Tessa at Home
Title
Tessa at Home
Alt Text Description
Grayscale illustration of a woman asleep in a chair, her hand on the bassinet of a sleeping child. A hooded figure sits and watches them.
Description
Inside Tessa’s home, Romola has returned the lost child and unexpectedly discovers Tito’s other wife, forcing her to confront the truth of her marriage. As Tessa sleeps beside the cradle, the quiet domestic scene sharpens Romola’s realization and leaves her facing a decisive moral choice.
“On a low chair at the farther end of the room, opposite the light, sat Tessa, with one hand on the edge of the cradle, and her head hanging a little on one side, fast asleep” ("By a Street Lamp", Chapter 56).
“On a low chair at the farther end of the room, opposite the light, sat Tessa, with one hand on the edge of the cradle, and her head hanging a little on one side, fast asleep” ("By a Street Lamp", Chapter 56).
Illustrator
Leighton, Frederic (1830-1896)
Contributor
Swain, Joseph (1820-1909), engraver
Publisher
George Eliot Archive, edited by Beverley Park Rilett, https://GeorgeEliotArchive.org
Date
1863, 1880
Rights
CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Work Illustrated
Romola
Citation
Leighton, Frederic (1830-1896), Tessa at Home, George Eliot Illustrations Gallery, George Eliot Archive, edited by Beverley Park Rilett, https://GeorgeEliotArchive.org, Accessed September 7, 2026. https://www.georgeeliotarchive.org/items/show/83578
Illustration
