George Eliot

El desdén por la capacidad artística e intelectual de las mujeres llevó a Mary Ann Evans a firmar sus escritos con el pseudónimo de George Eliot. Con una acentuada vocación intelectual y una inmensa capacidad de lectura en varias lenguas clasicas y modernas, evito las salidas tradicionales para la mujer culta que tenia que ganarse la vida (ser profesora o institutriz) y se traslado a Londres donde llego a ser subdirectora de una revista, de hecho directora en funciones, desarrollando una amplisima labor intelectual en articulos y reseñas que aparecian de forma anonima. "Middlemarch" es la historia de una vocacion, de las limitaciones que la sociedad patriarcal impone a una mujer con las aspiraciones de Dorotea Brooke. Es tambien la historia de la vida de unos individuos, sus relaciones personales, familiares y profesionales, sus aspiraciones y fracasos. Es, sin olvidar su subtitulo, "un estudio de la vida de provincias".

Inspirada en gran parte en los recuerdos de la infancia de la autora, que transcurrió en las propiedades paternas de Warwickshire junto a su hermano Isaac, El molino del Floss gira en torno al desigual destino de Tom y Maggie Tulliver, los hijos del molinero. A pesar de la inteligencia natural de Maggie, es Tom, por ser varon, quien recibe la educacion y en quien el padre de ambos -y por supuesto la sociedad provinciana de mediados del XIX-, confia para hacer frente al futuro del molino. Cuando los niños se acercan a la juventud, la desgracia economica cae sobre los Tulliver, y los hermanos se ven obligados a enfrentarse a las dificultades. Maggie, alter ego de Eliot, es uno de los personajes mas fascinantes de toda su produccion, una mujer sensible y apasionada encerrada en un ambiente vulgar, monotono y, con frecuencia, ruin. Su magistral caracterizacion se desarrolla sobre el trasfondo social e historico de la epoca: Eliot refleja, con gran precision, el lento pero inexorable cambio que la sociedad rural de miras estrechas sufre en favor de una de corte capitalista.A pesar del patetismo progresivo de la novela, un fino humor, altamente critico, esta siempre presente. Considerada, despues de Middlemarch (1871-1872), la mejor obra salida de la pluma de Eliot, El molino del Floss refleja al igual que esta, a traves de los conflictos morales de sus personajes, la preocupacion metafisica de la autora.

Este volumen reúne dos de las pocas novelas cortas que escribió George Eliot. En El velo alzado (1859) el joven Mortimer adquiere inesperadamente el don de leer el pensamiento de los demás: solo la prometida de su hermano mayor se le resiste y, sin embargo, una vision le anuncia que se casara con ella. En El hermano Jacob (1860), a traves de la peripecia de David Faux (que, de aprendiz de pastelero, aspira a ser un gran personaje en las Indias Occidentales, adonde emigra tras robarle los ahorros a su madre) y de su hermano, el idiota Jacob, se erige una fabula recta e hilarante.

"Adam Bede" fue la más vendida y leída de las novelas de George Eliot, pseudónimo de la escritora Mary Ann Evans. Sus relatos y novelas figuran entre lo más escogido de la literatura victoriana. En esta novela, la autora quiso trasladar fielmente a sus lectores una realidad historica que combinaba el ambiente shakesperiano de la Inglaterra rural con la epica miltoniana reavivada por la fe metodista.

«Middlemarch» es la historia de tres parejas sujetas a los frágiles hilos del saber y del error, entretejida con la crónica minuciosa de los destinos de toda una comunidad en una época de cambios y r

Romola (1863) es una de las novelas más mabiciosas e imaginativas de Mary Ann Evans (George Eliot). Ambientada en la Florencia renauentista posterior a la expulsion de los Medici, en la que Savonarola se alzo con el control de la ciudad en un clima de efervescencia y transicion semejante al de la Gran Bretaña victoriana, cuenta la historia de Romola, de la Florencia de la epoca y, en cierto modo, la de su propia autora. Romola, hija devota de un erudito ciego, casada con el astuto y traicionero Tito, cuya duplicidad tanto en el amor como en la politica amenzada con destruir todo lo que valora, debera separarse para encontrar su propio camino. La misma Mary Ann Evans dijo que Romola, joya de la literatura inglesa, que casa frase estaba escrita con su mejor sangre.

Silas Marner, un bondadoso tejedor, es acusado de un robo abyecto cometido por su mejor amigo, lo que le obliga a exiliarse de su comunidad. Instalado en Raveloe, un pueblo apartado, se convierte en un solitario y huraño avariento cuya existencia se reduce al trabajo en el telar y a acumular un tesoro en monedas de oro y plata. Sin embargo, dos sucesos inesperados cambiaran su amarga monotonia: el robo de su dinero y la subita aparicion en su casa de una niña huerfana.Silas Marner, un bondadoso tejedor, es acusado de un robo abyecto cometido por su mejor amigo, lo que le obliga a exiliarse de su comunidad. Instalado en Raveloe, un pueblo apartado, se convierte en un solitario y huraño avariento cuya existencia se reduce al trabajo en el telar y a acumular un tesoro en monedas de oro y plata. Sin embargo, dos sucesos inesperados cambiaran su amarga monotonia: el robo de su dinero y la subita aparicion en su casa de una niña huerfana.

