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Charlotte Smith: Life of a novelist, novels of a life

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Charlotte Smith: Life of a novelist, novels of a life

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CHARLOTTE SMITH: LIFE OF A NOVELIST,
NOVELS OF A LIFE
by
Lynn Marie Wright
A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
in Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
(ENGLISH)
May 1998
Copyright 1998 Lynn Marie Wright
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Charlotte Smith; Life of a Novelist, Novels of a Life
“ Charlotte Smith: Life of a Novelist, Novels of a Life” argues that Charlotte
Smith successfully marketed her novels by creating a compelling authorial
persona in prefaces to her novels, in particular her first novel, Emmeline
(1788), her controversial fourth novel, Desmond (1792), and her final novel,
The Young Philosopher (1798). This persona, based on a new model of
heroine, that of a married woman and mother, is then extended to
characters within the novels themselves, giving both author and her
heroines further authority and appeal. Smith uses this appeal and modifies
the traditional courtship novel plotline to promote the need for reform within
England, especially the laws and mores that pertained to women.
Ironically, the authorial persona Smith creates for herself to make palatable
and advance her ideas has for contemporary readers obscured some of her
real originality. This project complicates her reputation as a popular
novelist of the middle ground by illuminating the central debates of her
culture and the narrative strategies the novels employ to win readers and
express Smith’s complex views of women's changing roles in an age of
revolution.
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Table of Contents
introduction
Chapter 1 Emmeline: The Careful Crafting of Novel
and Novelist 11
Chapter 2 Desmond: Pushing the Limits of Authorial
Authority 55
Chapter 3 The Young Philosopher From Revolution to
Individual Reform 94
Conclusion 131
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Introduction
Margaret Doody daims that "the works of any artist represent the
meeting of three histories: the life of the individual, the cultural life of the
surrounding society, and the tradition of the chosen art” (9), and Smith’s
novels are no exception. But the degree to which these are reflected can
vary greatly. Much of Charlotte Smith’s personal history is found in her
novels, and, likewise, her novels in part were created in response to
particular circumstances in her life.
Charlotte Smith had not intended to become a professional novelist,
although from an early age she displayed artistic talent. Believing her to
have unusual ability in drawing and painting, her father arranged for her to
receive instrudion several times a week from a popular landscape artist,
George Smith (no relation). Charlotte Smith’s most detailed biographer,
Florence Hilbish, surmises that it is this teacher who fostered Smith’s
interest in the natural scenery that figures so prominently in her novels (14-
17). During her adolescence, her father added music instruction, but,
according to her sister, Catherine Anne Turner Dorset, Smith preferred to
spend her time drawing, and was an avid reader. It was also at this time
that she began to write poems. As with her drawing, her rather free-handed
father encouraged her writing, and with his approval, fourteen year old
Charlotte sent some of her poems to the editor of Lady’s Magazine (Hilbish
24). The editor’s response is unknown, but Smith continued to write poetry
and in 1784 published at her own expense Elegiac Sonnets and other
Essays (London: Dodsley); a second edition appeared later that same
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year. So popular was her poetry, admired by critics and public alike, that
nine editions (and numerous reprints) of Elegiac Sonnets, with new sonnets
continually added, appeared during her lifetime. Tenth and eleventh
editions (with several reprints) were published posthumously.
Smith's contemporaries considered her a first-rate poet; William
Cowper and William Hayley were particular admirers of her skill. But the
novel was the most lucrative literary form of the era, and so, with an urgent
need to support her numerous children, Charlotte Smith’s life dictated that
she turn her pen toward the more commercial novel form; the gifted poet
gives way to the popular novelist.
A biographical sketch illuminates further her character and the
circumstances which both fueled her fairly democratic ideology and led to
the necessity of writing novels for profit. Charlotte Turner Smith was bom in
London on May 4,1749 into a "family of wealth and position" (Hilbish 9).
Her father, a landed gentleman, was Nicholas Turner. Her mother, Ann
Towers Turner, died while in "confinement" with son Nicholas when
Charlotte was three years old. Her father was often absent in her early
years (touring the Continent after the death of his wife) but saw to it that she
was well-educated, including private tutoring in the arts, as previously
noted, and a Kensington finishing school.
When she was 15 years old, her father decided to marry a Miss
Meriton (probably for her money, his wealth having been depleted by this
time). His decision to marry accelerated Charlotte's plan to marry.
Because she had enjoyed so much freedom while growing up, living under
the rule of a new stepmother would no doubt prove difficult for all involved.
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Thus her father arranged for her to be introduced to Benjamin Smith, the
second son of Richard Smith, a West Indian Merchant and a director of the
East India Company. Charlotte and Benjamin met and found each other
"agreeable" and so were married in February of 1765. While Benjamin
Smith was beneath Charlotte's station, his money, and her lack of it, made it
a match that pleased her family. Apparently only one of her relatives, an
uncle, had doubts about Benjamin's character. It wouldn't take long for
these doubts to prove well founded.
Charlotte Smith's marriage tumed out to be a miserable one. Her
husband, like her father, frittered away his fortune on bad investments and
a "gay [frivolous] life." She was protected from severe economic hardship,
however, by her father-in-law, Richard Smith, who was quite fond of her.
When he died in October 1776, he left a complicated will providing for all
his grandchildren. Charlotte and Benjamin had seven living children at this
time and greatly were in need of economic support. But disputes between
agents of the parties concerned regarding the interpretation of the will led
to lawsuits tying up the funds for nearly 30 years. Hilbish notes that "until
near the end of her life Mrs. Smith and her children suffered while the
property hung unsettled, eating itself up" (81). Approximately a year prior
to Charlotte
Smith's death in 1806, her six surviving children (out of a total of twelve)
finally received the money their grandfather had intended for their rearing.
By December 1783 Benjamin Smith was thrown in jail (King's Bench)
for debt. Charlotte Smith spent most of her husband’s seven month
sentence there with him and was responsible for arranging his discharge.
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Needless to say, she found dealing with his creditors very humiliating.
Hilbish asserts:
The heroism shown by Mrs. Smith under the misfortune her
husband had brought upon himself and family by his
speculative and building projects, by his lack of judgment and
extravagance, and by his mismanagement of his father's
estate, inspires admiration. Not only was her home broken
up, and the estate in Hampshire sold under conditions too
grievous for Mrs. Smith to relate, but friends who before had
sought her acquaintance and were delighted in her company
fell away. Relatives deserted her. Her brother only, never for
a moment relaxed his tendemess to her nor neglected any
kind service he could render her husband. (85-6)
Apparently by 1787 the difficulties between Smith and her husband
had become too much to bear, and she separated from her him. While they
never divorced, they never lived together again as husband and wife.
Such an arrangement was unconventional, and it illustrates Smith's
conviction that necessity and practicality must sometimes overrule
convention; reason and sense should outweigh social and/or legal
dictates. Smith believed that she would be better able to support herself
and her children on her own; however, there were very few areas of
employment open to women at the time, and even fewer that were
considered socially acceptable. Women also had the disadvantage of
having little in the way of education or skills a profession required. But,
fortunately for Smith, she could write, and while poetry was not profitable,
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novels were, and novel writing was an activity growing in acceptability as
a profession for women.
Because Smith read avidly, she was well acquainted with the
content and style of popular fiction. Also, Smith previously had translated
novels from French to English as a project to occupy herself when in
October 1784 the Smith family moved to a rural area of France in order to
escape new debts incurred by Mr. Smith. Residing in a remote area a
pregnant Charlotte Smith took to reading and translating one of the very few
books available to her here, Abbé Provost's Manon I'escaut. When she
returned to England in the spring of 1785 she brought back with her a new
son and the manuscript of her translation, which Cadell published without
attribution, paying Smith a very small sum. Smith received an additional
lesson in novel writing when she requested a copy of her translation be
sent to the famous critic George Steevens. He took her to task for choosing
to translate and publish such an immoral work. A portion of his letter, found
in Catherine Dorset's Memoir, states
When Mrs. Smith can be prevailed on to employ her
admirable talents on subjects more worthy of them than
Werters and Manons, I will always be happy to do everything
in my power to promote the success of her pen; but I tell you
fairly, that such heroes and such heroines shall never obtain
the smallest recommendation from me (Hilbish 118)
In response to the rapid growth of novels primarily written for and by
women, criteria for the novel were evolving. Critics of the time agreed on
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three main criteria: a novel should be instructive, inventive, and probable
(Tompkins 19). There was a growing belief that instruction through
demonstration in a story well told had a greater impact than simply reading
traditional conduct books. Although conduct books and the like continued
to be published and widely read, good novels, conforming to the criteria
proscribed above, were considered at least equally instructive and useful
to women. The introduction to the January 1797 issue of the Analytical
Review illustrates this belief in the importance of novels and their ability to
affect and reform:
"Example moves, where precept fails.
And sermons are less read than tales."
It requires but little knowledge of the human mind to discover
that the most effectual method of giving instruction, is by
interesting the imagination and engaging the affections.
Reason conveys the knowledge of truth and falsehood, but,
while it shows us the means of attaining happiness and
avoiding misery, it must awaken sentiment and feeling before
it can operate as a motive to action. If novels, romances, and
fables, be held as an inferior and insignificant species of
literary composition, it must be by those who have paid little
attention to the human heart: principles are disseminated and
propagated, by writings of this nature, with peculiar facility
and effect: they fall into the hands of the young, whose
minds, unoccupied by previous impression, are ductile, and
whose feelings are susceptible and ardent. Superior writers
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begin to be aware of this truth, and seem inclined to rescue,
from the hands of the illiterate and the interested, this obvious
and popular method of influencing the sentiments and
opinions of the rising generation, by whom reform, whether
moral or political, must be effected. (25)
In Tompkins' study of the late eighteenth-century novel, she too
concludes that "the function of the novel was explicitly educational and
that its main business was to inculcate morality by example.. . . Conduct,
the definition and application of the general moral laws that should govern
the behaviour of man in society, was the prevailing intellectual interest of
the age, and naturally enough this was reflected in the novel" (70).
Apparently, Smith’s translation choice did not fit this criterion.
Nevertheless, Smith quickly responded in defense of her choice and the
story. Soon after, however, a letter to her publisher appeared, accusing
her of literary fraud. Smith withdrew her publication in order to save
Cadell's reputation but, according to her sister (Catherine Dorset), she
bitterly felt that she had been a victim of a malicious plot. Smith had been
forewarned to keep the characters and subject matter within the parameters
of what critics and the public deemed acceptable and appropriate, and,
armed with this knowledge, she again set out to translate another French
work. Les Causes Célèbres: it was published in 1787 under the title of The
Romance of Real Life. This the reviewers commended, and the public
demanded (Hilbish 122). Having thus tested the waters. Smith was ready
to try her hand at writing her own novels for this lucrative market.
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Clearly Charlotte Smith wrote novels out of economic necessity. But
there is good reason to believe they were also creative outlets for her
sociopolitical views. The personal injustices she endured, combined with
her intelligence, made her receptive to the raging political debate of the
1790s. This ideological debate in England, in response to the French
Revolution, revolved around individual rights versus social or institutional
duties. Smith saw in this emphasis on individual rights the potential to
extend the concept to women. While all nine of her novels have strong
"domestic" plotlines and characterizations. Smith subverts these traditional
domestic themes with the inclusion of social commentaries on both the plot
and character levels, commentaries that express strong democratic and
feminist ideologies. Recently, many scholars of the "feminine" novel have
recognized the subversive messages disguised in traditional domestic
plots and characters. Katharine Rogers asserts that
radical theory must have strengthened the liberalizing
tendencies already present in the feminine novel.. . . Smith's
assertions that women might and should have opinions on
politics is a natural extension of the insistence found even in
conservative female novelists that women should develop
their minds. As it was accepted that women should have
intellectual interests of some kind, Smith was simply
broadening their scope. (202-3)
As Smith's novel-writing career progressed, the need for social and
political reformation appears increasingly, and more explicitly, in her
novels. Through them she speaks out, though obliquely at first, against a
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system which grants men full control, leaving women dependent upon
men's attitudes, judgments and behavior. In addition, having lived in
France from October 1784 through the spring of 1785, Smith had some
first-hand experience with political reformation and was a strong
sympathizer with the French Revolutionaries' cause. She brought some of
the basic tenets of the French revolution home with her, since concern for
women's powerlessness in society and England's oppressive laws, corrupt
legal system, and the lawyers who perpetuated it for their own self-interest,
are recurring themes in her novels. "The French situation, which was so
keenly observed and discussed by the English, gave her the idea for
Desmond (1792) and The Banished Man (1794); and her own experiences
with the delays and the corruptions of the law developed into Marchmont
and Emmeline" (Hilbish 130). Quite obviously. Smith could not see the
domestic as apolitical. She prefaces her very first novel, Emmeline. The
Orphan of the Castle (1788), with a poem, dedicated to her children,
expressing the oppression she and they have endured, a reference to the
legal and financial troubles she suffered which were frustratingly beyond
her control as a woman unable to participate as, or influence, a lawyer or
politician and thus attempt to alter or control her social and economic
situation.
Charlotte Smith's problems were not limited to her husband and
discriminatory inheritance laws, however. Although as a whole her novels
proved popular, and the social status of both Smith and the professional
literary reviewers dictated that neither she nor her work could be judged
too harshly, throughout her career she periodically was ostracized for the
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views she expressed in her novels, her portrayal of some of the women
characters, and the way she lived her life (separated, but not divorced from
her husband).
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Emmeline: The Careful Crafting of Novel and Novelist
Charlotte Smith writes courtship novels that use the conventional
heroine plot to reassure readers, but she goes on to complicate it in her
subplots of "other” women, secondary heroines who do not fit the
traditional heroine mold. In this way Smith both lulls and teaches her
readers, extending accepted ideas of female authority and social
limitations; at the same time, she similarly divides her own authorial self
presentation. From the start. Smith's novels "represent the meeting of three
histories: the life of the individual, the cultural life of the surrounding
society, and the tradition of the chosen art” (Doody 9).
Spurred by financial necessity. Smith became a professional
novelist relatively late in life with the publication of Emmeline. The Orphan
of the Castle (1788). In this novel we see her personal self and
professional self converge. Smith’s ideas and concems regarding the
social conditions that led to her desperate personal circumstances and her
need to become professional take the form of political expressions within
the conventions of the novel. So while the need for money was the initial
catalyst for Smith to become a novelist, Emmeline illustrates that she
quickly recognized that the form could serve as a place from which she
could speak her mind. Publishing one’s writing situates the writer in the
public realm, a realm generally not open to women in the eighteenth
century. Smith, with her intellect, her education, and her troubled personal
experiences, had much to say, and the conventions of the courtship novel
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in particular allowed her to express her views In an acceptable arena and
In a palatable manner, making It likely that she would be heard.
And heard she was. Published In 1788, this seemingly traditional
courtship novel with its highly virtuous heroine was Immediately well
received by the public and critics alike. The Initial run of 1500 copies sold
out rapidly, forcing a second printing that was also translated Into French
(Hilbish 130). A third English edition came out In 1789. In fact, the novel
was so popular that her publisher, William Cadell, voluntarily paid her an
additional sum, presumably a reward for her astonishing success and an
Incentive for her to submit future novels to him. Like Frances Bumey, Smith
was “ treated as a meteoric phenomenon” (Epstein 218). How Is It that
Smith managed such a feat on her first novellstic outing?
Smith sought to establish connections with potential readers of her
first novel by Implementing strategies to seize, and then hold, the attention
of a large and broad audience. She took great care to read her audience,
evaluating cultural trends, attitudes, concems, and even taste in fiction.
Courtship novels In particular were extremely popular, especially among
female readers. To this chosen art form, one with which her own voracious
reading had made her familiar. Smith Incorporated many current social
concems with her own personal experiences, exciting empathy and pathos
from her readers. And while forming a deep personal connection with her
female readers, she simultaneously manages to draw authorial respect.
The Interplay between her professional and personal selves opens a
space for the expression of certain political Ideologies, and Smith’s expert
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author-audience negotiations enable their acceptance. In Emmeline, the
negotiations begin with the preface.
Before the novel’s story begins, Smith briefly but poignantly tells
hers, in effect publicizing her personal and professional self(ves). Her
preface to Emmeline, in the form of one of her own poems, reminds readers
of the professional authorial respect she had previously garnered while
simultaneously eliciting readers’ empathy and compassion for her current
personal difficulties. Smith presents a dual persona, a divided self, if you
will, designed to capture at once both her audience’s respect and
sympathy. The first few lines offer intimate details of her distressed
emotional state, the tragedy of her situation emphasized by a quotation from
Hamlet’s hauntingly introspective and dark third soliloquy.
O'erwhelmed with sorrow-and sustaining long
The proud man's contumely, the oppressor’s wrong,"
Languid despondency, and vain regret.
Must my exhausted spirit struggle yet?
As she will do in prefaces to other novels. Smith considers her personal
trials, and her response to them, as no greater or lesser than a man’s or
even a prince’s (e.g. Hamlet); the emotional toll injustice exacts makes no
distinction between genders. Smith goes on to answer the question she
raised:
Yes! robb'd myself of all that Fortune gave.
Of every hope— but shelter in the grave;
Still shall the plaintive lyre essay it’s [sic] powers.
And dress the cave of Care, with Fancy’s flowers;
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Maternal love, the fiend Despair withstand,
Still animate the heart and guide the hand.
Her answer is pathetic; death, she claims, is the hope left her. But Smith
quickly shifts from herself as an individual to herself as mother, making a
clear distinction between two selves. While the autonomous individual
despairs of hope, is in a sense dead, the maternal self remains alive,
actively and lovingly involved in her children's care, and continuing to
advocate on their behalf.
May you, dear objects of my tender care!
Escape the evils, I was bom to bear.
Round my devoted head, while tempests roll.
Yet there-'where I have treasured up my soul,'
May the soft rays of dawning hope impart
Reviving patience to my fainting heart;
And, when it's [sic] sharp anxieties shall cease.
May I be conscious, in the realms of peace.
That every tear which swells my children's eyes,
From evils past, not present sorrows, rise.
Speaking further as a mother. Smith elaborates upon her absolute devotion
to, and selfless love for, her children; they are her very life and soul. Hope
exists for her children, and her hope for them once she is gone is that their
futures will know no sadness or sorrow.
Then, with some friend who loves to share your pain,
(For lis my boast, that still such friends remain,)
By filial grief, and fond remembrance prest,
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You'll seek the spot where all my miseries rest,
Recall my hapless days in sad review,
The long calamities I bore for you.
And, with an happier fate, resolve to prove
How well ye merited your mother's love! (3)
As the poem comes to a close, a new glimmer of hope begins to shine
through the despair that has dominated so far. Smith reveals her belief that
what pain and injustice her children experienced in their youth can be
alleviated by sharing such feelings and memories with a compassionate
friend. And in her parenthetical aside she “boasts,” suggesting
assuredness, that such generous friends do and will continue to exist.
Finally, in the last few lines Smith further asserts an optimism that goodness
in properly nurtured individuals will persevere. Here she reveals her faith
in a kind of natural sensibility; if people can remain in touch with their
natural feelings, which Smith believes are benevolent, society can
progress and be more loving and just. Smith has confidence that her
maternal nurturing will gamer happy, responsible adult children who will
appreciate her devotion and honor her memory, and go on to live lives that
would make their mother proud.
Ultimately, playing up the personal, particularly the admirable way
she carried on for the sake of her children, was tmly her trump card; she
nurtures her audience's sensibilities just as she had her children’s, with
similar positive results. Smith was well aware that in her society, vanity
and strong opinions were not admirable qualities in a woman, nor was the
desire or practice of being gainfully employed or having an occupation
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other than wife and mother. And devoted motherhood was gaining a
prominent, respected place in society at the close of the century. So, as a
newly minted novelist with a propensity to enlighten and instruct, Charlotte
Smith sought to show her audience that she was not an ambitious woman
desirous of an "outside" occupation, nor a philosopher seeking to promote
a political agenda. Thus her prefatory sonnet enabled her audience to see
her not as some strident and embittered woman stepping over the bounds of
decency and into the realm of business and politics but, instead, as a
gentle and adoring mother who is unwillingly forced to write in order to
support her children. At the same time, her prefatory sonnet echoed the
style and tone upon which her reputation as a gifted poet rested, and
hence served to remind her readers of the authorial respect and authority
she already held. Establishing her professional credentials as an author
guaranteed an initial audience and kept supercilious criticism at bay.
After exposing primarily the personal side of her divided self in the
preface. Smith turns her attention to incorporating within Emmeline some of
the social and cultural concems of her era, conflicts that helped the novel
form rise to popular prominence and continued to provide wonderful
opportunities for a budding noveiist. For instance, business concems of
an emerging industrialist nation increasingly took eighteenth-century
Englishmen out of their homes, making their domain primariiy one of the
public sphere. As their world expanded, however, women's narrowed.
The emergence of capitalism further divided the male and female realms.
At the same time, this socioeconomic shift also brought with it concems for
deteriorating morality, and women’s domestic role took on new
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significance. Thus women gained new authority within their increasingly
exclusive realm with the recognition that it fell solely to them to educate and
nurture children and inculcate morality. Quoting from Fraser's Magazine.
Judith Lowder Newton defines the woman's sphere of the late eighteenth-
through mid-nineteenth century as the "'intellectual education of
childhood, the moral guidance of youth, [and] the spiritual influence over
home and society...'" (19). In response to this new responsibility placed
on women, the already proliferating conduct book took on new relevance
and importance.
While the roles men and women played in society were being
redefined, so too was the concept of the novel and the influence it could
have within society, another fact not lost on Charlotte Smith in her quest to
become a successful popular novelist. Throughout the eighteenth century
the realistic qualities of the novel had been noted. In Rambler 4, for
example, Samuel Johnson proclaims that "[t]he works of fiction, with which
the present generation seems more particularly delighted, are such as
exhibit life in its true state.” It is this particular trait of the novel that led
many to see its potential as a useful form of instruction, and the idea that the
novel could function as a type of conduct book quickly arose. Women as
the new arbiters of morality needed instruction in moral conduct, and
women were avid readers of novels. Novels, in turn, conveyed "realistic”
situations, and thus had the potential to disseminate and illustrate proper
moral conduct through an appealing story, making lessons in moral
conduct much more palatable. The dualistic nature of the novel, then, that
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is, Its ability to represent harsh realities yet still offer pleasing ideals, makes
it ideal for moral instruction.
However, the novel's status as Hction,” the dangerous power of the
imagination, also made many nervous, as Samuel Johnson’s advice
regarding novel writing reveals:
If the power of example is so great, as to take possession of
the memory by a kind of violence, and produce effects almost
without the intenrention of the will, care ought to be taken that,
when the choice is unrestrained, the best examples only
should be exhibited; and that which is likely to operate so
strongly, should not be mischievous or uncertain in its effects.
(Rambler 4: 23)
Johnson here enters the debate regarding the purpose of, and criteria for,
novels, illuminating the tension that existed between the desire for
amusement through novels and the conviction that they should provide
moral instruction. Also revealed is the fear that novels may take violent
"possession” of readers’ memories. Even Mary Wollstonecraft, writing for
the Analvtical Review, damned the “ new” novels, “ which she accused of
affectation or nonsense likely to tum the heads of young lady readers”
(Wardle 98), and condemned the inclusion of the adulteress Lady Adelina
in Smith’s Emmeline (Analvtical Review. July 1788: 333). Too much
sensibility-passionate sensibility rather than natural sensibility-could be
a dangerous thing.
Nevertheless, the reading public loved these novels and chose to
believe in their ability to present moral lessons. And critics in the second
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half of the eighteenth century agreed that three particular qualities should
distinguish the novel, as Tompkins has noted: a novel should be
instructive, have invention (defined as "a variety of interesting incidents
and well-supported characters” ), and, most importantly, be probable
(Tompkins 19). “Indeed,” Elizabeth Brophy asserts, “ the eighteenth-
century novel gained respectability in large part because it was thought
that its focus on the true rather than the fantastic made it an instrument for
imparting knowledge and encouraging moral improvement” (233). The
public had such a voracious appetite for novels during the latter half of the
century that the reviewers constantly complained that they could not keep
up with the pace of novel production.
Much of the literature of the day-novels, conduct books, and
periodicals-expressed the tensions of an ideological change toward what
Lawrence Stone has labeled “ affective individualism,” that is, a recognition
of individuality, a more democratic, or at least more respectful and
compassionate, view of relationships, particularly between husbands and
wives and also parents to their children. People began to believe that
marriage should be based on affection and companionship, leaving the
choice of marriage partner up to the individuals rather than their parents.
This new view toward marriage gives rise to heroine-centered courtship
novels where all the nuances and implications that determine one's
decision are explored. Samuel Richardson’s novels, for example,
introduced the idea of the intelligent woman who should marry her equal
and retain equality in marriage. In fact, he provides a “ model for marriage
[which] grants not merely equality but superiority to the wife. In Pamela, the
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title character grows in wifely stature as Mr. B. more truly reforms, and at
the end of the novel he has given over the direction of his life to her. In
Clarissa, the authoritarian marriage of the Harlowes is seen as wrong,"
(Brophy 237) and Anna Howe's marriage to Mr. Hickman after her long
resistance probably comes about after negotiating a great deal of latitude
regarding her autonomy, as suggested by Richardson’s obsen/ation that
Mr. Hickman’s "behaviour to Mrs. Hickman is as affectionate as it was
respectful to Miss Howe."
The cultural and political reality of eighteenth-century women in
Britain was that the process of finding a suitable mate, the person upon
whom they would be socially and financially dependent for their entire
lives, was the single most important act of their lives. Katherine Sobba
Green explains that
Between 1740 and 1820, the [courtship] subgenre developed
and flourished as some two dozen writers, most of them
women, treated the time between a young woman’s coming
out and her marriage as the most important period in her life.
Courtship novels... were written by women for women.. .[and]
may in some measure be said to have feminized the English
novel. (2)
Thematically, courtship novels distinguished themselves by offering
a revisionist view; instead of being unwilling victims, women became
heroines able to make choices and act for themselves (Green 2). The
typical plot began with the heroine’s entrance into society and ended with
her wedding. In between she slowly, sometimes painfully, becomes
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educated, discovering herself, the character of her suitor(s), and the "\vays
of the world.” As Green and others have explained, "the novel of courtship
appropriated domestic fiction to feminist purposes.. creating a feminized
space.. .by centering its story in the brief period of autonomy between a
young woman’s coming out and her marriage.. .[and thus fostering]
heightened awareness of sexual politics” (Green 2-3). It is not surprising,
then, that many women authors. Smith included, adopted and adapted this
subgenre, writing such novels primarily for other women who either had
been or would eventually go through this process. However, while the
difficulties and importance of finding a compatible mate is the therr e of all
courtship novels, not all of them insist on women’s equality in marriage, an
ideology Smith indirectly advocates in Emmeline. Smith saw the
subgenre’s particular merit as its dual ability to be thematically both
conservative and subversive, and popular while controversial.
Smith makes an astute professional decision to marry her own
personal experiences with a popular novel subgenre; clearly much of her
immediate or initial novelistic success can be attributed to the fact that
Emmeline typifies the courtship novel heroine and theme (plot). But in so
doing Smith also stretches the boundaries of the feminized space the
courtship novel allows, focusing on real concerns of real women-the ills
married women suffer when the husband is not responsible, equal, or
respectful; the difficulties unmarried women encounter In trying to find a
compatible equal to marry; and the education necessary in order to
recognize the qualities that ensure compatibility and equality in marriage.
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In short, a space for the political emerges from the convergence of the
personal and the professional.
Through the character of Emmeline. Smith Illustrates that a proper
education Is Imperative to achieving and maintaining a degree of autonomy
and to making Intelligent decisions, particularly conceming whom to marry.
For Smith a solid education so that women can be Intellectual equals, and
recognize a man who Is willing and able to be In an mutually respectful
relationship. Is essential to a good marriage. Smith distinguishes herself In
this because many women novelists did not go beyond these rights for
women to choose a suitable mate who was her Intellectual equal. A more
traditional heroine, once married to her “ equal,” would subordinate herself
to the direction of the thoughtful and Intelligent husband she so wisely
chose, and thus
the patriarchal model of husbandly authority Is seldom
questioned, and the best marriage Is presented as one of
loving cooperation.. .In marriage a good woman hopes to find
a husband who will be a loving, wise guide and mentor. To
honor and obey such a husband will be easy because his
superior qualities will make wifely submission natural. Pairing
one's heroine with a more Intelligent and capable man Is a
way of avoiding a challenge to the conduct-book view of
marriage. (Brophy 265)
Smith, however, like Richardson before her, explores both the problem of
how young women go about finding an Intellectually equal mate and how
such equality Is practiced after the marriage Is contracted. She questions
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husbands’ authority and suggests that women can take the lead or equally
share the position of moral and Intellectual guide. Such Is the case for
Emmeline and her lover. Their marriage Is one of Intellectual equals, and
he has shown himself as willing and able to seek and follow her directives,
just as she has.
In Emmeline. Smith Identifies the personal most closely with the
character of Emmeline, the professional or public arising from cultural
norms Is associated with Mrs. Stafford, and the novel form Itself becomes
the political, a forum for expressing observations and judgments about
one’s private and public worlds. And while the entire novel represents the
political in this sense. Lady Adelina’s character represents a more
specific, and radical, political statement. In this way Smith reveals her
belief “In the truth-telling power of fiction” and creates a trilogy of heroines,
Emmeline, the Ideal heroine, and the married, sadly realistic secondary
heroines, Mrs. Stafford and Lady Adelina Trelawny, “ characters who
speak her beliefs for her and act out her message of realism” (Schofield
150). Through these women. Smith propounds the Idea that proper
education and the nurturing of mutually respectful and supportive
relationships can provide an element of control to women. Emmeline’s
situation Is far from Ideal, but her education, aided by her close
relationships with thoughtful and mature people, allows her to respond by
resisting the pressure to rush Into marriage and maintaining a good deal of
autonomy. In contrast, Mrs. Stafford’s and Lady Adelina Trelawny’s
situations Illustrate the much more serious problems that arise when a
woman allows social pressures to rush her Into marriage. The former,
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however, manages to maintain some degree of autonomy and dignity for
herself and her children. Mrs. Stafford's "superior" education enables this.
But the latter example or model, Lady Adelina, is unprepared to cope with a
terrible marriage to a despicable and grossly negligent husband. Her
ignorance and naivete leave her susceptible to exploitation by others, and
her bad circumstances tum even more dire before she is befriended,
rescued really, by Emmeline and Mrs. Stafford.
By centering Emmeline in the consciousness of three women-
clearly socially unempowered characters— Smith can "expose and explore
those aspects of traditional institutions-marriage, primogeniture,
patriarchy— which patently do not serve her heroines well” (C. Johnson
xxiv). Such a format helps obscure the underlying polemical nature of the
novel. In fact, many women authors of the era, conservatives and radicals
alike, had used this device (the courtship novel) with great success.
Bumey’s Evelina (1778), to cite one example, was enormously popular
while managing to illustrate "male control over marriage as both legal act
and status” (Doody 42) and to criticize "the society that puts women in
such preposterous situations” (Doody 43) as to have to marry in order to
have social and legal identity. Clearly such underlying subversion held
tremendous appeal for late eighteenth century readers. This audience,
Claudia Johnson attests, had come to accept such subversion as a large
part of the "feminine tradition of novels, novels which are highly informed
and often distinctively flexible.. .in their sympathies” (xix); by this point the
audience was sensitized to understand female characterization as "already
a politicized issue in and of itself (C. Johnson xxiii).
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Emmeline's Story
In Emmeline, the ideal image of woman is represented by Emmeline
Mowbray who, like other heroines in courtship novels, is orphaned early in
life. Because her father's aristocratic family rejected her mother as an
unsuitable mate, we are led to believe that Emmeline is illegitimate and
hence financially dependent upon the mercy of her uncle. Lord
Montrevilie. From the start then Smith suggests that being “ideal" has little
to do with one's uncontrollable circumstances. Rather, it is the striving for
autonomy and the way circumstances within her control are handled that
defines the ideal. At the end of the novel we leam that Emmeline's parents
were indeed legally married and that Montrevilie had evidence of this fact
prior to his brother's death. The evil-doings that for so long deny her her
rightful position as a legitimate heiress illustrate many of the era's social ills:
women's lack of legal and social stature, avarice and greed, problems with
the way marriage is contracted, women's lack of formal education, and
their inability to support themselves. Nevertheless, Emmeline's education
and the loving support from childhood guardians, and later, mutually
respectful and reciprocal friendships (male and female) enable her to avoid
mistakes such as marrying the unworthy Delamere (Lord Montreville's son)
or becoming wholly dependent upon her uncle (and guardian). She
manages to define herself for herself in an admirable, altruistic way, and,
no matter what happens to her, no one can take this away from her. This is
what makes her ideal.
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And while representing the traditional ideal heroine, Emmeline also
mirrors the young Charlotte Smith, for Smith sees her youthful, unwed self
as ideal. Emmeline, then, is one part of Smith's divided self. Through her
we see the personal self prior to marriage, and her development from
childhood to adulthood serves as a model for others to follow. Emmeline is
set to merge the personal with the professional, not necessarily by
becoming a professional artist (writer/poet) as the young Smith will
become, although she has the artistic talent possibly to become
professional for the pleasure of personal artistic expression rather than for
monetary reasons, but to become professional in terms of managing her
life, making the best choices for her future happiness, laying down a
foundation for her future public and personal life(ves). Much of this has to
do with marriage-who, when, and why one marries-for marriage itself is
as much a public concem as it is a private one. Certainly marrying for love
is a private concem. But the person you become in society, your public
self, is that of a married person. It is announced in newspapers, recorded
at your children's births, and women take on a new name and a new
identity heavily influenced by the name, character, activities, and
profession of her husband.
Smith uses Emmeline to define the kind of education girls and young
women needed in order to exercise a degree of control over crucial
decisions that are usually made for them by others. Not surprisingly, this
education and the qualities it fosters resemble Smith’s. Lovingly raised by
Mr. Williamson, the gardener, and Mrs. Carey, the housekeeper of the
ruined Mowbray Castle, in a bucolic setting far away from London and
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relatives (the Montrevilie family), Emmeline is unencumbered by social
dictates. Her education comes from her natural, pastoral surroundings and
the books she can salvage from the castle's decayed library. She
embodies Smith’s ideal of a mind well formed by good books combined with
a sensitivity to the natural world.
Emmeline eagerly pursues her education, contemplating the many
ideas found in the books she reads while out on her many solitary walks.
By the age of fourteen, her mind
gradually expanded, and her judgment improved: for among
the deserted rooms of this once noble edifice, was a library,
which had been well fumished with the books of those ages in
which they had been collected. Many of them were in black
letter; and so injured by time, that the most indefatigable
antiquary could have made nothing of them.
From these, Emmeline tumed in despair to some others
of more modem appearance; which, the" they also had
suffered from the dampness of the room, and in some parts
were almost effaced with mould, were yet generally legible.
Among them, were Spencer and Milton, two or three volumes
of the Spectator, and [sic] old edition of Shakespeare, and an
odd volume or two of Pope. (7)
These books are prized possessions, and she continues to search the
library for salvageable books to add to her collection, so that she
nearly completed several sets of books, in which instruction
and amusement were happily blended. From them she
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acquired a taste for poetry, and the more ornamental parts of
literature; as well as the grounds of that elegant and useful
knowledge, which if it rendered not her life happier, enabled
her to support, with the dignity of conscious worth, those
undeserved evils with which many of her years were
embittered [emphasis mine]. (8)
Smith thus provides, in fiction, a model of education that real young women
could follow, with the goal of achieving thoughtful and intelligent women,
like Emmeline, who possess both a rational, eighteenth-century mind, and
a more Romantic, intuitive one as well, and hence embodies the best the
era had to offer.
Through Emmeline, then, we see her real character. Her cloistered
existence means she has little need for a public face or persona. Devoid of
public observers, parents, and with an absentee guardian, Emmeline is
free to do as she pleases— she has no public scrutiny, and no one to
impress. Her natural curiosity has free reign. Given these circumstances,
Emmeline wanders the castle and its grounds, draws or paints nature's
beauty, and reads and reflects upon whatever she can recover from the
decaying library. Social standards would define Emmeline’s
circumstances as less than ideal; devoid of social strictures, however, her
circumstances, like herself, are ideal. But society, that is other humans
and their mores, eventually introduce themselves into her isolated world.
Ironically, it is Emmeline’s concem for social propriety, necessitated by the
deaths of first Mr. Williamson and then Mrs. Carey, that bursts the idealistic
bubble. The impropriety of living alone at the castle except for a male
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groundskeeper prompts her to contact Lord Montrevilie, her guardian and
uncle, and request an appropriate female companion. In response,
Montrevilie sends Mrs. Gamet as Mrs. Carey’s replacement. The new
grounds- and housekeepers conspire against Emmeline and hence
introduce the social ills of greed and avarice. The ideal atmosphere is
destroyed, and Emmeline’s ideal character is challenged.
Smith intends for Emmeline to continue representing the benefits of a
natural sensibility informed by education, however. In so doing, Emmeline
illustrates Smith’s concept of excellent conduct by contrasting it with those
raised in the tainted (unnatural) outside world, and eventually she reaps
her just rewards for it. But Emmeline must continually be challenged so that
we may leam the proper conduct that leads to happiness. For her, conduct
that leads to personal and social happiness derives from knowledge and
logical reasoning. And happiness means a happy marriage between self
chosen, equal partners who remain devoted, respectful and equal even
once the marriage is contracted. Thus this is a courtship novel-the end
result is marriage-that also teaches conduct and endorses what we have
come to believe are basic rights of equality and autonomy within marriage.
As previously noted, Emmeline’s letter to Montrevilie invites the
public into the isolated and idyllic world of Mowbray Castle, and the
public, in the form of more people and their expectations, invades and
destroys Emmeline’s idyllic space. Her letter recalls Mowbray Castle to
her uncle’s attention, and soon he, his son Delamere, and Delamere’s
friend FitzEdward, descend upon the estate with the intention of tuming it in
to a hunting lodge. Emmeline’s private haven has tumed into a public
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space, and this combined with the persistent proposals of marriage by
Delamere drives Emmeline from Mowbray Castle, the only home she had
ever known.
Smith could have had Emmeline accept Delamere’s marriage
proposal. Upon her marriage to him she would become a legitimate member
of the family that owns Mowbray Castle, and her financial security would
be insured. This assumes of course that Delamere would actually carry out
his proposal, and there are several factors that make this unlikely. First,
Delamere thinks with his heart rather than his head, and in fact does not
really know what he wants. He does not know himself as Emmeline knows
herself. Rather, he is an immature young man very much influenced by his
roguish friend FitzEdward and dominated by his parents. His friend
encourages the life of a libertine while his parents impress the importance
of contracting an advantageous marriage to a woman of wealth and
position. None of these impeding factors matter to Emmeline, however, for
Smith’s point is to show Emmeline’s decision and the thoughtful reasoning
behind it. It is the heroine who has the control here. As the following
exchange between Montrevilie and Emmeline shows, Emmeline is
unwilling at this point in her life to be married to anyone, not Delamere, not
the groundskeeper Maloney, no one, and will not be coerced by passion
or practical considerations:
To become the wife of Maloney!-to accept of the
establishment ha offers me! I am humbled, I am lost indeed!
No, my Lord! unhappy as I am, I can claim nothing, it is true:
but if the support of an unfortunate orphan, thrown by
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Providence into your care, Is too troublesome, suffer me to be
myself a servant; and believe I have a mind, which the" It will
not recoil from any situation where I can earn my bread by
honest labor. Is infinitely superior to any advantages such a
man as Maloney can offer me! (31)
After clearly rejecting the possibility of marrying anyone at this point,
Emmeline could have remained at Mowbray Castle. But her Idyllic bliss
there has been shattered. She has not lost control of herself, however, and
of her own volition she seeks peaceful refuge at Swansea with Mrs.
Carey's widowed sister. Montrevilie, relieved by her decision to remove
herself from his son, easily acquiesces to the plan, pledging to continue to
provide her with modest financial support (although she Intends to find
appropriate employment).
To retum Emmeline to a private, personal realm would be to bring the
story to a close. But Smith has just begun to show how Ideal personal
qualities can enable women to avoid some of the pitfalls (primarily,
contracting bad marriages) of the less than Ideal social realm In which real
women live. At Swansea Emmeline leams more about the difficulties real
women face, first through second-hand experience taught by Mrs. Stafford,
with whom she becomes fast friends, and then first-hand when Delamere
arrives after discovering her whereabouts.
Smith Illustrates the benefits of Emmeline's personal qualities by
having her experience a variety of difficulties reflecting the social
conditions of late eighteenth-century England. She flees Swansea alone
under the cover of darkness attempting to escape Delamere's Incessant
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proposals. He finds her again and harasses her further, and this hide-and-
seek pursuit continues, with Delamere going so far as to attempt her
kidnapping. The Montrevilie family harass her because Delamere refuses
to accept her rejection and marry a more suitable woman (a Lady). Other
men she comes in contact with desire her hand in marriage and are
outraged when they too are rejected. In short, life is unkind to Emmeline.
Through it all, however, Mrs. Stafford, a secondary heroine whom
Emmeline befriends in Swansea, remains a true friend and, aided by her
counsel, Emmeline maintains control and possession of herself. She reacts
ideally by not succumbing to the desires of others. Instead she listens to
her own reasoned thoughts and analyzes her heart, shares her concems
with the wise Mrs. Stafford, and then makes her own decisions. By so
doing, Emmeline is able to remain unmarried and maintain her self-
determination.
Emmeline is not immune to the powerful and incessant pressure to
marry. In a moment of weakness, her determination weakens. Delamere’s
single-minded pursuit of her and the love sickness he professes to have
because of her elicits her compassion. Eventually her deep compassion
for Delamere’s pathetic state misleads her to strike an engagement
agreement with him and his parents: if after one year abroad Delamere still
wishes to marry her, permission will be granted. Emmeline and Delamere’s
parents hoped that going abroad would provide him a new perspective,
dousing his passion for Emmeline and enabling him to find a wife more
suitable to his family’s expectations. His passionate nature, however,
cannot be quelled, and destines him to a premature death, although not
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because of Emmeline. Rather, Delamere dies of a wound received during
a heated dual with a French Chevalier who dishonored his sister, Frances,
conveniently relieving Emmeline of any obligations to him (and freeing her
to marry Godolphin).
As Emmeline's trials compound throughout the novel. Smith
recognizes that even the fortitude of a self-educated, clear-thinking ideal
heroine could become exhausted without supportive friends. No one lives
in total independence; community support is essential to sunrival. Thus
Smith introduces two key women through two different subplots, and an
essential part of Emmeline's strength and independence of character
derives from their influence. The focus of each subplot is on the character
and plight of a married woman. Lady Adelina and Mrs. Stafford,
respectively. Like their author, each is strong and independent in her own
way, given the circumstances and confines of marriage in the eighteenth
century. While Emmeline reflects Smith’s ideal, that is, a young woman
who can avoid major pitfalls through her own self-determination. Lady
Adelina illustrates the errors in judgment that can befall vulnerable,
dependent young women whose husbands abandon them, and Mrs.
Stafford most closely resembles Smith’s own knowledge and actual
experiences. Likewise, it is Mrs. Stafford who most clearly illustrates
Smith’s intentional merging of the personal and the political. Together, Mrs.
Stafford and Lady Adelina, Smith’s "secondary heroines," provide a stark
contrast to the idyllic life imagined by the almost too perfect Emmeline, and
the contrast creates a clear, tempered vision or message. Eleanor Ty
confirms that
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behind this dominant story [of Emmeline] are two muted ones
which do not fit into the fairytale-like, happily-ever-after
mould. Mrs. Stafford's history shows the plight of an intelligent
woman of the eighteenth century who is united to an
insensitive brute whom she has to respect as husband and
authority figure, while Lady Adelina's case examines adultery
from the point of view of the so-called fallen' woman. Both
tales demonstrate the need for reform in the existing social
and marital customs. As well they serve to balance or
undercut the romance of the dominant narrative. (116-7)
Mrs. Stafford's Storv
Just as Emmeline represents Charlotte Smith when she still was her
own unmarried person, free to practice her art, take walks, think her own
thoughts without interference, and generally unencumbered by social
obligations, Mrs. Stafford parallels the public self Charlotte Smith became
when she took on the "profession" of wife. The contrast between Emmeline
and Mrs. Stafford serves the dual purpose of providing instruction on
marriage and of making a political statement regarding the problems
society's marriage practices cause women. Mrs. Stafford's situation in life
begins very much like Emmeline's. She is well educated and of some
station. But she, like Smith, succumbs to social and familial pressure to
marry. In fact, her situation is strikingly similar to Smith’s.
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When Emmeline meets her in Swansea, Mrs. Stafford, though only
twenty-five, already has four children under the age of five, looks "faded
and wan" (49), and is "pensive and languid" (49). Emmeline nevertheless
recognizes her superior qualities and, desirous to leam more, seeks Mrs.
Stafford's friendship and counsel. Smith writes:
Her [Emmeline's] friendship for Mrs. Stafford was enlivened by
the warmest gratitude. To her she owed the acquisition of
much useful knowledge, as well as instruction in those
elegant accomplishments to which she had no former
opportunity of acquiring. The charms of her conversation, the
purity of her heart, and the softness of her temper, made her
altogether a character which could not be known without
being beloved; and Emmeline, whose heart was open to all
the enchanting impressions of early friendship, loved her with
the truest affection. (77)
The admiration was mutual. For her part, Mrs. Stafford, "delighted with the
lively attachment of her young friend, was charmed to find herself capable
of adoming her ingenuous and tender mind with all that knowledge which
books or the world had qualified her to impart" (51).
In the guise of Mrs. Stafford, a devoted mother and extraordinarily
dutiful wife clearly deserving of her audience’s respect and sympathy.
Smith becomes an even more overt educator, perhaps, than she can be as
the ideal Emmeline. Mrs. Stafford advises and encourages Emmeline
through continuous persecution (primarily from members and associates of
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the Montrevilie clan), attempts to reconcile her husband’s debts, and
extends unconditional support to the outcast Lady Adelina.
The Stafford marriage, where Mrs. Stafford acquired much of her
wisdom, offers Smith an opportunity to illustrate some of the social
injustices women could endure if they are rushed into marriage and/or
married at a very young age. Such situations precluded a woman from
carefully considering her heart and mind, as well as properly investigating
the character of the man to whom she would be forever tied. These steps,
examining oneself as well as potential marriage partners. Smith adamantly
advocated for all women. Following this advice, she believed, would help
women avoid being entrapped by irresponsible men and doomed to
unhappy marriages, and by extension, a miserable life, as she had been.
For although Smith was an intelligent and educated young woman, she
nevertheless succumbed to social and familial pressures, marrying a man
she barely knew. Endowed with the same admirable qualities, Mrs.
Stafford, too, married too young and without questions. Perpetual misery
was just one of the subsequent consequences of not investigating
character and choosing one’s husband wisely, as Mr. Stafford's example
illustrates:
Tho' married very early, and tho' father of a numerous family,
he had thrown away the time and money, which should have
provided for them . . .till having exhausted every source that
that species of idle folly offered, he had been driven, by the
same inability to pursue proper objects, into vices yet more
fatal to the repose of his wife, and schemes yet more
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destructive to the fortune of his family.. . . [H]is temper growing
more irritable in proportion as his difficulties encreased, he
sometimes treated his wife with great harshness (191)
Many of the troubles the Staffords endure mirrored the Smiths’. For
example, although Mr. Stafford does not go to debtor's prison as Mr. Smith
did, he does flee the country to escape his creditors as Mr. Smith did, and
Mrs. Stafford, like Mrs. Smith, joins her exiled husband in Normandy. And
the death of Mr. Stafford's father, like the death of Mr. Smith's father,
Richard Smith, leaves Mrs. Stafford burdened with additional financial
problems (119-120). Mr. Stafford practiced one agricultural scheme after
another, like Mr. Smith. He invested poorly and spent frivolously. Mrs.
Stafford was the judicious one in the family, but, because she was a
woman, she had no choice but to suffer the consequences of her
husband's inability to manage his financial affairs. Smith writes:
The derangement of Stafford's affairs, and his wife's
unavailing efforts to ward off the ruin which he seemed
obstinately bent on incurring, were everyday more visible.
While his capricious and unreasonable temper and a strange
opinion of his own sagacity, which would never allow him to
own himself in the wrong, made him seek to load his wife with
the blame of those misfortunes which he had voluntarily
sought, and now as obdurately refused to avoid while it was
yet in his power.
Mrs. Stafford, who saw too plainly that the destruction
of their fortune which she had so long dreaded was now with
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hasty strides advancing, yet endeavoured to convince him of
his infatuation; but he still improved his house and garden, still
schemed away all the money he could raise or gain credit for,
and still repaid with rudeness and insult her anxious solicitude
to save him. (311)
Mrs. Stafford then, like her creator, tries to help her husband avoid
further financial difficulties, to no avail. Pride, selfishness, and plain
ignorance keep Mr. Stafford from accepting her carefully and quietly made
suggestions. For her trouble, she endures additional abuse. Smith
portrays the self-sacrifice wives like herself and Mrs. Stafford suffer to
preserve the well-being and reputation of their families (and husbands in
particular) as heroic actions. In so doing. Smith encourages her
audience's respect and sympathy; once gained, the problems women face
in marriage, and the unjustness of them, appear. According to Eleanor Ty:
Through Mrs Stafford, Smith demonstrates some of the
difficulties encountered in the construction of female
subjectivity. Mrs Stafford's subject-position as wife is
antithetical to her subject-position as an adult capable of
reason and judgment. For as the wife in the social order of the
eighteenth century she has to submit to the caprices of her
husband, even while recognizing their foolishness. (124)
Women's control is very limited. Only by exercising from the start
(before marriage) what little control they have can they hope to avoid the
injustices inherent in their patriarchal social system. We can see here that
Smith is not advocating radical changes. She does not want to do away
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with the institution of marriage, nor does she seek the same power for men
and women. Rather, she urges women to exercise a bit more control over
their choice of a marriage partner and for society to prepare her to do so.
More and more women could choose but were ill-prepared to make sound
decisions balanced by logic and love. Thus Smith includes this
fictionalized account of the closely autobiographical Stafford marriage
because she was all too
aware of the illusory pleasure of marriage and was wary of
idealizing it as the ultimate goal for every woman. Though
many of her own novels have the conventional ending of
matrimony, this closure must be read in the context of her own
life, as well as the digressive tales or sub-plots of the other
female characters in the novels. The inclusion of Mrs
Stafford's unhappy conjugality in Emmeline makes visible
women's frustrations and disappointments [Smith]
articulate[s] her dissatisfaction with the social, economic, and
psychological reality of marriage. (Ty 124)
Some people, however, criticized her for publicly revealing and
disparaging her husband’s activities (unlike the more discreet Mrs.
Stafford). But Smith's belief in the power of Iruth-telling” made the
admission necessary.
So far we have seen how Emmeline’s life as a thoughtful, well
educated single woman represents the personal or private life of an
independent, unattached person, and have contrasted that with the public
person a woman becomes when she takes on the roles of a wife and mother
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(as seen through the example of Mrs. Stafford). And paralleling these
private versus public and personal versus professional dichotomies is
Charlotte Smith’s own divided self; the woman who debates whether to
keep her troubles private or publicize them in order to rectify injustices, and
the artistic, free-spirited soul she was before marriage versus the troubled,
for-profit novelist she has had to become in order to support her family. The
political part of the equation has appeared in varying degrees throughout.
Her critique of marriage and courtship was not all that new or different
except for her advocacy for a woman’s equality within the private, intimate
realm of her marriage (private equality rather than public equality). But
one particular part of Emmeline sets it further apart from other traditional
courtship novels. The character and situation of Smith’s other “ other”
heroine make a radical statement about forgiving women some
transgressions related to bad marriages and then giving them a second
chance. This is the function of Lady Adelina Trelawny’s story in Emmeline.
Lady Adelina Trelawnv's Storv
In a second intriguing subplot Smith introduces the difficulties of yet
another married woman. Lady Adelina Trelawny. While walking the
grounds near the Stafford estate, Emmeline and Mrs. Stafford encounter a
woman seeking shelter. Although Adelina is clearly pregnant, alone,
secretive, and in hiding, Emmeline and Mrs. Stafford respond
compassionately. Even once Adelina reveals her whole terrible story,
complete with her culpability in it, Emmeline and Mrs. Stafford still ignore
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convention and act Independently to help a social outcast In a time of great
need. Like Mrs. Stafford’s, Lady Adelina’s troubles began when she was
rushed Into an early marriage to please her dying father, the late Earl of
Westhaven. Her misfortune (after losing her father) was soon compounded
when Trelawny tumed out to be Immature and thoughtless, with a penchant
for gaming and drinking.
Like the Stafford marriage, the Trelawny marriage Is modeled on
Smith's own unfortunate marriage. Birth, Inheritance, honor, and social
stature often bring about such Ill-fated marriages. Adelina married at a very
young age, around 16 years, to ease the mind of her father, who was
concemed that she would be unhappy living with her rich new stepmother,
a marriage he entered Into In order to ensure an Inheritance for his sons.
Trelawny, possessing some fortune, seemed In the eyes of her father to be
a good match. No other personal qualities were considered significant in
the one who would become a lifetime mate for his daughter. For her part,
Adelina was flattered by the attention of this handsome young man,
unaware that there was anything else to consider. Later, she admits that
although "I never thought of any thing so serious as matrimony; and Indeed
was but just out of the nursery, where I had never been told it was
necessary to think at all," (226) she married him at her father's request and
"gave away my person before I knew I had an heart" (228). Trelawny too
was young-perhaps too young to know his heart, and he certainly was
vain and shallow. But Adelina's father, like Smith's, did not sufficiently
Investigate his future son-in-law's character. Adelina claims that
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In my husband. I had neither a friend or a companion-1 had
not even a protector;.. .he was hardly ever at home.
Sometimes he was gone on tours to distant counties to attend
races or hunts, to which he belonged; and sometimes to
France, where he was embarked in gaming associations with
Englishmen who lived only to disgrace their name. (231)
Immature, self-centered, and resentful of any responsibilities, Trelawny
lived only for his own pleasure, preferably from gaming and drinking; not
long after the marriage, he rejected his wife and had entailed his entire
estate to pay his debts. Trelawny’s flaws are extreme versions of those of
Mr. Smith and Mr. Stafford. Perhaps this helps account for Adelina’s tragic
error, something both Mrs. Smith and Mrs. Stafford were able to avoid.
Fatherless and neglected, rejected really, by her frequently absent
husband, the sheltered young Adelina needed support and protection.
One of Trelawny’s acquaintances, George FitzEdward (the same man who
accompanied his friend Delamere to Swansea to aid in Emmeline’s
seduction) offered to fill the position. FitzEdward’s solicitation was
refreshing to a naive and vulnerable young woman. She easily accepted
his sen/ices, although they tumed into more than what she expected. Soon
Adelina “ involuntarily” (233) fell in love with him, as she explains:
Throun [sic], therefore, wholly into the power of Fitz-Edward;
loving him but too well; and seeing him every hour busied in
serving m e-l will not accuse him of art; I had myself too little
to hide from him the fatal secret of my heart; I could not
summon resolution to fly from him, till my error was
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irretrievable— till I round myself made compleatly miserable by
the consciousness of guilt [But] it was no longer in my
power to live without him. (237)
FitzEdward took advantage of Adelina and her sorry circumstances,
and, not surprisingly, she soon discovered that her situation had
worsened; she was pregnant. Adelina’s tragedy, however, inspired her
independence. In order to avoid disgracing her family, she tells no one of
her pregnancy. Instead, Adelina secretly flees to a hiding place near Mrs.
Stafford’s home and resolves never to see FitzEdward again. ”1 took no
leave of FitzEdward; nor have I written to him since. I lament the pain my
sudden absence must give him; but am determined to see him no more"
(239).
Smith’s most radical statement about women’s dangerously
vulnerable position in society, and the terrible consequences they may
face as the powerless partner in marriage (since husbands’ neglect, or
downright abuse of power, seemed all too common), appears through
Emmeline’s and Mrs. Stafford’s befriending of Adelina.
Although Adelina's story is shocking, the two honorable women
accept, sympathize with, and help the adulteress. Their friendship and
willingness to help Adelina go against the strict moral and social codes of
the day. In fact. Smith pushes the point even further, rewarding Adelina not
only through the friendship and support of Emmeline and Mrs. Stafford but
by having these women manage to protect her from censure, and, in the
end, reconciling Adelina with her lover, FitzEdward, and suggesting that
they marry.
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This good fortune that the women bring to Adelina makes her story
appear to be an excellent example of the dangers of novel reading, and
some, Including the liberal-minded Wollstonecraft as well as some
conservatives, condemned Smith for It. In general, however, both readers
and reviewers praised the novel for Its high moral purpose and well told
story. Only the Analvtlcal. In a review signed only “ M." but attributed to
Mary Wollstonecraft by Ralph Wardle, Janet Todd, and others (most
reviews were unsigned), offered any criticism of the book, and this was
general In nature:
Few of the numerous productions termed novels, claim any
attention; and while we distinguish this one, we cannot help
lamenting that It has the same tendency as the generality,
whose preposterous sentiments our young females Imbibe
with such avidity. Vanity thus fostered, takes deep root in the
forming mind, and affectation banishes natural graces, or at
least obscures them. We do not mean to confound affectation
and vice, or allude to those pernicious writings that obviously
vitiate the heart, while they lead the understanding astray.
But we must observe, that the false expectations these wild
scenes excite, tend to debauch the mind, and throw Insipid
kind of uniformity over the moderate and rational prospects of
life, consequently adventures are sought for and created,
when duties are neglected, and content despised. (Analytical
I, May-August, 1788: 332-33)
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But Smith’s purpose Is not to advocate misadventures; rather. Emmeline's
and Mrs. Stafford's befriending of Adelina clearly conveys a sense of moral
outrage at the injustices done to her by her father, husband, and the
society that subscribes to the principles behind their behavior. As Chris
Jones explains. Smith’s heroines were modeled on conventional figures
but involved in "the most unconventional activities” (65), thereby granting
“ her heroines more independence, and the duties prescribed by
conservative sensibility often took second place to benevolence and
compassion” (Jones 70). Although Adelina blames herself, Emmeline and
Mrs. Stafford refuse to pass judgment on her. Smith makes it clear that
Adelina's misfortune is a consequence of an unhappy, ill-fated marriage. If
such ill-fated marriages are avoided, situations like the one between
Adelina and Trelawny would not occur.
More evidence that Smith intends her readers to accept Adelina and
forgive her transgressions comes from Smith’s characterization of Adelina
herself; she is very much like other traditional heroines: vulnerable and
left tragically alone in the world through no fault of her own. And, since
both society in general and her parents in particular deny that such a
situation (a husband’s abandonment) could occur, Adelina is unprepared
to make wise decisions regarding character and intent when another male
offers her his protection. Smith compels her audience to see Adelina not as
an adulteress to be ostracized, but as a virtuous, moral young woman who
unwittingly committed a tragic error with tangible results (pregnancy and
then a baby), a young woman in need of tangible support.
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By gradually sensitizing her audience first through a preface about
herself, followed by an ideal heroine (Emmeline) who avoids an ill-fated
marriage, and then contrasted with two women in ill-fated marriages
because they acquiesced to familial pressures, with one facing financial
ruin (Mrs. Stafford) and the other social and moral ruin (Adelina Trelawny),
Smith gradually alters her audience's tendency to cast blame on women,
instead, her readers come to realize that women’ social, financial, legal
and even to some degree moral position puts them at the mercy of men’s
actions. Cleverly, the positive light in which Smith places the characters of
Emmeline and Mrs. Stafford creates respectful and compassionate feelings
for them, so when these two admirable women accept Adelina, the
audience, trusting Emmeline and Mrs. Stafford’s judgment, feels similarly
toward Adelina. In Emmeline’s case, it is clear that her uncle and his son
cause her troubles, and it is equally clear that Mrs. Stafford’s troubles are
brought on by an irresponsible husband; Smith successfully puts the
blame where it belongs, on those men who do not live up the their socially-
prescribed responsibilities and on the social system that dictates women’s
dependence on them. When Adelina’s more extreme situation arises, then,
readers are prepared to transfer their insight, recognizing Trelawny and
Adelina’s father, and again the system that grants them control over her, as
the root of the difficulties in which she finds herself. Smith deflects the
blame from Adelina and replaces it with compassion.
Ironically, it is Adelina’s reaction to her pregnancy that best
demonstrates her heroic qualities-her strength and her virtue-qualities
that enable the audience’s acceptance of her. Her motive in hiding herself
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and her pregnancy, even from her lover, is more to protect others than to
protect herself. She does not seek help. Indeed, Initially she evades and
tries to reject the ministrations of Emmeline and Mrs. Stafford. Thus Adelina
exposes a developing strength of conviction and sense of independence
while simultaneously displaying conventional female virtues. She refuses
to blame FitzEdward or her husband, taking all the responsibility upon
herself. Heroines, who by definition epitomize the dichotomy of being both
traditional and independent, do not waste time blaming others for their
misfortunes. Instead they do as Adelina does, accepting responsibility and
attempting to live life independently, without burdening others. Because
Adelina accepts this responsibility with quiet dignity, as have Emmeline
and Mrs. Stafford previously, the audience could accept her. Initially, she
suffers alone and pays penance for her folly. The audience would be
pleased by this willingness to accept some responsibility for the
transgressions; to pay some price seems appropriate. But, given the
audience’s compassion for Adelina and their ability to cast blame on the
men involved, the suggestion that this penance may not last a lifetime
seemed just.
Happy Endlngg
The circumstances of the two secondary heroines, Mrs. Stafford and
Lady Adelina, poignantly illustrate that disastrous marriages often result
from thoughtlessly rushing into marriage at an early age. As the ideal
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heroine, Emmeline Internalizes this lesson before It Is too late. Hence she
Is able put off Delamere’s pressure to become engaged with this bit of
wisdom:
we are both too young to form such an engagement.— You are
not yet quite one and twenty; a time of life In which It Is
Impossible you can be a competent judge of what will make
you really happy. I am more than two years younger; [sic] but
short as has been my knowledge of the world, I have already
seen two or three Instances of marriages made In
consequence of early engagements, which have proved so
little fortunate that they have determined me never to try the
experiment. (185)
It may seem that Smith Is against marriage altogether. But this Is a
courtship novel, after all, and In the end Emmeline will marry a man who Is
truly her equal. In the meantime It was necessary for Emmeline to commit
the grievous error of agreeing to an engagement with Delamere In order for
Smith to emphasize her point. Outside pressures and circumstances will
wear down even the most Independent-minded, best educated woman.
The responsibility for contracting good marriages, those of mutual respect
and of Intellectual equals, cannot rest solely with the woman. Men, or
society In general, really, must do their part. The Idea of marriage. Its
purpose on both the Individual and social levels, must be rethought.
Emmeline does marry at a young age after falling In love with William
Godolphln. However, she has the benefit of obsenring Godolphin through
time and In a series of different events, which attests to the solidity and
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maturity of his character. She also has trusted friends to confirm her own
obsenrations; Godolphin is well known to Mrs. Stafford, for example. Thus
Godolphin’s admirable character is well verified. He also seems to embody
what Smith deems ideal qualities; he is well-educated, even-tempered,
thoughtful, and possesses a kind and generous heart. His sense of justice
and respect for others, particularly women, sets him apart. For example,
when Mrs. Stafford and Emmeline explain his sister’s (Adelina’s) situation,
he does not condemn her adultery (giving the audience one more reason
not to condemn her either). For her he “ expressed only pity and affection”
(290). He takes it upon himself to set her affairs right, sharing his home with
her and accepting her son as his (300), thus relieving her of public shame
and helping her recover from her great depression and despondency.
Against FitzEdward, however, Godolphin has "rage and indignation* (290).
But because Godolphin is aware of Adelina’s feelings and desires to be
reconciled with her, he controls his anger.
In addition to his sensitivity to, and respect for, his sister, Godolphin
quickly recognizes Emmeline's courage and intelligence. He admires her
generosity of spirit and the risks she has taken in order to help his "fallen"
sister. In fact, on several occasions he seeks her counsel and promises to
obey her instructions or advice. It is because of her, for example, that
Godolphin finally accepts that FitzEdward is a redeemed man and forgives
him which, as the novel’s ending suggests, may very well lead to Adelina
and FitzEdward being united in marriage.
In short, Godolphin is ideally compatible with Smith’s ideal heroine.
Once again. Smith suggests that knowledge is power and leads to good
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judgment. Nevertheless, Emmeline first resists and then tries to postpone
her marriage to Godolphin, claiming "that until I am of age, I have resolved
to hear nothing on this subject" (477). However, even the unhappily
married Mrs. Stafford realizes that marriage to Godolphin would be
beneficial to Emmeline, and together she and Godolphin
urge her [Emmeline] to conquer immediately all those scruples
which divided her from him to whom she had given her heart;
and to put herself into such protection as must at once obviate
all the difficulties she had apprehended. (481)
Emmeline still stands firm, believing, as does Smith, that it is better to wait:
But Emmeline still adhered to her resolution of remaining
single, if not till she was of age, at least till her affairs with her
uncle were adjusted, and till she saw the unhappy Delamere
restored to health and tranquillity. But notwithstanding this
delay, Godolphin, assured of possessing her affection, left her
with an heart which was even oppressed with the excess of
it's [sic] own happiness. (481)
Emmeline and Godolphin do get married, and sooner than the above
passage would suggest. It seems that this particular case of youthful
marriage is an exception because the parties involved are exceptions.
Smith suggests that the respect and sensitivity each displays for the other
will endure and define their marriage. Privately, they will remain equal
partners in life.
Certainly Smith's optimistic democratic views and her faith in the
human spirit, suggested in the closing lines of her prefatory sonnet, help
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explain her happy ending(s). Emmeline's Inheritance as a legitimate heir Is
restored to her and she marries Godolphin, a man who shares her beliefs In
fundamental human rights and dignity and acts on those beliefs;
FitzEdward and Godolphin reconcile and renew their friendship and
Trelawny dies, paving the way for Adelina and FitzEdward to be reunited,
this time In marriage; and Mrs. Stafford's financial difficulties are resolved to
her great benefit (thanks to Lord Westhaven and Emmeline) and she and
her beloved children live peacefully at the restored Mowbray Castle. In
the end. Smith shows us that those who are willing to repent can be
redeemed and those who are rational yet compassionate will be rewarded.
Ultimately, while Emmeline's characteristics are fairly traditional,
with the aid and advice of Mrs. Stafford, and their compassion for Lady
Adelina and her situation, Emmeline Is led to act differently from traditional
heroines. The all too realistic difficulties under which Mrs. Stafford and
Adelina Trelawny live mean that Emmeline cannot be concerned merely for
the Injustice of her plight. Encountering the more dire and pressing
concerns of Mrs. Stafford and Adelina shifts her, and our, focus from the
plight of the heroine to the more urgent problems faced by these two
women. And, significantly, Emmeline believes these tragic problems arise
through no fault of the women with which they are concerned. The shift In
focus Is Important to Smith's overall message. Unmarried young women,
while admittedly vulnerable, still hold a certain amount of power and
control over their lives because society still deems them valuable. They
are unpossessed "treasures" and wield some degree of control as men vie
for their charms (at least If you're a heroine). They still have not chosen,
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nor have they been chosen. Married women, on the other hand, are spent
goods, already possessed and hence of little market value. Bringing such
issues to the forefront and inscribing admirable, superior traits typically
reserved for the traditional, unmarried heroine to married women provides
new possibilities and models a more realistic and accessible character for
women who already were married, as well as shaping the ideas of young
women whose plight in the late eighteenth century was to become married.
Conclusion
The phenomenal success Emmeline immediately achieved attests
that Smith’s marketing strategy, bringing together the personal and
professional and illustrating through them the political, worked brilliantly.
Readers’ sympathy for her need to eam a living, their trust in her authority
to write “ fictionalized” women’s stories, and their admiration of her poetry
persuaded them to read her first novel, as its successive reprints and new
editions suggest. Smith managed to make acceptable herself (as
novelist/educator) and her ideology (educate/prepare women to have
some determination over their fates before and after marriage). We can
confidently accept, then. Smith’s twentieth-century biographer’s
proclamation that Emmeline “received much contemporary praise, for it
was universally pleasing. In the opinion of the unsophisticated it was not
replaced in favor by Mrs. Smith's later novels. Many people of note
enjoyed it” (Hilbish 130). Indeed, not long after it was first published the
critic of the Monthiv Review exclaimed that
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Mrs. Smith, the Ingenious, and (knowing her only by her
writings) we will venture to add the amiable authoress of the
present performance FEmmelinel-since almost every page of
it breathes the purest and most benevolent affections-has
long since distinguished herself in the poetical character.
Having wandered for some time in woods and wilds with the
tuneful Maids, she now steps forth with courage into the
haunts and resorts of men. Possessing a nice and acurat [sic]
judgment, her drawing is elegant and correct. All is graceful
and pleasing to the sight: all, in short, is simple, femininely
beautiful and chaste.. . .
[T]he whole is conducted with a considerable degree of
a rt.. .the characters are natural, and well discriminated:.. .the
fable is uncommonly interesting; and .. .the moral is forcible
and just. (Sept. 1788; 242-3)
And, writing some seven years later, in 1805, Sir Egerton Brydges
remembers that Emmeline
displayed such a simple energy of language, such an
accurate and lively delineation of character, such a purity of
sentiment, and such exquisite scenery of a picturesque and
rich, yet most unaffected imagination, as gave it a hold upon
all readers of true taste, of a new and captivating kind... [It
possessed] a sort of charm, which had not hitherto been
imparted to novels. How a mind oppressed with sorrows and
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injuries of the deepest dye, and loaded with houriy anxieties
of the most pressing sort, could be endowed with strength and
elasticity to combine and throw forth such visions with a pen
dipped in all the glowing hues of a most playful and creative
fancy, fills me with astonishment and admiration! (77-78)
Thus Smith satisfied her need to be a popular novelist (and hence
eam a living by it), and her desire to express her sociopolitical views on
women and marriage, both taking action and spurring action. And she
brought a happy, if fictional, resolution to the long-suffering Mrs. Stafford-
Mrs. Smith persona. The divided self becomes whole.
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Desmond: Pushing the Limits o ff Authorial Authority
Although still a courtship novel. Desmond (1792) alters the
traditional plot and accelerates its traditional purpose. Typically, the
courtship plot enabled writers to reveal and address injustices within the
domestic, or women’s, realm, and this remains true for Desmond's courtship
piot, as the plight of its heroine, Geraidine, so aptly demonstrates.
However, with Desmond Smith dares to expand her sociopolitical critique
into the national and international political arena, going into the
traditionally masculine realm by foregrounding political debate among
several male characters. Through letters exchanged among these
characters. Smith makes clear political assertions about the function of
government, social policies, and basic human rights, highlighting her own
political views through her hero, Desmond. To understand why Smith
dared to experiment with the traditional courtship novel form and overtly
enter into political controversy requires some awareness of what occurred
in her personal and professional lives between the publication of Emmeline
and Desmond.
On the professional front, the phenomenal success of Emmeline
spurred Smith to write in rapid succession two novels very much like
Emmeline in stvie and content. Ethelinde: or. the Recluse of the Lake (5
volumes) and Celestina: a novel (4 volumes), published by T. Cadell
(London) in 1789 and 1791, respectively, closely adhered to Emmeline’s
proven formula for success. These two novels enjoyed similar, if not quite
as profuse, praise and patronage. Reviewers of the European and the
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Monthly recommended the works, and Ethelinde and Celestina each
appeared In five editions within three years, clearly Indicating the public's
approval. And, as Is typical for eighteenth-century reviewers of women
authors, endorsement of a written work was actually more of an approval of
the woman who wrote It, so Smith had succeeded In the personal as well as
professional realms. The Monthly Review, for example, offered this high
praise In a review of Ethelinde:
The character of Mrs. Smith, both as a poet and as a novelist.
Is so firmly established, that our commendation, at the present
time, may be thought unnecessary: b u t. It Is possessed of
such particular merit, that we are unwilling to dismiss It by
general terms, as Is, frequently, our practice with this class of
productions; on the contrary, we shall attend to It as minutely
as our limits will permit...
And although the reviewer Intends to turn his focus to the merits of the
novel Itself, he nevertheless slips In more praise of Its author’s qualities:
As she principally alms at a display of character, Mrs. Smith Is
entitled to rank considerably above the crowd of novelists
who have lately come under our Review.. There Is that
gentleness, that lovely simplicity, that nice sensibility, that
true feminine beauty, as we have before observed of this
lady's writings, which Is sure to please. . .(May-August 1790,
161-162)
As for Celestina. the reviewer for the Critical claimed that It touched him so
deeply that It made him weep, and though the Analytical, whose reviewer
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(probably Wollstonecraft, given the reference to Its earlier Emmeline
review) reproved her for "not heeding his [sic] criticism on Emmeline." it
nevertheless offered personal praise for Smith, referring to her as "this
ingenious writer* and claiming that "there is a degree of sentiment.. .[that]
makes us fssl the exquisite taste of the mind that guided the pencil" (X,
Aug. 1791:409-15). Smith seems to have established a deep affinity with
her readers and critics alike, and hence enjoyed a strong following.
While enjoying a triumphant professional life, in Smith's personal life
troubles persisted. Her legal battle for her children’s inheritance was no
closer to being settled. And the older the children became, the more they
required. For example. Smith, a devoted mother, used a portion of her
profits from Emmeline to secure her eldest son's promotion in the civil
service. However, the financial profits from her first three successes were
small and, given the number of dependents Smith had, fleeting. As
Catherine Gallagher (among others) has so eloquently explained, novelists
sold all rights to their publishers, and for relatively little money at that, and
reaped no royalties for sales or additional editions. Only after fifteen years
could a novelist reattain property rights, but few fifteen-year- old novels
could generate enough enthusiasm to warrant reselling the rights for
republication. Smith, then, needed to continue writing novels and to
produce them rapidly. Desmond (1792), her fourth novel, quickly followed
on the heels of her third (Celestina. 1791). But this time the ovenivhelmingly
popular and critical success Smith had enjoyed gave her the confidence to
be bold. Her personal experiences-an irresponsible and incompetent
"protector and provider" (husband), legal battles over inheritance laws and
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unscrupulous lawyers, and witnessing the developing revolutionary
movement while in France in the mid 1780s had politicized her, and now
the political ideas and social critiques that seemed to be a byproduct of the
courtship novel form come to the forefront and seem to determine and drive
the novel. To Smith this might have seemed a subtle shift, although her
preface reveals she was aware that it may seem othenvise to some of her
readers.
Other than the dedicatory sonnet in Emmeline and a short dedication
of Ethelinde to the Duchess of Cumberland who had shown much interest
in those "wholly dependent on their mother," that is. Smith's children. Smith
had not included prefaces to her novels. Desmond, however, is preceded
by a long preface designed to contextualize and explain the political
perspectives that will follow in the telling of the novel. Her preface begins
with an acknowledgment that this novel is indeed different from her prior
ones:
In sending into the world a work so unlike those of my former
writings, which have been honored by its approbation, I feel
some degree of that apprehension which an Author is
sensible of on a first publication.
Smith then asserts that part of her apprehension comes from her use of the
epistolary form, and another part of it derives from her awareness that some
of the "fictitious occurrences” and "political remarks” within the story "may
be displeasing” to some readers. She says nothing else about the effects
the epistolary form may gamer, but certainly modern-day critics have
speculated upon its use. Indeed, making political statements through
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letters written by male characters Is a clever tactical move for it distances
the actual writer, Smith, from these ideas, obfuscating her political activism
and centering it where it was deemed socially acceptable, in the realm of
men. It also allows multiple views to be expressed so that the author’s
privileged position or perspective is somewhat refracted and deflected. As
Diana Bowstead notes, "in epistolary fiction particular opinions are never
conveyed in the authors' voice, but are always a function of character.
Hence, Smith shrewdly offers what seems to be a compendium of
distinctive views expressed by a variety of individuals so that the novel
presents itself rather as disquisition than as tract" (238). Regarding the
fictitious occurrences of which Smith claims concem. Smith refers to
Desmond’s love for a married woman, Geraldine, which may strike some
readers as immoral. She asserts the morality of the situation, however,
claiming that
in representing a young man, nourishing an ardent but
concealed passion for a married woman; I certainly do not
mean to encourage or justify such attachments; but no
delineation of character appears to me more interesting, than
that of a man capable of such a passion so generous and
disinterested as to seek only the good of its object; nor any
story more moral [emphasis mine], than one that represents
the existence of an affection so regulated, (ii)
Through this passage Smith revels her brand of "radical sensibility”
(Jones) that underpins the entire novel; natural feelings or passions are
universally benevolent, and combined with reason, enable one to
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overcome the selfishness and greed fostered by the current social and
political climate. Desmond’s passion prompts him to offer Geraldine
assistance for purely altruistic reasons; he expects nothing in return. His
pure motivation "stressed qualities in direct contrast to the popular
degenerate model of the man of feeling* in emphasising action and
intervention” (Jones 9). This is sensibility at its very best, intenrening on
the behalf of those who are oppressed, as Geraldine most definitely is,
because one feels it is the right thing to do.
The bulk of the preface then addresses the "political passages
dispersed through the work” and contains her defense of women’s interest
and participation in political concerns. No veiling of her keen interest in
politics exists here; she carefully and logically relates the reasons, the
necessity, for women’s legitimate interest in and involvement with political
issues and the political process. First Smith tells readers that the political
discussions her fictional characters engage in are drawn from actual
conversations to which she has been "a witness, in England, and France,
during the last twelve months.” Here she attempts to establish the veracity
of the political perspectives to be revealed in the novel and the authority
she has to relate them. Smith also attempts to temper the effects of such
political argument by claiming that the arguments are balanced; if one side
stands out it is owing to logic and truth:
I have given to my imaginary characters the arguments I have
heard on both sides; and if those in favor of one party have
evidently the advantage, it is not owing to my partial
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representation, but to the predominant power of truth and
reason, which can neither be altered nor concealed, (ill)
Smith’s political perspectives, as her preface so clearly reveals, are those
that dominate by their "power of truth and reason," and these are
expressed through her hero, Desmond. And, while her perspectives are
voiced through a male character in the novel, in her preface Smith defends
the right women have in the business of politics. Her defense is twofold.
First, since women are expected to be educated, what use, she asks
rhetorically, is an education if women cannot use it. Smith uses society’s
new emphasis on the importance of educating women to their advantage.
She forces people to consider further the motivations for and implications of
society’s demand for educated women. She writes:
Even in the commonest course of female education, they are
expected to acquire some knowledge of history; and yet, if
they are to have no opinion of what is passing, it avails little
that they should be informed of what has passed, in a world
where they are subject to such mental degradation; where
they are censured as affecting masculine knowledge if they
happen to have any understanding; or despised as
insignificant triflers if they have none, (ill - iv)
Smith here sounds dangerously like that radical author of "The Vindication
of the Rights of Women,” Mary Wollstonecraft. Interestingly,
Wollstonecraft’s "Rights of Women" and Smith’s Desmond were published
nearly simultaneously. Since evidence exists that Smith at times socialized
with those within Wollstonecraft’s intellectual circle, it is possible that she
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knew of “Rights” existence and content prior to its publication, but it would
have been highly unlikely that Smith could have read the published
document prior to writing her own Desmond. Thus Smith's political
ideology in this novel cannot be dismissed as simply derivative of
Wollstonecraff s work.' In fact, she shares with many others within the
Godwin-Wollstonecraft circle a firm belief in the power, derived from
individual natural instincts or passions combined with education and
reason, to affect change through political measures. Such a belief closely
paralleled the ideals of the early French revolution, and hence many
intellectuals of the era (including Smith), known as radicals or Jacobins,
allied themselves with the French Revolution. Chris Jones further explains
that
In championing individual sensibility they [radical writers
such as Smith, Godwin, Wollstonecraft, and Helen Maria
Williams, to name just a few] affirmed the authority of personal
experience over precept and custom. In their ideas of
equality they challenged the hierarchical distinctions of
Burke's grand community of the living and the dead in which
feudal loyalties assumed the authority of natural feelings.
When the French Revolution offered a prospect of the triumph
of their principles, British radicals were naturally drawn to its
defence... (9)
' Toward the end of her career Smith feels she must defend herself from such
accusations In her preface to The Young Philosopher, another work published closely to
that of Wollstonecraffs fragment. T h e Wrongs of Woman,” and Ideologically closely
allied.
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Smith was by no means alone In propounding her revolutionary
perspectives In Desmond and Its preface.
Smith continues. In her preface to Desmond, to explain In a
reasoned manner why women, especially educated ones, can and should
participate In political debate; and lest some protest that the acquisition of
knowledge and the participation In politics necessitates neglect of
domestic duties. Smith counters:
Knowledge, which qualifies women to speak or to write on any
other than the most common and trivial subjects. Is supposed
to be of so difficult attainment, that It cannot be acquired but
by the sacrifice of domestic virtues or the neglect of domestic
dutles.-l In the observance, not In the breach of duty, 1
became an Author; and It has happened that the
circumstances which have compelled me to write, have
Introduced me to those scenes of life, and those varieties of
character which I should otherwise never have seen; Tho'
alas! It Is from thence, that I am too well enabled to describe
from Immediate obsenratlon.
The proud man's contumely, th’ oppressors wrong;
The laws delay, the Insolence of office.'
Once again Smith echoes Hamlet's words (as she does In her prefatory
sonnet In Emmellneh re-emphaslzing a recurrent theme In her works. She
skillfully moves from speaking broadly of women's rights, abilities, and the
necessity for them to become Involved with political concems, to her own
personal circumstances; she overtly Interweaves the two, making the
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connection between herself and other women, her circumstances and
theirs. In so doing Smith simultaneously (re)establishes her authority to
speak for women in general, as well as herself in particular, and forges an
empathetic alliance with other women, her female readers.
In recalling the theme of herself as long-suffering wife, wronged by
husband, lawyers, and the legal system-a theme first established in the
preface to Emmeline-Smith once again solicits sympathy in addition to
empathy. While decrying the adversity she faces, she endearingly credits
the friends who sustain her and makes oblique reference to the intellectual
artists they are:
for all that makes my continuance in the world desirable; all
that softens the rigor of my destiny and enables me to sustain
it: I mean friends among those, who, while their talents are the
boast of their country, are yet more respectable for the
goodness and integrity of their hearts, (vi)
Smith also takes this opportunity to publicly attribute authorship of “ Ode to
the Poppy," which appears in the last volume of Desmond, to a close
female friend. Curiously, Smith does not name the woman, and her identity
remains unknown.
Among these [friends] I include a female friend, to whom I owe
the beautiful little Ode in the last volume; who having written it
for this work, allows me thus publicly to boast of a friendship,
which is the pride and pleasure of my life, (vi)
A final comment related to her personal problems follows, an apology for
typographical errors, designed once again to elicit sympathy for her
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personal self and to deflect criticism of her professional self. She also
cannot resist a dig at the lawyers involved in her children's inheritance
case. Smith asserts that any flaws in the novel
may have been in some measure occasioned by the
detached and hurried way. in which the sheets were
sometimes sent to the press when I was at a distance from it;
and when my attention was distracted by the troubles, which it
seems to be the peculiar delight of the persons who are
concerned in the management of my childrens [sic] affairs, to
inflict upon me. (vii)
Ironically, she apologizes to her audience for this personal jab, swinging
sympathy back her way by admitting that
With all this the Public have nothing to do: but were it proper
to relate all the disadvantages from anxiety of mind and local
circumstances, under which these volumes have been
composed, such a detail might be admitted as an excuse for
more material errors, (vii)
Finally, Smith concludes her preface to Desmond by reasserting that
she is aware that the political tenets in the novel that follows will offend
some, who "exclaim against the impropriety of making a book of
entertainment the vehicle of political discussion." Nevertheless, she
includes these political tenets in good conscience, convinced that it is
appropriate to mix real political concems within a fictionalized story, and
certain that she has a true and faithful account of these political
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perspectives. Particularly, she addresses the response of those English
subjects who harbor a deep prejudice against the French:
I am however conscious that in making these political
sketches, of manners and opinions, as they fluctuated around
me; I have not sacrificed truth to any party-Nothing appears
to me more respectable than national pride; nothing so absurd
as national prejudice-And in the faithful representation of the
manners of the manners of other countries, surely Englishmen
may find abundant reason to indulge the one, while they
conquer the other. To those however who still cherish the
idea of our having a natural enemy in the French nation; and
that they are still more naturally our foes, because they have
dared to be freemen, I can only say, that against the phalanx
of prejudice kept in constant play, and under strict discipline
by interest, the slight skirmishing of a novel writer can have no
effect (viii-ix)
Smith ends with a disclaimer, modestly asserting that a novelist can have
little political effect; rather, "the powerful efforts of learning and genius..
the cause of truth, reason, and humanity” (ix) will (“ must") triumph above
all else. True to the paradigm of radical sensibility. Smith is convinced that
society will continue to progress, and education and novels such as
Desmond will enhance its progress. People, she claims, have nothing to
fear from the ideas presented in her novel; truth and reason, as conveyed
through Desmond, are much more powerful and influential forces and will
not be denied-such is the force of Smith's convictions. Thus after trying to
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prepare her readers and to explain the reasonableness of the political
discussions related and the change in novelistic formula they necessitate,
Smith proceeds with her "experiment," confident enough that it too wiil be
accepted and another success.
The overtly political themes expressed in the preface echo
throughout the novel, primarily through written correspondence between
the hero, Desmond, and his two trusted friends, Henry Bethel, his former
guardian, and Montfleuri, a French marquis who has renounced his title. In
the character of Desmond we find an ideology of democratic egalitarianism
"mostly directed against established inequalities of property and power
which privileged the aristocracy” (Jones 166), but also directed against
the newly wealthy commercial classes whose riches desensitized as the
aristocrats were desensitized by their property and social position. As
Jones has noted, Desmond's sensibility, "based on sympathy for the poor
and enslaved under the feudal system of France, and. . .[with] a basis in
personal experience,” is also the source of his radicalism (164).
Desmond writes the opening letter from France, where he is with
Montfleuri, to Bethel in England. In it he introduces the heroine, Geraldine
Vemey, and reveals not only his love for her, but also suggests his
political sympathies and concems; he rails against Geraldine’s
"mercenary” family that forced her alliance with the "unworthy” Vemey.
Thus Smith begins her attack on primogeniture and on a society that
persists in celebrating appearances, lineage, and money over real
character. Geraldine's family's desire to give everything to the first (and in
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this case, only) son is the root of her mismatched, ill-fated arranged
marriage, and the excessive attention lavished upon young men because
of their status in the family leads to selfish, immature, and irresponsible
men. Such is the case with Vemey, and the reason for what will turn out to
be a disastrous marriage between Geraldine and him. In the very first letter,
then. Smith introduces most of the major characters, sets the plot in motion,
and establishes the political convictions she champions (through
Desmond’s philosophical arguments and Geraldine’s example).
Desmond’s letters throughout the first volume expound upon and
extend the political convictions expressed in his first letter. So similar are
these to those Smith asserts in her preface that readers could not fail to
recognize the hero as her mouthpiece. But he will not be the only
character to represent her; as we shall see later, the heroine, Geraldine
Vemey, and secondary heroine, Josephine de Boisbelle, will enhance the
political perspectives Desmond relates. Their personal examples parallel
the broader social and political oppression that the French revolutionaries
seek to end. The first volume of Desmond, however, belongs primarily to
the male characters, with Desmond’s opinions and observations
emphasized. In letter VI (dated Calais, July 4, 1790), for example,
Desmond recreates a conversation regarding the French Revolution, the
church, birthright, and the division of property. Quotations dominate the
letter, indicating the multiple voices, and perspectives, involved. Hence
Smith’s prefatory assertion that many sides of the debate are represented in
the novel is true, as letter VI and others attest, but the privileged political
opinions, Desmond’s, remain clear and dominant. For instance, one of the
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quoted conversants undercuts his expressed opinions with an implicit
admission of ethnocentrism and an explicit prejudice against the French:
I vote for their cutting one anothers [sic] throats, and so saving
us the trouble— The sooner they set about it, the better I shall
be pleased, for, as for my part, I detest a Frenchman, and
always d id .. if they will have liberty, give them a little taste of
the liberty of us Englishmen; for, of themselves, they can have
no right notion of what it is-and, take my word for it, its the
meerest [sic] folly in the world for them to think about it.-No,
no; none but Englishmen, free-bom Britons, either understand
or deserve it. (1:84-85)
This man continues with a scathing "dissertation on the French revolution,
anathematising all its projectors and upholders,” concluding with a "pious
and Christian [sic] denunciation of battle and murder, pestilence and famine
here, and eternal torments hereafter, for all who imagined, aided or
commended such an abomination [the revolution]” (1:88). Desmond
comments that this English gentleman, visiting France for the "restoration of
his appetite,” "seemed unable or unwilling to distinguish declamation from
argument, or prejudice from reason” (1:88), summing up his unflattering
picture of a fairly typical British perspective. Desmond’s perspective is
quite different. He champions the French cause and exclaims its success
in a letter (VII) he writes to Bethel from Paris:
I can now, however, assure you-and with the most heart-felt
satisfaction, that nothing is more unlike the real state of this
country [France], than the accounts which have been given
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of it In England: and that the sanguinary and ferocious
democracy, the scenes of anarchy and confusion, which we
have had so pathetically described and lamented, have no
existence but in the malignant fabrications of those who have
been paid for their misrepresentations. (1:105)
A little further along, in letter IX (to Bethel from Desmond in Paris),
Desmond assesses positively American democracy, quoting Montfleuri’s
experiences in America during their revolutionary war. Although America
suffered great destruction by the British, Montfleuri retumed two years after
the war to discover the country “ recovered of those wounds, which its
unnatural parent hoped were mortal, and in the most flourishing state of
political health” (1:150). By extension, France too will recover and enjoy
the fruits of democracy. Finally, in letter XII (near the end of volume one),
Desmond recounts to Bethel a dialogue held among a number Englishmen
in France regarding ancestry and nobility. Predictably, the representation
of these perspectives reveal them as unreasonable (“ With inveterate
prejudice, thus fondly nursed from early youth, it were hopeless to
contend” 1:246), and once again Desmond's political ideology triumphs.
Bethel's letters throughout the novel offer a more temperate
perspective than those presented by Desmond. While Smith tries to
convince readers that Desmond's opinions are reasonable. Bethel’s letters
provide a moderate view of English politics more likely in keeping with that
of her audience. This is not to say that he always, or even usually,
disagrees with Desmond’s opinions. Rather, his tone is calmer and his
attitude more patient, accepting, and forgiving. For example. Bethel's
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response (in letter II) to Desmond’s first letter validates Desmond’s
condemnation of the forced marriage between Geraldine and Vemey and
its predictably disastrous consequences, but Bethel wams him of the
consequences of t)ecoming too entangled in an attempt the rectify the
injustice of it. Ultimately, Bethel’s impeccable character, generous nature,
and cautious wisdom bom of experience serve a dual purpose. First, he is
an invaluable confidant to Desmond, offering sage advice that deters
Desmond’s tendency to react passionately against injustice. Bethel, for
example, agrees that Geraldine is in dire need of assistance, but he
recognizes that it must be given carefully and discreetly so as not to cause
even greater harm (such as to her reputation as a virtuous married woman).
Secondly, Bethel deflects some of the attention away from the more
controversial, radical views of Desmond and Montfleuri, appeasing Smith’s
readers with his own more moderate perspective and his attempts to quell
Desmond’s at times passionate idealism. Through Bethel, Smith couid
compel her readers to read on, inserting his letters as a calming effect after
the more strident ones written by Desmond. Also, the deep friendship and
high esteem the wise and honorable Bethel has for Desmond lends respect
and credibility, in the eyes of the readers, for Desmond and his
philosophies. In his first letter Bethel verifies Desmond’s excellent
character and offers encouraging praise: "[yjou have talents, youth,
health, person and fortune-a good heart and an ardent imagination-
these, my dear Desmond, are advantages very rarely united” (1.16).
Bethel confirms Desmond’s thoughtful, considerate, moral, and generously
self-sacrificing nature.
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These characterizations of Bethel and Desmond, their similarities in
ideas but differences in degree and approach, reflect the dual nature of
Smith as political thinker, with her own personal opinions and experiences,
and Smith the professional, who must couch her philosophies in a manner
that both attests to her authority to speak them and presents them in a form
palatable to her audience. Jones explains that Smith “ calculated on a
popular audience but, like Godwin, also hoped that she might find a
substantial readership among those still attached to radical attitudes in an
age of officially enforced conservative standards” (163). Eventually,
Desmond’s personal and political convictions win out; he successfully
persuades Bethel of the virtue and justice of the French revolutionaries’
principles. And, although initially disapproving of Desmond’s love for
Geraldine and reluctant to interfere in her affairs at Desmond’s request and
in his behalf. Bethel comes to admire and appreciate Geraldine’s excellent
qualities. He writes:
The little I could obtain from her would have convinced me,
had I needed such conviction, of the strength of her
understanding, and that rectitude of heart, which is so
admirable and so rare.
-Yet, with all this, there is no presumption; none of that
anxiety to be heard, or that dictatorial tone of conversation
that has so often disgusted and repulsed me in women who
either have, or affect to have, a superiority of understanding.-
-Geraldine affects nothing (2:32)
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As Bethel himself grows to love her, he recognizes that Desmond’s passion
for her is justifiably reasonable and completely benevolent.
Desmond's correspondence with his other trusted friend and
confidant, Montfleuri, does not begin until halfway through volume one, in
letter X, although Desmond’s letters to Bethel from Paris reveal that he is
there to visit Montfleuri. Montfleuri’s letters reflect liberal political views
that echo Desmond’s, and the revolutionary cause is advanced by his first
hand reports of events in France during the revolutionary movement. With
his French voice he supports, and hence offers first-hand credibility to, the
French Revolutionary cause. Another point that the friendship between
Desmond and Montfleuri demonstrates is that a revolutionary perspective
does not necessitate a "purely antiaristocratic position” (Elliott 106).
Although a nobleman by birth, Montfleuri proves that actions and attitudes
do not have to be determined by it; indeed, Montfleuri reflects Smith’s
belief that there can be such a thing as an ideal nobleman, one "who has
used his wealth and position to create a prosperous and equitable
community on his estate; his character is presented to show alternatives to
a general abuse of power among aristocrats” (Elliott 106), and to
demonstrate that Desmond’s political ideals are not simply black and white.
Through Montfleuri, Smith attempts to show that her hero holds a
reasonable, rather than radical, political perspective. Smith was acutely
aware that the more moderate the politics, the more she was able to
maintain her audience’s support.
In general, then, Desmond supports of the ideals of the early French
Revolution (before 1793). However, as Aliens Gregory has pointed out, it
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is more accurate to say French '‘Revolutions,” since Ih e revolution”
actually consisted of several distinct stages. Gregory identifies the first
stage (1789-1791), the one that coincides with the writing of Desmond and
thus reflects Desmond’s philosophy, as "general approval of the fail of a
despotism. A confident expectation that France would establish a
constitutional monarchy on Whig principles” (21). This helps explain
Smith’s endorsement of Montfleuri as a landlord who operates on
democratic principles, as opposed to a man who completely renounces his
title and redistributes his resources. Published in mid 1792, Desmond
appeared just as the second stage of the revolution, where "the
bourgeoisie lost control and the movement threatened to become
genuinely democratic,” was beginning to lead to a waning confidence in
the Revolutionists by English supporters (Gregory 21), and before the third
stage in 1793 and 1794 where "[njational hatred and class hatred together
reached fever heat” and war was declared (Gregory 21).
Remembering that Desmond was written during the early stages of
the French revolution also helps explain Smith's representation of a France
where we see relative order, the newly "liberated” people happy, and
even French noblemen who agree with and support the revolution (e. g.,
Montfleuri). Desmond writes from Paris:
I can now .. assure you-and with the most heart-felt
satisfaction, that nothing is more unlike the real state of this
country, than the accounts which have been given of it in
England: and that the sanguinary and ferocious democracy,
the scenes of anarchy and confusion, which we have had so
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pathetically described and lamented, have no existence but
in the malignant fabrications of those who have been paid for
their misrepresentations. That it has been an object with our
government to employ such men; men, whose business it is to
stifle truths.. .is a proof that they believe the delusion of the
people necessary to their own views. (1:105)
That Desmond spends so much time in France, and with a French
nobleman who has embraced the early revolutionary movement's
democratic principles, provides credibility to his claims that the English
have greatly exaggerated the French situation, presumably out of fear that
a similar movement may begin in England. This fear seems unfounded,
however, since the level of relative democracy being sought in France in
this early stage (or first stage, as Gregory has it) of the revolution already
existed in England. England had the constitutional monarchy the French
appear to be seeking at this point. It is only in the final volume of the novel
that the reader gets a glimpse of something to be feared: some lawlessness
and bloodshed in France. Smith allows that, as 1792 approaches, some
French aristocrats are unhappy at having to give up their titles, and in
response they attempt to organize a counter-revolution. However, Smith
makes it clear that such chaos cannot be attributable to the revolutionaries;
through letters by Desmond and by Geraldine, Smith lays the blame for the
bloodshed on the aristocrats who hired banditti hoping to launch a counter
revolution. But the banditti forsake the nobility’s cause and plunder and
pillage for their own gain, as a letter from Geraldine to her sister Fanny
explains (3:270-327).
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Although a supporter of the French cause, Desmond’s primary
concern is for democratic reform within England, the need for which he
illustrates by critiquing, whether subtly or directly, the British political
system. At one point he writes to Bethel about Edmund Burke:
[T]hough I have long been thoroughly aware, both of the
interested prejudice, and indolent apathy, which exists in
England.. . 1 own I never expected to have seen an elaborate
treatise in favor of despotism written by an Englishman.. .You
will easily comprehend that I allude to the book lately
published by Mr. Burke.. .[There are] those who cannot, or
who will not see, that fine sounding periods are not
arguments-that poetical imagery is not matter of fact.. . 1
foresee that it will call forth all the talents that are yet
unbought (and in which, I trust, are unpurchasable) in
England, and therefore I rejoice that it has been written, since,
far from finally injuring the cause of truth and reason against
which Mr. Burke is so inveterate, it will awaken every
advocate in their defense. (2:63)
Here and throughout the three volumes of the novel Desmond critiques
British politics and prejudices on the international and domestic fronts. In
particular need of reform are Britain’s inequality of representation, its penal
laws and laws defending property, and the procedures of its courts of
Equity and Chancery (Jones 165).
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Although much of the novel consists of political philosophizing
through letters exchanged by men, semblances of the traditional courtship
novel plot and characterizations remain. The overt political discourse
gives way to revealing a political agenda through example-primarily the
lives of Geraldine Vemey, the heroine, and Josephine de Boisbelle, the
secondary heroine. Thus within women's sphere of home and family, the
domestic plot further advances Desmond’s blatant political commentaiy.
Desmond may be unconventional in his politics, but he nevertheless
functions as a traditional hero; he is honorable in intentions and deeds and
puts others’ needs before his own, particularly when it concems the
heroine. Having made the acquaintance of the beautiful and
irreproachably virtuous heroine, Geraldine Vemey, through his dear friend
Henry Bethel, Desmond (and Bethel) nobly offers her assistance, of which
she is in great need. The novel then has its hero and its heroine-in-
distress, except that in this case the heroine is already married and her
distress arises not from being orphaned or having too many suitors, but
from the unscrupulous behavior of her husband and her family’s refusal to
intervene. Here too, then. Smith pushes beyond conventional boundaries
of the courtship novel.
