. Later she translated various works and then began writing different novels and writings. After the death of her mother she moved to Coventry and later returned to her home but she was never a girl who can be just bound in her farmhouse. Her father was against her religious perspectives.

After the death of her father she moved to London and started working as a journalist. Later she met ...