Maria Edgeworth Flashcards
When was Maria Edgeworth born?
b. 1768 d.1849
What is Edgeworth known for?
Her works in children’s literature
What was Edgeworth’s first novel?
Castle Rackrent (1800)
What is Castle Rackrent about?
It tells the story of four generations of Rackrent heirs through their steward, Thady Quirk. The heirs are: the dissipated spendthrift Sir Patrick O’Shaughlin, the litigious Sir Murtagh Rackrent, the cruel husband and gambling absentee Sir Kit Rackrent, and the generous but improvident Sir Condy Rackrent. Their sequential mismanagement of the estate is resolved through the machinations—and to the benefit—of the narrator’s astute son, Jason Quirk.
What is unique about the narrator in Castle Rackrent?
It is widely regarded as the first British novel to use the device of a narrator who is both unreliable and an observer of, rather than a player in, the actions he chronicles.
What did W B Yeats say about Castle Rackrent?
“one of the most inspired chronicles written in English”
What famous gothic fiction did Castle Rackrent inspire?
The Waverley Novels by Walter Scott
What twentieth century novel has an allusion to Castle Rackrent?
The Great Gatsby (1925)
Castle Rackrent is a significant novel for English Literature, why?
Castle Rackrent is sometimes regarded as the first historical novel, the first regional novel in English, the first Anglo-Irish novel, the first Big House novel, and the first saga novel.
Which novel by Edgeworth did Jane Austen admire greatly?
Belinda (1801)
Why was Belinda considered controversial at the time of publication?
It was considered controversial for its depiction of inter-racial marriage. Juba, a black servant married an English maid called Lucy. From the third edition on, Juba was omitted and Lucy married a white servant called James Jackson.
Who are the main characters in Belinda?
Belinda Portman, Lady Delacour, Clarence Hervey, who Belinda eventually marries, and Lady Anne Percival.
When was Tales of Fashionable Life published?
Between 1809 and 1812.
How many volumes did Tales of Fashionable Life run to?
Six volumes.
What is the most famous work in the Tales of Fashionable Life?
The Absentee, which focused attention on a great contemporary abuse in Irish society: absentee English landowning.
When was Patronage published?
1814.
What is Patronage about?
It explores the various types of patronage and the many forms it takes in all strata of English society.
What is the novel by E which privileged English manners over French ones?
Leonora (1806)
What style is Leonora written in?
Epistolary.
Who are the main characters in Leonora?
The newly married Leonora and the ‘coquette’ Olivia, who has been exiled to France because of her unconventional attitudes towards her marriage.
When was the Absentee published?
in 1812, in Tales of a Fashionable Life.
Who is the protagonist in The Absentee?
Lord Colambre.
Who are the main characters in The Absentee?
Lord Colambre and his love Grace Nugent, Lady Dashfort and her daughter Lady Isobel who scheme to separate Grace and Colambre so that Isobel can marr him and Colambre’s parents Lord and Lady Clonbrony.
What was E’s first work?
The Parent’s Assistant (1796)
What inspired The Parent’s Assistant?
The time E spent with her 21 siblings. The children in this book are considered the first real children in English literature after Shakespeare.
When was her novel Ormond published?
1817.
What is Ormond about?
It tells the story of Harry Ormond, a hero who rises from poverty to wealth. Set both in Ireland and France, the novel uses different places to represent different paths that Ormond might take and different political ideologies.
What work by Edmund Burke is alluded to in Ormond?
Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790)
