George Eliot

Mary Anne Evans (1819-1880) was one of the leading novelists of the Victorian era, whose voluminous books are marked by their character insight and the realistic treatment of life in the English countryside and small towns.

George Eliot is less well-known as a poet, but she published two volumes of accomplished poetry, dealing with a range of themes, but notably the conflicts and dilemmas of women in society at the time.

She adopted the masculine pen name “George Eliot,” possibly to be taken more seriously by the literary world; possibly to conceal her long-term relationship with married philosopher and critic George Henry Lewes.