The nibbling of a mouse: Eliot's 'Saccharissa letters' in the context of Bodichon's call for political engagement

George Eliot's Saccarissa Letters, entitled 'Futile Falsehoods' and 'Modern Houskeeping,' are her only works with written with a distinctive female pe rsona. Previously read as an approving comment on mediocre writing by women , these letters are ironic, and the publications on political economy by Ba rbara Leigh Smith Bodichon, Eliot's best friend, provide some of the discur sive context for reading Eliot's ironic criticism of a simplistic and self- interested approach to political economy. The Saccharissa Letters are impor tant because they Eliot's concern with political responsibility through adh erence to a doctrine of separate spheres. They also emphasize Eliot's dista nce from her characters, even in works with a single speaker.