Symbolism in George Eliot's "The Lifted Veil"

George Eliot’s “The Lifted Veil”

“The Lord G-d called out to man and said to him, ‘where are you?’ He replied, ‘I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid (Genesis 3:10).” A common interpretation of the story of Adam and Eve, is that their story is the beginning of man’s self-centered nature and hence the inner dwellings of the subconscious. In The Lifted Veil, Eliot explores how a knowingness of someone else’s inner thoughts brings about fear. Every person has thoughts that they want no one to see. When one senses that someone else has recognized the true thoughts of the subconscious, the natural reaction since the time of Adam is to “hide” because now they feel completely vulnerable. The implications of the very title of The Lifted Veil, is associated with disclosure and secrecy. When this concealment of the soul and subconscious is lifted than secrecy and guilt set in. The significance of the title of thi...