Belinda by Maria Edgeworth
Maria Edgeworth won the admiration of her contemporary Jane Austen, as well as later writers such as Thackeray and Turgenev, and in Belinda (1801) she tackles issues of gender and race in a manner at once comic and thought-provoking. Braving the perils of the marriage market, Belinda learns to think for herself as the examples of her friends prove singularly unreliable. Edgeworth's varied cast includes the bewitching aristocrat, Lady Delacour, whose dreadful secret puts her in the power of her volatile servant; the dashing Creole gentleman, Mr Vincent who almost succeeds in winning Belinda's hand if not her heart; the eccentric Clarence Hervey, whose attempts to create an ideal wife backfire; and the outrageous Harriet Freke, whose antics as social outlaw land her in a mantrap. This lively comedy challenges the conventions of courtship, examines questions of female independence, and exposes the limits of domesticity. The text used in this edition (1802) also confronts the difficult and fascinating issues of racism and mixed marriage, which Edgeworth toned down in later editions.
Maria Edgeworth (1767-1849) was born in Oxfordshire and after being educated in England, she went to Edgeworthstown in Ireland to act as her father's assistant and governess to his many other children. With her father she wrote several educational books, and as a novelist she earned the praise of Sir Walter Scott. Heidi Thomson is Senior Lecturer at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. In addition to her work on Edgeworth, she has written on Gray, Wordsworth and Keats. Edited by Heidi Thomson and Kim Walker With an introduction by Heidi Thomson
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780192837097 |
| ISBN 10 | 0192837095 |
| Title | Belinda |
| Author | Maria Edgeworth |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press |
| Year published | 1999-07-01 |
| Number of pages | 537 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |