George Eliot and Cultural Attitudes Toward Marginal Religious Groups in Mid-Century Victorian England

Authors

Calvin Olsen, Brigham Young University
Dr. Susan Howe, Brigham Young University

Keywords

George Eliot, cultural attitudes, religious groups, Victorian England

College

Humanities

Department

English

Abstract

Mary Anne Evans, who wrote under the pen name George Eliot, was a novelist in Victorian England. Like other women writers of the time, she used a pseudonym so that her work would be taken seriously. She is most widely recognized for her novels, but she also wrote non-fiction geared toward academic audiences of the time. In 1852 she took over as editor for the Westminster Review, a journal interested in becoming “an instrument for the development and guidance of earnest thought on Politics, Social Philosophy, Religion, and General Literature.” The Westminster Review had recently assimilated the smaller Foreign Quarterly Review, so Eliot was working behind the scenes as one of the editors, more than likely simultaneously submitting her own written opinion for publication. Queen Victoria had been on the throne for roughly fifteen years and England was quickly becoming an educated, highly industrialized country with a thirst for literary enlightenment.

Recommended Citation

Olsen, Calvin and Howe, Dr. Susan (2013) "George Eliot and Cultural Attitudes Toward Marginal Religious Groups in Mid-Century Victorian England," Journal of Undergraduate Research: Vol. 2013: Iss. 1, Article 757.
Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/jur/vol2013/iss1/757