The Art of Political Fiction in Hamilton, Edgeworth, and Owenson

220 Pages·2009·15.37 MB·English

by  Susan B. Egenolf

The ArT of PoliTicAl ficTion in
hAmilTon, edgeworTh, And owenson
For Larry
The Art of Political fiction in
hamilton, edgeworth, and owenson
susAn B. egenolf
Texas A&M University, College Station, USA
First published 2009 by Ashgate Publishing
Reissued 2018 by Routledge
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© susan B. egenolf 2009
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isBn 13: 978-0-8153-9746-5 (hbk)
ISBN 13: 978-1-3511-4772-9 (ebk)
contents
List of Illustrations vi
Acknowledgments viii
introduction: The Art of the unvarnished Tale 1
1 hamilton’s Letters of a Hindoo Rajah and the Making of a
Professional woman writer 17
2 Maria Edgeworth in Blackface: Castle Rackrent and the irish
rebellion of 1798 43
3 edgeworth’s Belinda: An Artful composition 73
4 revolutionary landscapes: Political Aesthetics and owenson’s
The Wild Irish Girl 105
5 “domestic rebellion”: hamilton’s Cottagers of Glenburnie 129
6 “have you irish?”: heroism in morgan’s The O’Briens and the
O’Flahertys 157
epilogue 185
Bibliography 189
Index 203
list of illustrations
1.1 facsimile of “Polyorama or 20, 922, 789, 888, 000 Vues Pittoresques.”
A set of scenes that can be variously arranged (cf. figure 14),
similar to a polyorama published by hodgson and co., london,
in 1824. collection of the author. 2
1.2 The Ghauts at Benares (1787), by william hodges. oil on canvas.
© royal Academy of Arts, london. 39
2.1 United Irishmen in Training, by James gillray. london, 13 June 1798,
published by hannah humphrey. © national Portrait gallery, london. 58
3.1 The Watercress Girl (1780), by John raphael smith after Johan Zoffany.
mezzotint. © The Trustees of The British museum. 83
3.2 Shrimps! (1782), by francesco Bartolozzi after william hogarth.
stipple engraving. © The Trustees of The British museum. 84
3.3 Lady Caroline Howard (1778), by sir Joshua reynolds.
oil on canvas. Andrew w. mellon collection, courtesy of the
Board of Trustees, national gallery of Art, washington, d.c. 89
3.4 Lady Cockburn and her Three Eldest Sons (1773), by sir Joshua reynolds.
oil on canvas. © The national gallery, london. 94
3.5 Venus and Mars (c. 1485), by sandro Botticelli. egg tempera and
oil on poplar. © The national gallery, london. 101
4.1 View of Crescenza (1648–50), by claude lorrain. oil on canvas.
The metropolitan museum of Art, Purchase, The Annenberg
fund inc. gift, 1978 (1978.205) image © The metropolitan
museum of Art. 116
4.2 Bandits on a Rocky Coast (c. 1656), by salvator rosa. oil on canvas.
The metropolitan museum of Art, charles B. curtis fund,
1934 (34.137) image © The metropolitan museum of Art. 117
4.3 Dunluce Castle (c. 1841), by william Bartlett. hand-colored
engraving. collection of the author. 118
List of Illustrations vii
5.1 The Cottage Door (1777–8), by Thomas gainsborough.
oil on canvas. courtesy of cincinnati Art museum, gift in
honor of mr. and mrs. charles f. williams by their children. 131
5.2 frontispiece. in The Cottagers of Glenburnie, a Tale, for the
Farmer’s Fire-side, by elizabeth hamilton. Philadelphia:
isaac Peirce, 1812. courtesy of The north carolina collection
at the university of north carolina at chapel hill. 153
6.1 facsimile of “Polyorama or 20, 922, 789, 888, 000 Vues Pittoresques.”
A set of scenes that can be variously arranged (cf. figure 1), similar
to a polyorama published by hodgson and co., london, in 1824.
collection of the author. 188
Acknowledgments
To borrow mary shelley’s description of her novel Valperga, this project also has
been a “child of mighty slow growth,” and bringing it to maturity has involved the
assistance of many people whom it is my pleasure to acknowledge here.
I wish to thank the College of Liberal Arts at Texas A&M University for a
faculty research enhancement grant that enabled me to do archival research at
the British Library. I also wish to thank Jim Rosenheim and the Glasscock Center
for humanities research for a stipendiary fellowship and a forum in which to
discuss my work with other scholars. I am grateful to my former department head
Paul Parrish for his support and encouragement and the department of english for
a research grant and a much-needed semester of release time. I also wish to thank
my current department head, Jimmie Killingsworth for his support during the final
stages of manuscript preparation. The department of english also generously
provided subvention for the permission and reproduction fees for the images used
herein.
The chawton house library and the university of southampton hosted the
women’s writing in Britain, 1660–1830, conference in 2003 and the wild irish
girls conference in 2006. The opportunity to interact with other scholars at those
two events provided inspiration and affirmation as I continued to pursue my work
on women and political writing. I wish also to thank the staffs of the Boston
Public library, the British library, the huntington library, and the north carolina
collection at the university of north carolina at chapel hill for their assistance
in my research.
shorter versions of chapter 2, chapter 3, and chapter 4 appeared in ELH,
Women’s Studies, and Land and Landscape in Nineteenth-Century Ireland, edited
by Úna ní Bhroiméil and glenn hooper (four courts Press, 2007), respectively.
I am grateful to those editors and readers who helped me refine and improve these
essays.
This study has benefited greatly from the insights of the many colleagues who
have generously taken the time to read and respond to chapters in progress. I
am grateful to siraj Ahmed, margaret ezell, Joe golsan, melanie hawthorne,
Margaret Kelleher, and Patricia Phillippy. Jeffrey Cox and Mary Favret first
started me on the path that lead to this project and have continued, long after i was
their student, to offer guidance and encouragement. I wish to thank Julie Donovan
for suggestions that enhanced my work on Sydney Owenson, Vanessa Reece for
her timely research assistance, and Gina Opdycke for her careful reading and
assistance with manuscript preparation.
To my dear friends in irish studies marian eide and Kate Kelly i owe a great
debt of gratitude. They have read my work at a moment’s notice, participated in
Acknowledgements ix
many conversations about eighteenth-century irish politics and glosses during long
walks, treated my children to outings while I was working, and made me laugh. To
my friend Lynne Vallone, I offer thanks for her suggestions and encouragement,
especially in the early stages of this project. To Mary Ann O’Farrell, I extend a
warm smile for her insightful readings, midnight emails, care packages, and her
founding, along with david mcwhirter, the new modern British studies group,
whose activities have been so important to the development of this project. i wish
to thank NMBS members, particularly Bob Griffin, Terry Hoagwood, and Claudia
nelson, for their helpful comments on an earlier version of chapter 4.
i am indebted to Ann donahue at Ashgate for her enthusiasm, prescience, and
guidance that have made the publication process so pleasurable. i am also grateful
to the Ashgate reader whose constructive criticism strengthened my overall
study.
I offer a heartfelt thanks to my parents Bob and Lupe Egenolf for encouragement
and support that began many, many years ago and have continued without fail and
to my siblings and their partners for kind enquiries and affirmations and tending
their niece and nephew so I could do extended research.
My husband Larry Reynolds is my first wonderful reader, my sounding board,
and my unwavering supporter. i have tremendous gratitude for the untold hours
that he devoted to reading my work, talking endlessly about my project, and
making time for me to write.
I wish to thank Robin for his good humor and kindness and Charlotte and
logan for their joyful and curious souls and their endless patience while their
mama finished her B-O-O-K.
susan B. egenolf
Texas A&M University