Description
Table of contents
Biographical note
Excerpt
User Reviews
Silas Marner is a timeless classic written by George Eliot, originally published in 1861. Set in the early nineteenth century, the novel tells the poignant story of its titular character, Silas Marner, a reclusive weaver who lives a solitary and drab life in the fictional English village of Raveloe.
Silas Marner’s life takes a dramatic turn when he becomes the victim of a false accusation and is unjustly expelled from his religious community. Devastated and isolated, he finds solace in his meticulous weaving and accumulates a hoard of gold, which becomes his only source of comfort and companionship. However, his newfound wealth is abruptly stolen, sending him into a state of despair once more.
The plot takes an unexpected turn much to the delight of the readers when a young orphan girl named Eppie enters Silas’s life. He adopts her, and their bond becomes the crux of the story. Eppie’s arrival gradually transforms Silas, bringing hope and love back into his desolate existence. Through her innocence and unconditional love, she teaches him the true value of human connection and the redemptive power of compassion.
Eliot skillfully weaves the themes of isolation, community living and the inherent goodness of humanity in the novel. She explores the contrast between material wealth and spiritual fulfillment, ultimately emphasizing the importance of love and human relationships over material possessions.
Silas Marner is a deeply moving and thought-provoking novel that explores the complexities of human nature, the consequences of isolation, and the transformative power of love. It serves as a timeless reminder of the inherent worth of every individual and the potential for redemption and happiness in even the most desolate of lives.
Silas Marner is a timeless classic written by George Eliot, originally published in 1861. Set in the early nineteenth century, the novel tells the poignant story of its titular character, Silas Marner, a reclusive weaver who lives a solitary and drab life in the fictional English village of Raveloe.
Silas Marner’s life takes a dramatic turn when he becomes the victim of a false accusation and is unjustly expelled from his religious community. Devastated and isolated, he finds solace in his meticulous weaving and accumulates a hoard of gold, which becomes his only source of comfort and companionship. However, his newfound wealth is abruptly stolen, sending him into a state of despair once more.
The plot takes an unexpected turn much to the delight of the readers when a young orphan girl named Eppie enters Silas’s life. He adopts her, and their bond becomes the crux of the story. Eppie’s arrival gradually transforms Silas, bringing hope and love back into his desolate existence. Through her innocence and unconditional love, she teaches him the true value of human connection and the redemptive power of compassion.
Eliot skillfully weaves the themes of isolation, community living and the inherent goodness of humanity in the novel. She explores the contrast between material wealth and spiritual fulfillment, ultimately emphasizing the importance of love and human relationships over material possessions.
Silas Marner is a deeply moving and thought-provoking novel that explores the complexities of human nature, the consequences of isolation, and the transformative power of love. It serves as a timeless reminder of the inherent worth of every individual and the potential for redemption and happiness in even the most desolate of lives.
George Eliot was the pen name of Mary Ann Evans who was born on 22 November 1819 in provincial England. She was also known as Mary Anne or Marian. She is the famous author of several popular works such as Adam Bede (1859), The Mill on the Floss (1860), Silas Marner (1861), Romola (1862–63), Felix Holt, the Radical (1866), Middlemarch (1871–72) and Daniel Deronda (1876). Eliot was a poet, novelist, journalist and a translator with psychological insight and realism as her primary strengths. Her works magnificently explore the beauty and value of the countryside.
Though Eliot was an intelligent girl and a voracious reader she lacked physical beauty. Thus her father thought it wise to invest in her education which was not the norm for women belonging to that era. Eliot studied at Miss Latham’s school in Attleborough, Mrs. Wallington’s school in Nuneaton, and Miss Franklin’s school in Coventry. At Miss Franklin’s school, Eliot came across a disciplined belief opposed to evangelicalism and was influenced by it later in life. She was brought up within a low church Anglican family.
Eliot’s novels were primarily inspired by Greek tragedy and religion. She chose to publish under her pen name to be recognized as a serious writer and for her fiction to be consumed and judged independent of her already published and famous work as an editor, translator and critic. During her time, the prevalent societal belief was that the writing of women authors was limited to light-hearted romances and not to be taken very seriously. Eliot also wanted to shield her private life from public scrutiny and avoid her relationship with the married George Henry Lewes from becoming a scandal. Evans began to refer to Lewes as her husband after their trip to Germany and legally changed her name to Mary Ann Evans Lewes after his death.
Thomas Carlyle was Eliot’s favourite author, and it was his work that sparked Eliot’s interest in German thought. This interest encouraged her to turn from Christian orthodoxy, and prompted her to write her first complete novel, Adam Bede, in 1859, inspired by Dutch visual art and focusing on duty, realistic aesthetic, sympathy and evolution of the self. Adam Bede was an instant success and raised curiosity regarding the author’s identity leading to Marian Evans Lewes unveiling herself as the real author behind the pen name George Eliot. Queen Victoria herself was an avid reader of all of Eliot’s novels. Her fascination with Adam Bede led her to commission the artist Edward Henry Corbould to paint scenes from the book.
For the next fifteen years after the success of Adam Bede, Eliot continued to write popular novels. She published her last novel, Daniel Deronda, in 1876. Soon after in 1878, her partner Lewes died and on 16 May 1880 Eliot married John Walter Cross, a Scottish commissioning agent. This time she changed her name to Mary Ann Cross. The marriage was short-lived as Eliot fell ill with a throat infection, along with suffering from kidney disease, afflicting her for several years. Finally, Eliot died on 22 December 1880 at the age of 61.
Books that Speak to us Across Time
Books have a magical and timeless appeal. They inform, educate and entertain us. We love and cherish the books we grow up with, and explore the fascinating world they present all through our lives.
Trove seeks to preserve the tradition of reading by publishing books from the past. It is a treasure chest of the most precious works across various genres. Our vision is to keep alive works that have stood the test of time and pass them on to the next generation of readers.
Readers can browse and purchase titles in the Trove collection, gleaned from the huge ocean of treasured writings in the public domain, and republished. What’s more, Trove books can be read on paper or screen as they are available in a variety of formats.
Trove goes to great lengths to recover and refurbish old content, so readers can discover them in all their glory. Some treasures are indeed found not in caves but between the covers of a book.
1. Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
2. Arms and the Man by George Bernard Shaw
3. The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells
4. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
5. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
6. David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
7. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
8. A Portrait of the Artist As a Young Man by James Joyce
9. The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot
10. The Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy
11. Moby Dick or The Whale by Melville Herman
12. Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
13. Animal Farm by George Orwell
14. Journey to the Centre of the Earth by Jules Verne
15. War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
16. She Stoops to Conquer by Oliver Goldsmith
17. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
18. The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
19. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
20. Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome
Visit us: www.trovebooks.in
Phone: +91-72002 58368
Silas Marner
The Weaver of Raveloe
by
George Eliot
(Mary Anne Evans)
“A child, more than all other gifts
That earth can offer to declining man,
Brings hope with it, and forward-looking thoughts.”
—WORDSWORTH.
Newgen Knowledge Works Offices
Chennai Pondicherry Pune Kottayam Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia)
Leipzig (Germany) Amsterdam (Netherlands) Stroud (UK) Texas (USA)
“A child, more than all other gifts
That earth can offer to declining man,
Brings hope with it, and forward-looking thoughts.”
—WORDSWORTH.
Newgen Knowledge Works Offices
Chennai Pondicherry Pune Kottayam Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia)
Leipzig (Germany) Amsterdam (Netherlands) Stroud (UK) Texas (USA)