The Mill on the Floss

The Mill on the Floss is one of George Eliot's greatest works. The novel is a portrayal of oppressive narrowness. The story revolves around Maggie Tulliver who is an intellectual and high-spirited young girl and her incurious and pragmatic brother Tom who has an altogether different approach towards life than her sister. Torn between her passion for intellect and a desperate need to win her brother's love and approval, Maggie Tulliver is always in conflict with her family. One cannot fail to ignore the gender discrimination that existed in that century. This beautifully crafted classic continues to enchant its readers till date.

George Eliot was the pen name of Mary Ann Evans, an English novelist who was one of the leading writers of the Victorian Era. She wrote seven novels, including the Mill on the Floss, Middlemarch, and Silas Marner. Most of her stories are set in provincial England and are popular for their realism and psychological insight. She used a male pen name so that her work could gain recognition. Those days, female authors were stereotyped as writers of light-hearted romances, a myth Eliot wanted to break and shattered successfully.