‘George
Eliot’s Dresses’
Jen Davis,
University of Chester
‘I wish to stir your sympathy with commonplace
troubles – to win your tears for real sorrow: sorrow such as may live next door
to you – such as walks neither in rags nor in velvet, but in very ordinary
decent apparel.’ (George Eliot, Scenes of
Clerical Life)
It is appropriate that Eliot chooses clothing
to illustrate her manifesto for the ordinary and commonplace in Scenes of Clerical Life; she often uses clothes to represent her
characters’ personalities in some way. Analysing dress in Eliot’s novels can
reveal fascinating insights into characters’ morality, sexuality and social
status, as well as shedding light on Eliot’s attitudes and preconceptions.
Eliot’s comments on the practicalities of her characters’ dresses can provide a
fresh perspective on the reality of dressing the Victorians. Anyone familiar
with Eliot’s novels, or her biography, may expect her to dress rather sombrely
– a Dorothea in dove-grey silk, perhaps, or a mourning gown to match her
Sybilline status. It may come as a surprise, then, to discover that her choice
of clothing for herself tended towards the colourful and vivacious. A
discussion of one of Eliot’s own dresses presents her in a new light.
1a: Fabricating Femininity (Chair: Sarah Heaton) – CWE 124
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