Gender Based Stigma: George Eliot Was Actually Mary Ann Evans

Not many would imagine that English novelist George Eliot was actually a woman. Turns out publishing under male pen names was increasingly common among female authors in the 19th century. And for that, there was a reasonable explanation.

Victorian-era writer Mary Ann Evans was better known by her male pseudonym, George Eliot. She took it to conceal her gender at a time when women were excluded from intellectual circles.

Eliot was not the only one to have adopted a second personality with the hope of attracting wider audiences; other famous writers included Violet Paget as Vernon Lee, Mary Bright as Egerton, and Rollin Whipper as Frank A Rollin.