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AnaClaraBirrento
UniversityofÉvora,Portugal
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0957-7589
MargaretOliphant(1823-1897)andGeorgeEliot(1819-1880)aretwo
Victoriannovelists,whosefortunesweredifferent.WhereasGeorgeEliot
belongedtothecanonicalgalleryofthegreatVictorianwriters,tothegreat
tradition,inF.R.Leavis’swords,MargaretOliphantwasaprolificwriter,
whoneverachievedthisstature,belongingtothegalleryofpopularVictorian
novelists.Eliot,wholivedwith,andwassupportedby,theinfluentialcritic
1
GeorgeHenryLewes,wroteunderapseudonymwhichwonheraplaceinthe
male-dominatedworldofVictorianfiction,andduringherliterarycareer
shechanged“thepossibilitiesoftheartforpractitionersandreaders[...]
significantintermsofthehumanawarenesstheypromote;awarenessofthe
possibilitiesoflife”.Eliotmoreoverlivedinanivorytower;shewaskeptsafe
2
fromallthedailychoresandresponsibilitiesOliphanthadtofacethroughout
herlife.Amotherofthreeandayoungwidow,MargaretOliphantwasthe
familybreadwinnerandconsideredbymanyaliteraryjack-of-all-trades.But,
despitethesedifferences,bothwriterswereabletocreateprotagonistsand
narrativesfromtheworldoftheirpersonalexperience,fromtheirlandscapes
oftheself.Theseareprotagonistswhocreateforthemselvesconditionsof
possibilitywhichdonotbelongtotherealworld,butwhichhelptopoliticize
theimageofthewomentheywanttocreate,articulatingtherealmofexistence
andtherealmofexperience.Bothnovelistsbecameagentsofchange,facing
3
1
F.R.Leavis.TheGreatTradition.London1962.AccordingtoElisabethJayinOxford
Bibliographies(22Feb2018)Oliphantpublished“ninety-eightnovels;overfiftyshort
stories;biographies,bothhistoricalandcontemporary;historicalguidestoEuropean
cities;andover300periodicalarticles”.
2
F.R.Leavis,op.cit.,p.10.
3
AlanSinfield.Faultlines:CulturalMaterialismandthePoliticsofDissentReading.
Oxford1992.
