Her Physical Appearance Was Often The Topic Of Conversation

During her lifetime, Eliot's appearance was a topic of intense debate, and readers are still fascinated by it now. In letters to friends, Eliot made fun of her looks, while Henry James once called her "magnificently ugly, wonderfully repulsive" in a letter to his father. He continued by describing the "horse-faced" author's physical shortcomings, which included a "huge pendulous nose," a low forehead, and terrible teeth.

As a young woman, George Eliot made unpleasant, unfunny comments about her appearance in letters to friends. However, she also realized that she had more important things to focus on, such as the passionate commitments she made to men who were not popular in her social circle. Additionally, George Eliot's intelligence was sufficiently broad to refute the simple, post-Freudian readings of Johnnie Cross's famous jump, which simply said that Eliot was too horny and unattractive for Cross to manage. In her books, Eliot was incredibly skilled at capturing the complexities of want and repulse, and in real life, she had experienced what it was like to have a fulfilling, long-lasting relationship with a passionate and loving partner.