Language In Clarissa, Evelina And Pride And Prejudice
Language In Clarissa, Evelina And Pride And Prejudice Language In Clarissa, Evelina And Pride And Prejudice
. . but the highest and purest that humanity can reach" to teach us ultimately "what we can hope, and what we can perform" (178) . The standards of virtue Johnson hints at are very much at the center of marriage and inheritance practice. Not all early novels are about inheritance and children poised to inherit, but situated among them is a small group of novels deeply influenced by the real life language and practice of inheritance. Affirmations and Applications Perhaps the urge to apply the more intricate legal aspects of eighteenth-century life to literature began with Lawrence Stone's 1977 publication of Family, Sex and Marriage in English 1500-1800. Stone's conjectures regarding inheritance practices and strict settlement brought a flurry of criticism from such prominent legal historians as John Habbakuk and Randolph Trumbach. Among others, David Sugarman and Eileen Spring soon followed, finding flaws in not only Stone, but also in his early critics. Wrangling over legal issues made a distinct impression on literary scholars, and although a growing number of literary studies explore the many applications of inheritance law and practice in the eighteenth century
culture, this is the first study to analyze the effects of that practice and language on the eighteenth-century novel. The predicament of a young woman involved in the inheritance structure of her family developed early in eighteenth-century literature and continued to grow as an important aspect of plot. Thompson suggests, "From Pamela to Amelia to Evelina to Emma, the question each narrative explores is what makes the heroine worthy, suitable, valuable" (22). Nancy Armstrong and Katherine Soba Green argue strongly for the value of virtue and a womanf s worthiness to marry or be successful in real life as virtue strongly centers itself in early novels. This study argues that marriage, so closely linked with primogeniture and strict settlement in the eighteenth century, was a form of inheritance. After all, women who were "conduits" for land could not be more closely tied with inheritance. Eighteenth-century ownership of land was inextricably tied to economic, political and social power. The tie, emphasized by Armstrong through the sexual contract and Green through the marriage contract, also emphasizes the importance of marriage as an economic and commercial venture for families of importance.
- Page 1 and 2: THE INHERITANCE NOVEL: THE POWER OF
- Page 3 and 4: Three points are fundamental in ide
- Page 5 and 6: intelligence. I must also thank Lin
- Page 7 and 8: Chapter Three ....................
- Page 9 and 10: "inheritance novels." Three factors
- Page 11 and 12: specifically to drive the plot. Fir
- Page 13 and 14: father wished, he could allows equa
- Page 15 and 16: usually on fiscal matters, but thes
- Page 17 and 18: (2) . Eileen Spring discusses primo
- Page 19 and 20: would "resettle" the estate. In oth
- Page 21 and 22: placed on the estate. Those restric
- Page 23 and 24: Even the simple definitions of inhe
- Page 25 and 26: from the surface and often not very
- Page 27 and 28: mastery and confusion of inheritanc
- Page 29: of their futures, while the develop
- Page 33 and 34: This power which the mind has thus
- Page 35 and 36: successful marriage was expressed i
- Page 37 and 38: procedure and could not foresee the
- Page 39 and 40: the end, is partly responsible for
- Page 41 and 42: For all the recent criticism dealin
- Page 43 and 44: welfare. Although several of her br
- Page 45 and 46: language and a feminine independenc
- Page 47 and 48: Chapter Two Unhappy Transactions: R
- Page 49 and 50: Clarissa. Richardson's masterpiece
- Page 51 and 52: Since Zomchickfs study, Eileen Spri
- Page 53 and 54: settlement, a predicament Clarissa
- Page 55 and 56: life and conjectured within the pag
- Page 57 and 58: included in the compilation of the
- Page 59 and 60: The eighteenth-century reading publ
- Page 61 and 62: Clarissa's own will, framing the pl
- Page 63 and 64: to [the Solmes marriage settlement]
- Page 65 and 66: Grandfather Harlowe was one of many
- Page 67 and 68: a daughter or daughters, or in the
- Page 69 and 70: name, as a mark of her becoming his
- Page 71 and 72: other and uncles, and keeping her f
- Page 73 and 74: of this, a father often left most o
- Page 75 and 76: deference by every other person, wh
- Page 77 and 78: fits with legal developments outlin
- Page 79 and 80: Harlowe. Mr. Harlowe, Sr., should b
. . but the highest and purest that humanity can reach"<br />
to teach us ultimately "what we can hope, and what we can<br />
perform" (178) . The standards of virtue Johnson hints<br />
at are very much at the center of marriage and<br />
inheritance practice. Not all early novels are about<br />
inheritance and children poised to inherit, but situated<br />
among them is a small group of novels deeply influenced<br />
by the real life language and practice of inheritance.<br />
Affirmations and Applications<br />
Perhaps the urge to apply the more intricate legal<br />
aspects of eighteenth-century life to literature began<br />
with Lawrence Stone's 1977 publication of Family, Sex and<br />
Marriage in English 1500-1800. Stone's conjectures<br />
regarding inheritance practices and strict settlement<br />
brought a flurry of criticism from such prominent legal<br />
historians as John Habbakuk and Randolph Trumbach. Among<br />
others, David Sugarman and Eileen Spring soon followed,<br />
finding flaws in not only Stone, but also in his early<br />
critics. Wrangling over legal issues made a distinct<br />
impression on literary scholars, and although a growing<br />
number of literary studies explore the many applications<br />
of inheritance law and practice in the eighteenth century
Change language