The Naming, Shaming and Faming of George Eliot
with Dr Helen O'Neill

Thursday 26th March 2020
Doors open at 6:30 pm, Talk commences at 7:00 pm

2019 marked the bicentenary of the birth of George Eliot. In comparison to the bicentenary celebrations of her contemporary, Charles Dickens in 2012, she received far less media coverage or public fanfare. In this illustrated talk, drawn from research at the George Eliot collections in Nuneaton, Dr Helen O’Neill considers how Victorian attempts to deflect attention away from Eliot’s radical self-determination and ‘scandalous’ life choices left one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed writers of her age with an enduring image problem after her death.

Dr Helen O'Neill
Dr Helen Anne O’Neill is a postdoctoral researcher at Royal Holloway, University of London working with Professor Ruth Livesey and the George Eliot collections in Nuneaton on an AHRC funded project on provincialism and nineteenth century literature.

Please note all ACI events have been postponed or are on hold due to the ongoing Covid-19 crisis. We are getting in touch with ticket holders at the moment.