| The Lifted Veil |
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| 1859 novels | |
| novels by george eliot | |
| novellas | |
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PLOT SUMMARY The Narrator Latimer (no first name given) is gifted or cursed with an otherworldy ability to see into the Future and the Thoughts of other people. Tragically, Latimer is revolted by much of what he discerns about others' Motivations . His unwanted "gift" seems to stem from a severe childhood illness he suffered while attending school at Geneva . Latimer becomes fascinated with Bertha, his brother's cold and coquettish fiancée, because her Mind and motives remain atypically closed to him. After his brother's death Latimer marries Bertha, only to see the Marriage disintegrate as he begins to recognize Bertha's manipulative and untrustworthy nature. Latimer's friend, Scientist Charles Meunier, performs a Blood Transfusion between himself and Bertha's just-dead maid in a memorable scene of Gothic Horror . For a few moments the maid comes back to life and accuses Bertha of a plot to Poison Latimer. Bertha flees and Latimer soon dies as he had himself foretold at the start of the narrative. KEY THEMES Latimer, the strangely gifted narrator, might seem completely unlike almost all of George Eliot's other Characters in his unrealistic ability to discern the secrets of the future and of other people's minds. Still, he reflects Eliot's continual interest in the frequent failure of human Sympathy and Communication . His repulsion at the self-interested natures of other people may appear overdone and somewhat naive, and he has impressed some Critics as one of Eliot's least likeable creations. The story demonstrates Eliot's interest in contemporary Science and Pseudoscience , including Physiology , Phrenology , Mesmerism and Clairvoyance . While today's readers might smile at the conceit of a simple blood transfusion bringing the dead back to life, Eliot manages this Scene with impressive style and force. She handles Latimer's vision sequences with a similar drive and attention to detail. CRITICAL EVALUATION This odd tale (by Eliot's normal standards) has fascinated some critics exactly because it departs so far from her usual hyper-realistic technique. Latimer's First-person Narrative , a lone example in the Eliot canon, allows the novelist to play with Causality and Chronology in the story, with the narrative ending where it freakishly begins. As Eliot's only venture into what would nowadays be called Science Fiction , the story might look rusty and even laughable in some of its supposedly scientific details. But the sharply drawn portrait of Latimer, gifted and cursed and at last hunted down by inescapable fate, gives the tale enduring appeal. EXTERNAL LINKS
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