'Suppose you let me look at myself'
Title
'Suppose you let me look at myself'
Alt Text Description
Grayscale illustration of two men in a barbershop. The barber holds a blade and gestures to a mirror for the customer.
Description
In Nello’s barbershop, Tito Melema asks to see himself, and Nello grandly offers his Venetian mirror while holding the razor. The image captures Nello’s showy promise that a careful shave will keep Tito looking properly human instead of turning scruffy and animal-like.
"'Suppose you let me look at myself,’ said the stranger, laughing. ‘The happy effect on my intellect is perhaps obstructed by a little doubt as to the effect on my appearance. Behold yourself in this mirror, then; it is a Venetian mirror from Murano, the true nosce teipsum, as I have named it, compared with which the finest mirror of steel or silver is mere darkness" ("The Barber's Shop", Chapter 3).
"'Suppose you let me look at myself,’ said the stranger, laughing. ‘The happy effect on my intellect is perhaps obstructed by a little doubt as to the effect on my appearance. Behold yourself in this mirror, then; it is a Venetian mirror from Murano, the true nosce teipsum, as I have named it, compared with which the finest mirror of steel or silver is mere darkness" ("The Barber's Shop", Chapter 3).
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), 'Suppose you let me look at myself', 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/83658
Illustration
