Mary Ann Evans - known by pseudonym George Elio

Stephanie writes:
Mary Ann Evans, well known by her pseudonym George Eliot, was a British novelist who lived between 1819-1880.  When Mary Ann was about 17, her mother died, so she took on the role of housekeeper as the only woman in the household.  When her father retired, her brother, the new head of the house, decided to relocate them to a house in Coventry.  In Coventry, she joined a group of scholars that influenced her ideas of religion in the largely Angelican world she resided in. Mary Ann loyally served for her father until his death in 1849 with the occasional protest of attending church, which she had gradually grown skeptical of.  She received 100£ from his will which allowed her some independence in the English society.  At this time, Mary Ann, an unmarried 30 year old, decided to move to London to become a writer.  She quickly became the joint editor of the “Westminster Review” with the help of her scholarly friend from Coventry, John Chapman.  Mary Ann longed for someone to be with during these years and she had a relationship with Chapman, who was married at the time.  She met many famous authors such as Charles Dickens during her stay at Chapman’s home.  Here, she also met George Henry Lewes.  The two fell in love and wanted to get married except George was already married to a faithless wife and he could not get a divorce.  Instead, they moved in together and called themselves man and wife although they were not legally married.  This act outraged society.  Her friends, and even her family ostracized her.  However, this marked the start of a new phase in her life and career.  Mary Ann began to write novels about the successes and failures of the people of the countryside.  She decided to write under the pen name of George Eliot so she would not bring unnecessary attention to herself and her partner.  After more than 20 years of writing fiction, George Eliot had become a very famous writer in England, and everyone accepted her into society except her family.  In 1879, her partner died. George’s friend John Walter Cross comforted her and in 1880, they decided to get married.  Her family finally accepted her because she was actually married, even though it was to a man much younger than her.  George, now a respectable married woman by her family’s standards, died after six months of marriage.