14 - George Eliot

Summary

“My darling Marian! / Forgive me for being so very affectionate but I am so intensely delighted at your success . . . I can't tell you how I triumphed in the triumph you have made . . . I saw the 1st review and read one long extract which instantly made me internally exclaim that is written by Marian Evans, there is her great big head and heart and her wise wide views . . .Very few things have given me so much pleasure. / 1st. That a woman should write a wise and humourous book which should take a place by Thackeray. / 2nd. That you that you whom they spit at should do it!” / So wrote Barbara Bodichon to her close friend Marian Evans after the pseudonymous publication of Adam Bede in 1859. Amid rumours of the novel's authorship, Marian Evans persisted in trying to keep her identity a secret. Nevertheless, Bodichon instantly recognised her as the author, divining even in an excerpt her friend's distinctive characteristics as a writer and thinker. I begin with this letter, and shall return to it on several occasions in the first part of this essay, as it helps us to understand the context in which George Eliot emerged as a writer and - especially in the phrase 'head and heart and . . . wise wide views' - handily identifies future keynotes in George Eliot criticism and biography.