White Kitten By Mary Ann Evans

Introduction

George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans) is renowned for her revolutionary views on gender issues. She herself experienced gender biases in her life, no wonder; she had to write under male pseudonym. She is considered to be far ahead of her times as she always supported higher education and work rights for women. Her writing made it explicit that she never wanted women to be forced into marriage and to be dependent on men. She struggled constantly for equal rights for women. She believed that rigid class and racial divisions were unfair although she knew it very well that during her lifetime, it cannot be changed. Nevertheless she made an effort to push these boundaries a little bit by writing novels whereby she could exemplify her views

Maggie is always compared to her cousin Lucy Deane who is seen as an emblem of femininity. She is a passive, submissive and quite child. Maggie on the other hand is wilful, careless, awkward girl who is always scolded by her mother and aunts. She has a dark complexion and straight black hair unlike Lucy. The author compares her to “a rough, dark, overgrown puppy” and Lucy to a “white Kitten”. So whenever Lucy visits Tullivers Maggie is compared to her. Her mother holds Lucy up to Maggie as an example of a perfect feminine girl: “And there’s Lucy Deane’s such a good child- you can set her on a stool and there she’ll sit for an hour together, and never offer to get off”. This comparison makes Maggie miserable. This notion of passivity is skilfully explained by de Beauvoir. She says that girls are taught to be submissive and obedient. She puts it like

In Victorian times, education was not considered necessary for girls. Mr. Riley’s conversation with Maggie brings to light her intellectual bent of mind which is visible from the kind of books she reads: The History of the Devil by Daniel Defoe, The Pilgrim’s Progress and Aesop’s Fables. Her father is aware of her intelligence and cleverness but at the same time he feels that “a woman’s no business wi’ being so clever; it’ll turn to trouble...” (Eliot 13). Mr. Tulliver’s remark is significant, “It’s a pity but what she’d been the lad- she’d ha’ been a match for the lawyers, she would” (16). Maggie struggles to learn all through her life but is deprived of her most cherished dream. In this regard, Purkis notes that Maggie Tulliver has a particular place in the history of Feminism as she rebels against her lot which “is the misfortune of being born into the wrong family and into a narrow and unfeeling society. Because she is also born into the wrong sex, she does not get opportunities offered to Tom… Maggie is desperate for education, and succumbs to a variety of books”