Dos jóvenes se encuentran una tarde de septiembre en un casino alemán; no se conocen ni son presentados; pero el, Daniel Deronda, mira cómo ella, Gwendolen Harleth, juega y pierde a la ruleta. A ella su mirada le parece de "una ironia exasperante". Daniel, hijo adoptivo de un baron liberal que lo ha tratado siempre con cariño y educado impecablemente, pero nunca le ha dicho quienes son sus padres, vive con un sentimiento de ilegitimidad pero tiene una personalidad afectuosa y sentimientos delicados: es capaz de hacer grandes gestos por los demas. Para Gwendolen, en cambio, los demas solo estan para admirarla: esta "decidida a ser feliz& x02026; como minimo a no dejar pasar la vida igual que otros"; y ademas afirma: "Cuando apunto no puedo evitar dar en el blanco". Pero su familia no tardara en caer en la ruina y su unica via de escape sera casarse con un hombre rico al que crea que pueda dominar. Deronda, por su parte, rescata de ahogarse en el Tamesis a una muchacha judia que ha huido de un padre explotador y se encarga de velar por su porvenir. Las relaciones de estos personajes se entrecruzan de las formas mas inesperadas, creando una tension presidida por el desafio de llevar una vida nueva y desconocida. Daniel Deronda (1876) no solo es pionera en el tratamiento del juda

Traducida por primera vez al castellano y publicada originalmente en 1879, un año antes de la muerte de la autora, Impresiones de un tal Teofrasto narra las impresiones sociales y filosóficas de un solterón inglés de mediana edad que, al igual que su homólogo griego de la antigüedad, escribe con un tono crítico y burlón sobre sí mismo y sobre los personajes que ha conocido a lo largo de su vida. Pero Eliot no vierte una copia actualizada de los Caracteres de Teofrasto, sino que recurre a un estilo experimental y juguetón que anticipa el Modernismo y convierte al Teofrasto inglés en una parodia de su propio carácter y en una crítica en toda regla de la cultura europea del siglo XIX. Con su habitual inteligencia, haciendo gala de un envidiable acervo cultural, \\\"Impresiones de un tal Teofrasto\\\" ha sido durante años un ensayo relegado del canon de Eliot al quedar ensombrecido por el éxito de sus novelas, pero es la obra en que mejor podemos disfrutar de su fuerte despliegue intelectual.

Adam Bede by George Eliot - was the first novel by Mary Ann Evans (George Eliot), and was published in 1859. It was published pseudonymously, even though Evans was a well-published and highly respected scholar of her time. The novel has remained in print ever since and is regularly used in university studies of 19th-century English literature. She described the novel as, A country story full of the breath of cows and scent of hay.The novel follows the lives of four characters in the fictional community of Hayslopea rural, pastoral, and close-knit communityin 1799. The novel revolves around a love "rectangle" among the beautiful but self-absorbed Hetty Sorrel; Captain Arthur Donnithorne, the young squire who seduces her; Adam Bede, her unacknowledged suitor; and Dinah Morris, Hettys cousin, a fervent, virtuous and beautiful Methodist lay preacher.Adam, a local carpenter much admired for his integrity and intelligence, is in love with Hetty. She is attracted to Arthur, the local squires charming grandson and heir, and falls in love with him. When Adam interrupts a tryst between them, Adam and Arthur fight. Arthur agrees to give up Hetty and leaves Hayslope to return to his militia. After he leaves, Hetty Sorrel agrees to marry Adam but shortly before their marriage, discovers that she is pregnant. In desperation, she leaves in search of Arthur but cannot find him.Unwilling to return to the village on account of the shame and ostracism she would have to endure, she delivers her baby with the assistance of a friendly woman she encounters. She subsequently abandons the infant in a field but not being able to bear the childs cries, she tries to retrieve the infant. However, she is too late, the infant having already died of exposure.

Daniel Deronda by George Eliot - Daniel Deronda is a novel written by Mary Ann Evans under the pen name of George Eliot, first published in eight parts (books) February to September 1876.It was the last novel she completed and the only one set in the Victorian society of her day. The works mixture of social satire and moral searching, along with its sympathetic rendering of Jewish proto-Zionist ideas, has made it the controversial final statement of one of the most renowned Victorian novelists.The novel has been adapted for film three times, once as a silent feature and twice for television. It has also been adapted for the stage, notably in the 1960s by the 69 Theatre Company in Manchester with Vanessa Redgrave cast as the heroine Gwendolen Harleth.The novel has two main strands of plot, and while the "story of Gwendolen" has been described as "one of the masterpieces of English fiction", that part concerned with Daniel Deronda has been described as "flat and unconvincing". All the same Daniels story has had a significant influence on Zionism.

