George Eliot's Life, as Related in Her Letters and Journals. Vol. 2 (of 3)

Metadata

Gutenberg ID

43044

Title

George Eliot's Life, as Related in Her Letters and Journals. Vol. 2 (of 3)

Language

en

Book source

Project Gutenberg

Description max 80 words

This volume chronicles George Eliot's literary ascent from the publication of 'Scenes of Clerical Life' to the completion of 'Felix Holt,' capturing her intimate correspondence with contemporaries like Dickens and Carlyle. Edited by her husband, it offers a candid look at her creative process, personal health struggles, and intellectual growth against the backdrop of mid-19th-century cultural life.

Summary up to 500 words

Volume II of George Eliot's biography, edited by her husband John Cross, chronicles the period from early 1858 to late 1866, capturing a pivotal era in the life of one of literature's greatest figures. The narrative begins with the critical triumph of *Scenes of Clerical Life*. This success brought Eliot into the public eye, eliciting famous correspondence from Charles Dickens, who praised the work's 'womanly touches' while playfully questioning whether the author was truly a woman. Similar acclaim flowed from John Ruskin and William Makepeace Thackeray. Yet, this fame introduced a new struggle: maintaining an incognito while navigating intense public scrutiny and the pressure of her own reflections on art and morality. The volume details Eliot and George Henry Lewes's extensive travels, including a significant tour of Italy followed by journeys to Holland, Germany, and Spain. These trips were not merely leisurely escapes but periods of intense intellectual engagement. Eliot immersed herself in diverse subjects, studying Spanish literature, astronomy, and the positivist philosophy of Auguste Comte. Her letters to friends like Mrs. Congreve, Miss Sara Hennell, and Mrs. Bray reveal a woman balancing professional ambition with deep emotional bonds, self-indulgent periods of reading and piano playing, and a philosophical resignation regarding aging and mortality. A central focus of this volume is the arduous writing of *Felix Holt*. Eliot describes the novel growing like a 'sickly child' due to her declining health. The text captures her painstaking revisions, consultations with legal experts such as Frederic Harrison regarding the book's plot points, and her frustration with physical limitations that threatened her productivity. Despite these challenges, she also engaged with dramatic works, attempting to adapt *The Spanish Gypsy*. Throughout the volume, Eliot balances professional literary achievements with profound personal introspection. She offers a substantial portrait of an artist navigating fame, illness, and the evolving landscape of Victorian thought, all while striving for unfeigned, unselfish cheerfulness in the face of inevitable decay.

LLM editorial rating

4.5/5

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Categories

• Biography
• Correspondence