This biography of Eliot sets her vividly in the political, social and religious context of the time. She arrived in London in 1851, determined to make her way as a journalist on the "Westminster Review", a paper until then exclusively dominated by men. It was whilst she was working on this journal that she found her writer's voice - ironic, sceptical and broadly sympathizing. The author examines her relationship with Lewes (the subject of a previous biography), his encouragement, battling both against her pride and her fear of failure, her unrequited love for Chapman, her employer on the Review and her love for Spencer, the recipient of her extraordinary love letters, begging attention, yet at the same time strong, self-aware and witty at her own expense. This is a sensitive and revealing portrait of a modern and highly unorthodox life, giving a fuller treatment than any other biography on George Eliot, by an author who has been studying Eliot for 15 years.
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George Eliot, née Marian Evans, was born before her time; a liberated woman and an agnostic in the sexually repressive and pious Victorian era, Eliot has long been a favorite of modern feminist critics. Biographer Rosemary Ashton also admires Eliot's independence and her refusal to bend to the mores of the society and age in which she lived, but in George Eliot: A Life she proves that Eliot was more a product of her time than some might think. Though Eliot was unconventional enough to enter into a series of sexual relationships without benefit of marriage, her choice of men was curiously traditional, illustrated by her attraction to George Lewes, a man several years her senior who loved her, protected her, bolstered her ego, and managed her affairs.
Though Eliot's sexual liaisons are certainly interesting, Ashton, a thorough researcher and perceptive critic, also delves into Eliot's novels, analyzing them in light of the social and intellectual milieu in which they were written; this milieu forms one of the most fascinating aspects of Ashton's biography: Victorian intellectuals' struggle to find an alternative to Christian orthodoxy in a time when science and philosophy were exploding long-held religious beliefs. From the details of George Eliot's personal life to the attitudes of the society in which she lived, Rosemary Ashton has done a fine job of conveying not only a life but an entire world. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Library Journal
Ashton (English, University Coll., London; George Lewes: A Life, Oxford Univ., 1991) offers a warm, appreciative, scholarly biography of the remarkable, unconventional woman and writer of 19th-century Victorian England, George Eliot (1819-80). While Ashton does not offer any new information that cannot be found in previous biographies, she does emphasize the unusualness of Eliot's position among the leading writers and thinkers of 19th-century Europe and America and her inner conflict between nonconformity and the desire to be accepted. Ashton follows Eliot's development from journalist and translator to a writer of imaginative fiction, in the process providing glimpses of Eliot's personality, how the public and critics responded to her and to her individual works, and the encouragement and supportiveness of her long-time companion, George Lewes. Readers familiar or not with Eliot's life and writings will enjoy this critical biography (first published in England last year). For both public and academic libraries.?Jeris Cassel, Rutgers Univ. Libs., New Brunswick, N.J.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Exemplary Biography,
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This review is from: George Eliot: A Life (Mass Market Paperback)
Marian Evans ("George Eliot") comes alive in this biography. With one of the most brilliant analytical and creative minds of the 19th Century she overcame personal feelings of insecurity about her abilities, accomplishments, social situation and even personal appearance, to write books that were both profound, admired and successful. It helped that she had the constant encouragement of her publisher and the support she received in a decades- long relationship with George Lewes (who was legally unable to divorce his unfaithful wife.) Ashton gives a thoroughly digested chronological account of her activities, including travels and relations with family and friends, notably focusing on the writing and publication of each major work, with critical discussion of each. Some minor players in her story might have been more fully introduced but, after the initial chapter on the very early years, Ashton carried me with her all the way to the end.
R. James Tobin
1 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
How to make a fascinating life boring,
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This review is from: George Eliot: A Life (Mass Market Paperback)
I love the novels of George Eliot and am fascinated by her life, but was appalled to have to struggle to read this biography, which was dry and boring. I tried three times and still only got halfway through it. Now I'm off to find another biography of George Eliot that captures the essence of Eliot in tone and style as well as fact. Such a highly talented and insightful author who lived so daringly and unconventionally in Victorian times certainly deserves a biographer capable of making such an engaging life engaging to read. This one does not.
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