The Lifted Veil (novella)
The Lifted Veil is a novella by George Eliot, first published anonymously in Blackwood's Magazine in 1859. It was republished in 1879. Quite unlike the realistic fiction for which Eliot is best known, The Lifted Veil explores themes of extrasensory perception, possible life after death, and the power of fate. The story is a significant part of the Victorian tradition of horror fiction, which includes such other examples as Robert Louis Stevenson's Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886), and Bram Stoker's Dracula (1897). Plot summary The unreliable narrator, Latimer, believes that he is cursed with an otherworldly ability to see into the future and the thoughts of other people. His unwanted "gift" seems to stem from a severe childhood illness he suffered while attending school in Geneva. Latimer is convinced of the existence of this power, and his two initial predictions do come true the way he has envisioned them: a peculiar "patch of rainbow light on the pavement" and a few words of dialogue appear to him exactly as expected. Latimer is revolted by much of what he discerns about others' motivations. Latimer becomes fascinated with Bertha, his brother's cold and coquettish fiancée, because her mind