In this innovative study Nancy Henry introduces new facts that place George Eliot's life and work within the contexts of mid-nineteenth-century British colonialism and imperialism. She examines Eliot's roles as an investor in colonial stocks, a parent to emigrant sons, and a reader of colonial literature. She highlights the importance of these contexts to our understanding of Eliot's fiction and her position within Victorian culture. The book also reexamines the assumptions of postcolonial criticism about Victorian fiction and its relation to empire.
Contents
List of illustrations; Acknowledgments; List of abbreviations and note on the texts; Introduction; 1. Imperial knowledge: George Eliot, G. H. Lewes, and the literature of empire; 2. 'Colleagues in failure': emigration and the Lewes boys; 3. Investing in empire; 4. Daniel Deronda, Impressions of Theophratus Such, and the emergence of imperialism; Conclusion; Notes; Bibliography; Index.
Reviews
"Henry's skillful interweaving of biographical, textural, and cultural criticism enables us to see George Eliot and her work in fresh, new ways." Canadian Woman Studies
"Henry fully delivers on her promise to present 'a new Eliot,' demonstrating the centrality of empire to Eliot's life an literary practice." Victorian Periodicals Review
"Refreshing and rewarding..." Victorians Institute Journal
"This is a timely and necessary book and its attack on post-colonial readings of Eliot is cogent and to me persuasive...this book is clearly a significant contribution to Eliot studies." George Eliot-George Henry Lewes Studies
"Drawing on various sources, including essays, reviews, letters, journals, and records of investments, she offers a new lens through which to view Eliot and her fiction. Especially significant is her challenge to Edward Said's postcolonial reading of ^Daniel Deronda, the basis of his characterization of Eliot as a proponent of an ideology of imperialism...Valuable for its fresh focus." Choice
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