Eileen: The Making of George Orwell

Abstract

This chapter evaluates Sylvia Topp's claim that marriage to Eileen O'Shaughnessy was the making of George Orwell. It was understood that Orwell's writing took precedence over everything, so Eileen did all the cooking and household chores. When he was ill, which was often, Eileen managed everything. Orwell's published writings project the image of a deeply moral man, a kind of puritan saint. However, that image is misleading. Although he referred to his union with Eileen as an ‘open marriage’, it is not clear that she allowed herself extramarital affairs, whereas he unquestionably did. The personal qualities everyone who knew her remarked on were cheerfulness, good humour, and a habit of witty exaggeration. Topp argues persuasively that these traits start to show up in Orwell's writing soon after they met. She detects them especially in Animal Farm (1945), which seems to have been almost a joint production. Eileen typed it, as she did all his manuscripts, and covered the back of each page with suggestions.