The titular veil in this story by Mary Ann Evans (aka George Eliot) could refer to several things: 1) the veils of time and private thought, lifted by the protagonist’s psychic powers; 2) the veil of innocence, lifted when his future wife’s narcissistic, manipulative nature is revealed; and 3) the veil of death, lifted when a dead woman is brought back to life and reveals that his wife is planning to murder him. Themes include alienation and isolation, the supernatural (clairvoyance), betrayal, despair, free-will vs. fate, scientific morality (playing God), death.
Original Text / PDF / Audio (17,800 words)