George Eliot was the pseudonym of Mary Anne Evans, born in 1819 in small-town England, and the youngest of five children. Mary Anne was afforded the privileges of a private education, and enjoyed books and learning from a young age; she was introspective and quiet, much like her character Dorothea from Middlemarch, and was a bit of an anomaly among young women of the time. However, Mary Anne had to leave school at the age of 19, …showed first 75 words of 593 total…

…showed last 75 words of 593 total…Mary Anne's well-being during this trying period; he proposed marriage to her several times, until she finally accepted in 1880. Their union was one of companionship, rather than romance; Cross was over 20 years younger than Mary Anne, who turned 61 soon after their marriage. In December 1880, after only seven months of marriage, Mary Anne became seriously ill. Mary Anne Evans passed away in her sleep on December 22, 1880, and was buried next to her lifelong companion, George Lewes .