This ebook comprises the complete writings of English writer George Eliot.The collection is sorted chronologically by book (or magazine) publication. There are the usual inline tables of contents and links after each text/chapter to get back to the respective tables. The dates of first publication are noted whenever available.Contents:Scenes of Clerical Life. (1858): The Sad Fortunes of the Rev. Amos Barton, Mr. Gilfils Love Story, Janets Repentance.Adam Bede. (1859)The Lifted Veil. (1859)The Mill on the Floss. (1860)Silas Marner, the Weaver of Raveloe. (1861)Romola. (1863)Brother Jacob. (1864)Felix Holt, the Radical. (1866)The Spanish Gypsy. (1868)Middlemarch. (1871/72)The Legend of Jubal, and Other Poems. (1874): The Legend of Jubal, Agatha, Armgart, How Lisa Loved the King, A Minor Prophet...

When the young nobleman Harold Transome returns to England from the colonies with a self-made fortune, he scandalizes the town of Treby Magna with his decision to stand for Parliament as a Radical. But after the idealistic Felix Holt also returns to the town, the difference between Harolds opportunistic values and Holts profound beliefs becomes apparent. Forthright, brusque and driven by a firm desire to educate the working-class, Felix is at first viewed with suspicion by many, including the elegant but vain Esther Lyon, the daughter of the local clergyman. As she discovers, however, his blunt words conceal both passion and deep integrity. Soon the romantic and over-refined Esther finds herself overwhelmed by a heart-wrenching decision: whether to choose the wealthy Transome as a husband, or the impoverished but honest Felix Holt.

George Eliots final novel and her most ambitious work, Daniel Deronda contrasts the moral laxity of the British aristocracy with the dedicated fervor of Jewish nationalists. Crushed by a loveless marriage to the cruel and arrogant Grandcourt, Gwendolen Harleth seeks salvation in the deeply spiritual and altruistic Daniel Deronda. But Deronda, profoundly affected by the discovery of his Jewish ancestry, is ultimately too committed to his own cultural awakening to save Gwendolen from despair.

In the days when the spinning-wheels hummed busily in the farmhousesand even great ladies, clothed in silk and thread-lace, had their toy spinning-wheels of polished oakthere might be seen in districts far away among the lanes, or deep in the bosom of the hills, certain pallid undersized men, who, by the side of the brawny country-folk, looked like the remnants of a disinherited race. The shepherds dog barked fiercely when one of these alien-looking men appeared on the upland, dark against the early winter sunset; for what dog likes a figure bent under a heavy bag?and these pale men rarely stirred abroad without that mysterious burden. The shepherd himself, though he had good reason to believe that the bag held nothing but flaxen thread, or else the long rolls of strong linen spun from that thread, was not quite sure that this trade of weaving, indispensable though it was, could be carried on entirely without the help of the Evil One. In that far-off time superstition clung easily round every person or thing that was at all unwonted, or even intermittent and occasional merely, like the visits of the pedlar or the knife-grinder. No one knew where wandering men had their homes or their origin; and how was a man to be explained unless you at least knew somebody who knew his father and mother? To the peasants of old times, the world outside their own direct experience was a region of vagueness and mystery: to their untravelled thought a state of wandering was a conception as dim as the winter life of the swallows that came back with the spring; and even a settler, if he came from distant parts, hardly ever ceased to be viewed with a remnant of distrust, which would have prevented any surprise if a long course of inoffensive conduct on his part had ended in the commission of a crime; especially if he had any reputation for knowledge, or showed any skill in handicraft.

Who that cares much to know the history of man, and how the mysterious mixture behaves under the varying experiments of Time, has not dwelt, at least briefly, on the life of Saint Theresa, has not smiled with some gentleness at the thought of the little girl walking forth one morning hand-in-hand with her still smaller brother, to go and seek martyrdom in the country of the Moors? Out they toddled from rugged Avila, wide-eyed and helpless-looking as two fawns, but with human hearts, already beating to a national idea; until domestic reality met them in the shape of uncles, and turned them back from their great resolve. That child-pilgrimage was a fit beginning. Theresas passionate, ideal nature demanded an epic life: what were many-volumed romances of chivalry and the social conquests of a brilliant girl to her? Her flame quickly burned up that light fuel; and, fed from within, soared after some illimitable satisfaction, some object which would never justify weariness, which would reconcile self-despair with the rapturous consciousness of life beyond self. She found her epos in the reform of a religious order.