Belinda
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Book Overview
'It is singular, that my having spent a winter with one of the most dissipated women in England should have sobered my mind so completely.' Maria Edgeworth's 1801 novel, Belinda, is an absorbing, sometimes provocative, tale of social and domestic life among the English aristocracy and gentry. The heroine of the title, only too conscious of being 'advertised' on the marriage market, grows in moral maturity as she seeks to balance self-fulfilment with achieving material success. Among those whom she encounters are the socialite Lady Delacour, whose brilliance and wit hide a tragic secret, the radical feminist Harriot Freke, the handsome and wealthy Creole gentleman Mr Vincent, and the mercurial Clarence Hervey, whose misguided idealism has led him into a series of near-catastrophic mistakes. In telling their story Maria Edgeworth gives a vivid picture of life in late eighteenth-century London, skilfully showing both the attractions of leisured society and its darker side, and blending drawing-room comedy with challenging themes involving serious illness, obsession, slavery and interracial marriage.
Format:Paperback
Language:English
ISBN:0199682135
ISBN13:9780199682133
Release Date:May 2020
Publisher:Oxford University Press, USA
Length:560 Pages
Weight:0.85 lbs.
Dimensions:1.1" x 5.1" x 7.7"
Customer Reviews
4 ratings
Memorable Characters
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 14 years ago
Lady Delacour is by far the most intriguing character in this novel but Belinda and the two male leads, (Mr. Hervey and Mr. Vincent) can carry their own. This is a wonderful novel filled with a few surprises and mystery. For instance - who is the captive Virginia, what is her story, and how does she figure into Belinda's future? The book is highly readable and you won't want to put it down in order to find out who will end up with who and what will become of the enigmatic Lady Delacour. Typical themes of the times - sexism, colonialism, etc are woven throughout the beautiful prose. Highly recommended!
Arrived in Plenty of Time
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 15 years ago
I needed this book for an English class I was taking and NONE of the bookstores around me carried it. Thanks for getting to me so quickly. Why the bookstores didn't carry it I don't know...excellent piece of literature.
A joy to read
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 21 years ago
I started reading Belinda around 6pm and finally around 2:30am I decided that I had best go to bed and finish the book later. Well, 10 minutes later my light was back on and I stayed up until 6:30am finishing the book. Not even all of Jane Austen's work has done that to me!The themes of gender and sexual attitudes, colonialism, religion, etc can easily be found in this work if you're interested in it for its scholarly value. However for the lay person it is a beautifully written, light read that is reminiscent of Austen's Mansfield Park or Sense and Sensibility (I certainly don't see many parallels to Pride and Prejudice as one reviewer did). If you're looking to go past Austen into early 19th century English literature, I would certainly recommend this book highly.
A good read!
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 23 years ago
Why I never heard about this book until I stumbled upon it online, I will never know! This is as good as any Jane Austen novel, and should have a BBC film of it's own.
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