Geraldin?;?. Story
In this novel Smith transforms Emmeline’s secondary heroine, Mrs.
Stafford, into the primary heroine, Geraldine Vemey. Like Mrs. Stafford,
Geraldine is portrayed as a beautiful and irreproachably virtuous woman
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and devoted mother who is married to an irresponsible and abusive
husband (Vemey), a man who gambles away his fortune. Here Smith's
authority is abundantly clear Geraldine’s character and situation closely
mirror Smith’s. Geraldine, both in character and situation, is
overwhelmingly appealing, as Smith’s own pathetic yet fascinating
situation proved to be for her readers. The natural voyeuristic tendency
humans seem to possess creates an almost irresistible desire to read the
story of Geraldine, who is so like her author. It is as though Smith had been
leading up to this all along, compelling her readers to read and accept the
stories of more traditional heroines with shades of herself so that they could
finally be rewarded with a fascinating heroine more like the author herself.
Using married women as secondary heroines was not new for Smith,
but using a married woman as the orimarv heroine was. In fact, a married
heroine was unprecedented. But Smith’s motive was not simply to gamer
attention for an innovation, although one of her motives was personal.
Smith indeed wanted her response to her terrible personal plight to be
recognized at the heroine’s status. Such recognition endorsed as heroic
her personal efforts in the face of tragedy. Clearly Smith felt justified in
indulging this bit of egotism, and she paints a flattering picture of her
heroine-self. Geraldine epitomizes the "proper lady," as defined by Mary
Poovey. She is graceful, thoughtful, well-educated and mannered. Even
amid the neglect and abuse she suffers, her conduct is exceptional.
Desmond observes:
instead of the retaliation which we see so usually adopted by
young and beautiful women, whose husbands neglect and ill
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treat them, it seems as If b&T patient sweetness encreased in
proportion to the provocation she receives. Accursed be he,
who shall attempt to degrade a character so noble, to fully a
mind so angelic.. . . (2:112-113)
As a commentary on Smith, this seems embarrassingly excessive, but it
serves well as a description of a true heroine; and, indeed, this is Smith’s
aim at this point, to establish this married woman an an ideal heroine.
Geraldine’s intemal and extemal qualities, then, including her station in
life, make the emotional and financial abuse she suffers at the hands of her
husband, the very "gentleman” who is to protect and support her, all the
more appalling.
Geraldine's husband, like Smith’s, squanders his fortune on gaming
and other entertainments and shows little responsibility or concem for the
welfare of his wife and children. Smith paints a much more odious portrait
of the villainous husband in Desmond than she had in previous novels.
Though seldom home and not inclined to keeping his wife apprised of his
whereabouts, when he is home Vemey wields his authority like an
absolute tyrant, ordering his wife about and dismissing the children as
nuisances (2:36). In one particularly Illustrative scene a drunk Vemey
lavishes excessive attention on his dog; the outright disdain he expresses
for his wife and children sharply contrasts with this canine indulgence.
Eventually Vemey, greatly in debt, travels to France with some French
noblemen who promise to support him. This support, of course, is not given
benignly; Vemey has sold his wife to this "benefactor," the Due de
Romagnecourt. And even once it becomes apparent to Geraldine that her
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husband has done this, she obeys him by following his order to join him in
France. Her only trace of defiance comes from her refusal to leave her
three beloved children behind, but this reflects her concem with their
welfare more than regard for herself.
Smith's characterization of Vemey as a tyrant clearly parallels the
despotic French government the revolutionaries seek to overthrow; both
Chris Jones and Diana Bowstead note that this is “ one of Smith’s typical
thematic devices to enforce ideological tensions” (Jones 164). Echoing a
“ public” form of despotism, the French government to its non-aristocratic
peoples, with the “private” oppression of individual, Vemey’s abuse of
Geraldine, compounds the theme of the terror of tyranny. This thematic
doubling also extends the problem to England. Although the British were
governed by a Constitution that provided them with more liberties than any
other country except America, much corruption existed, and women and
the lower classes in particular suffered oppression by it. Smith exposes
distresses of the poor in Britain, similar to the feudal oppression suffered by
the poor in France, through a footnote to a letter from Desmond to
Montfleuri (dated August 29, 1790):
The English have a custom of arrogantly boasting of the
fortunate situation of the common people of England.-But let
those, who, with an opportunity of observation, have ever
had an enquiring eye and a feeling heart on this subject, say
whether this pride is well founded. At the present prices of the
requisites of mere existence, a labourer, with a wife and four
or five children, who has only his labour to depend upon, can
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taste nothing but bread, and not always a sufficiency of that
Yet we are always affecting to talk of the misery and
beggary of the French-And now impute that misery, though
we well know it existed before, to the revolution — To the very
cause that will in a very few years remove it. (1:177-8)
And Geraldine’s situation illustrates in a vivid and personal way the severe
oppression a woman of the upper classes could face under the British
social and political systems. Smith seeks to extend the sympathies aroused
by the abuse of the virtuous Geraldine to other similarly oppressed people
in England, and suggests that there is hope for the future in political
measures, whether it be by revolution, as is the case in France, or other,
milder forms of reformation.
Professionally speaking, writing herself as the heroine also serves
an important political function. Because it is the heroine with whom
readers most closely identify, readers are then placed in a position to
understand better than ever before the pain and humiliation of the heroine’s
unexpected and undeserved mistreatment. Readers could feel the injustice
of the social structure and legal system that trapped Geraldine in her
horrendous situation as they lived vicariously through her while reading
the novel. Once again Smith takes personal concems and experiences
and cleverly reshapes them by simultaneously drawing upon an accepted
characterization (the courtship novel heroine) and adding her own special
twist (a married heroine); in so doing, she creates an effective vehicle
through which readers could come to understand, at a personal if not
intellectual level, her political convictions regarding autonomy and
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democracy. Such a ploy also deflects attention from the more strident
political discourses Desmond makes, and provides space for another
concem close to Smith’s heart, the importance of good childrearing.
A married heroine can have legitimate children and establish her
primary function as mother. Thus Smith canres out another place in the
courtship novel in which she is an authority, enabling her to reveal her
own perspectives on a topic of growing interest and prominence in her
society, motherhood and childrearing. As the prefatory sonnet in Emmeline
and the preface to Desmond reveal. Smith adored her children and
strongly believed in the connection between good childrearing practices
and thoughtful, responsible adults. Parents, she believed, have as much
a duty to their children as their children have to them. And, judging by the
number of manuals on the topic, these are sentiments with which her
audience could concur. Geraldine, like her author, devotes herself to her
children and her matemal duties "to cultivate, to strengthen, or adorn, the
purest of minds, by some useful or elegant occupation” (2:241). In so
doing, the heroine further endears herself to her readers and enables a
deeper transformational association between the heroine and the many
readers who were also mothers. The motherhood motif also enhances
broader political statements regarding individual determinism. Good
parents do not privilege the eldest son to the detriment of his siblings. And
marriages are not contracted merely for the parents’ convenience or
monetary benefit. Children who are raised morally and taught to reason
can be trusted to live a moral life and make sound decisions as adults.
Desmond’s unselfish heroic qualities attest to this, and Geraldine’s example
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as a loving, selfless mother Illustrates her determination not to repeat the
errors made by her parents. It is, after all, her parents’ excessive concem
for their eldest son which leads to the terrible mismatching of Geraldine to
Vemey. Again, in creating a married heroine. Smith managed to combine
personal and professional interests and make a political statement as well.
The role of mother was one in which she could successfully elicit empathy
for her cause from a significant portion of her reading audience. The time in
which women are of courtship age is relatively short; it may be difficult for
some to recall, therefore making it more difficult to identify with the heroine.
A married heroine, who was also a mother, was more easily identifiable for
most women readers.
But in altering the traditional courtship heroine in this way, can Smith
still be writing a courtship novel? Since the resolution of the courtship
novel is the marriage of the heroine, and this heroine (Geraldine) is married
already, how can Desmond be considered a courtship novel? It is a
courtship novel because it has a hero who is in love with the heroine, and
Smith overcomes the obstacle of the heroine being married to someone
else by eliminating this villainous husband. Thus the novel concludes as
all courtship novels do, with the marriage, or at least the official
engagement, between the hero and heroine.
Throughout the novel Desmond does indeed function as a hero to
Geraldine by rescuing her from various difficulties, ones brought about
through her husband’s despicable behavior. This plot twist, ironic in its
necessity since the husband is the one who is supposed to be a woman’s
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protector and provider, nevertheless fulfills the expected courtship novel
function of revealing injustices within the domestic realm. Geraldine’s
plight forcefully exposes the problems with a system that requires women's
sole dependence upon husbands or families. Geraldine has a husband
and living parents, and a wealthy older brother, and yet she suffers
exceptional abuse. None of these closely related people will help hen
rather they are the ones responsible for her plight. Smith villainizes Vemey
to such a degree, and goes to such pains to show that Desmond has no
ulterior motive in helping Geraldine (he often discusses with Bethel how to
avoid the appearance of impropriety when he assists Geraldine), that the
audience cannot help but hope for another plot twist which would eliminate
Vemey and free Desmond and Geraldine to marry. This is, indeed, what
happens. Smith creates the desire (in both the readers and the couple) and
in the end satisfies.
In her first novel, Emmeline. Smith killed off Trelawny, the injurious
husband of a secondary heroine. Lady Adelina, and thereby created the
possibility that Lady Adelina and her now worthy lover, Fitzgerald, may
many. But in Desmond Smith takes the idea of a woman’s second chance
at love and happiness and applies it to the heroine. Although Geraldine is
not guilty of adultery, as Adelina was, her error in marrying Vemey has
similar roots to Adelina’s error; she was duped by the very people,
primarily men (her father and brother) who were supposed to have looked
after her best interests. Because both women’s tragedies are caused by an
unjust system that [which?] they have no power to control. Smith believes
they deserve a second chance. But while Adelina’s second chance is
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merely suggested, in Desmond Smith dares to eliminate the husband of the
heroine. Vemey is mortally wounded in a duel and, before he dies,
repents his wrongdoings. Vemey’s repentance grants redemption for
himself and Geraldine, for he encourages Desmond to marry her. So
although the criticism of the despicable husband is harsher in this later
novel, he is permitted to redeem himself on his deathbed and thus enables
Geraldine to find happiness as the wife of the worthy Desmond. The novel
ends with their engagement, announced in a letter written by Desmond to
Bethel; we leam that the marriage will take place in about six months, after
a proper period of mouming for Vemey. However, this pending marriage
between Desmond and Geraldine receives endorsement not only from a
penitent dying husband, but from sound reasoning as well. Smith carefully
builds the relationship between Desmond and Geraldine so that by the end
it is clear to everyone that their love for each other is as logical as it is
passionate. Desmond asserts repeatedly that his love for Geraldine is true
and pure “ because it seeks only her good” (3:16); his actions bear out his
words. And Geraldine remains dutifully faithful to Vemey, even though he
is unworthy of her. When it becomes apparent to both Geraldine and
Desmond that they love each other, she permits the “ continuance of that
regard” only “ under the regulation of reason” (3:317), and expresses a
desire to see him married to her sister Fanny.
Geraldine’s second chance at happiness also differs from that of
Mrs. Stafford’s situation in Emmeline, and Charlotte Smith’s personal
situation. At the conclusion of Emmeline. Mrs. Stafford lives independently
from her husband and enjoys financial security thanks to the generosity of
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the newly made heiress, Emmeline. Technically, however, because he Is
still alive and still legally her husband, threat of trouble arising from Mr.
Stafford remains a possibility. So, too, for Smith, who lives separated but
not divorced from her husband. Although she does not enjoy the financial
support Mrs. Stafford receives, she does fear the possibility that she may
have to pay her husband's still accumulating debts. The problems, or the
potential for problems, are not completely resolved for secondary heroines
like Adelina and Mrs. Stafford. And, as we shall soon see, Desmond's
secondary heroine, Josephine de Boisbelle, will remain separated from,
but still married to, a difficult husband. In contrast, the primary heroine,
though previously married, enjoys a happy resolution.
Geraldine's extreme example of situation and characterization
forcefully highlight some major problems In the social and political system
of the era. While the male characters are able to speak their politics,
perhaps the example of Geraldine's life speaks louder. Together they send
a powerful message. But Smith does not leave It at this. As she had done
In her first three novels, she once again reiterates problems and conveys
new possibilities through her characterization of secondary heroines.
Josephine's Story
Josephine de Boisbelle, who functions as the secondary heroine.
Illustrates further parallels between the political Ideals of the French
Revolution and women's social and legal condition. Through her character
Smith articulates perspectives similar to those made through Geraldine yet
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with a particular French twist. She is "very beautiful” but "very unhappy,
two circumstances that cannot fail to make her extremely interesting,”
Desmond asserts (1:164). Like so many of Smith’s married women, this
character suffers the misfortune of an arranged, "ill-assorted marriage,
which has put her into the power of a man altogether unworthy of her,” one
who has greatly mismanaged his affairs (1:164). But Josephine, with the
help of her brother, Montfleuri, leaves her undeserving husband. While
this action does not free her to marry another, she does enjoy a liaison with
Desmond. In fact. Bethel thinks she can cure Desmond of his lovesickness
for Geraldine. And Josephine and Desmond’s affair produces a child, a
boy it is suggested at the end of the novel that Desmond and Geraldine will
adopt. Through Josephine then. Smith suggests a tolerance of the
mistakes (adultery, illegitimate children) that those in unhappy, unfortunate
marriages may commit. Indeed, the fact that such reasonable and
honorable men could endorse such behavior speaks of more than mere
tolerance. Josephine’s situation elevates the case of Adelina Trelawny s
in Emmeline to another level. Adelina is not condemned in Emmeline
presumably because she was duped into her affair with FitzEdward.
Josephine, on the other hand, is not misled into her affair with Desmond.
The couple enter into the liaison fully aware of the situation and its
consequences; they consciously choose to have an affair. For Adelina,
the novel’s ending suggests forgiveness. Her brother has accepted her
into his house and adopted the child as his own. There is even the
suggestion that the transformed FitzEdward may marry Adelina, a reward
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for both since they have discovered they really do love each other. Such
potential happiness does not exist for Josephine at the end of Desmond.
however.
Smith offers Josephine de Boisbelle as counterpart to the idyllic
heroine, as one who, though intelligent and aware of personal and social
injustices, rarely takes action against them or does as she desires. Like so
many women, