Relationship With George Eliot
Lewes met writer Marian Evans, later to be famous as George Eliot, in 1851, and by 1854 they had decided to live together. Lewes and Agnes Jervis had agreed to have an open marriage, and in addition to the three children they had together, Agnes had also had several children by other men. Since Lewes was named on the birth certificate as the father of one of these children despite knowing this to be false, and was therefore considered complicit in adultery, he was not able to divorce Agnes. In July 1854 Lewes and Evans travelled to Weimar and Berlin together for the purpose of research.
The trip to Germany also served as a honeymoon as Evans and Lewes were now effectively married, with Evans calling herself Marian Evans Lewes, and referring to Lewes as her husband. It was not unusual for men in Victorian society to have affairs; Charles Dickens, Friedrich Engels and Wilkie Collins had committed relationships with women they were not married to, though more discreetly than Lewes. What was scandalous was the Leweses' open admission of the relationship.
Of his three sons only one, Charles Lewes, survived him; he became a London county councillor.
Read more about this topic: George Henry Lewes
Famous quotes containing the words george eliot, relationship, george and/or eliot:
“No compliment can be eloquent, except as an expression of indifference.”
—George Eliot [Mary Ann (or Marian)
“Only men of moral and mental force, of a patriotic regard for the relationship of the two races, can be of real service as ministers in the South. Less theology and more of human brotherhood, less declamation and more common sense and love for truth, must be the qualifications of the new ministry that shall yet save the race from the evils of false teaching.”
—Fannie Barrier Williams (1855–1944)
“I hope we may say that thus, this fateful morning, came to an end all wars.”
—David Lloyd George (1863–1945)
“Best friend, my well-spring in the wilderness!”
—George Eliot [Mary Ann (or Marian)