13. Mary Ann Evans
Mary Ann Evans was an author in the 19th century who was concerned that her work would not be taken as seriously because of gender stereotypes. She decided to publish her six novels under the pen name George Eliot.
Most of the female writers at the time were focusing on lighthearted romances. Mary Ann wanted her fiction to be judged separately from her contemporary peers as well as her other work as an editor and critic. It was also thought that using a pen name would help her shield her private life from public scrutiny since she was involved with the married George Henry Lewes. Lewes was the one who encouraged Evans to write.
Eliot contributed to the Westminister Review, a leading journal for philosophical radicals, and later was named the editor. The novels published under George Eliot’s name were “Adam Bede” (1859), “The Mill on the Floss” (1860), “Silas Marner” (1861), “Romola” (1862-63), “Middlemarch” (1871-72) and “Daniel Deronda” (1876).
Many of the writings were set in provincial England, and they became known for their realism and psychological insights. The most notorious example is “Middlemarch,” which has a central theme about a heroine who is living in the wrong time in history.
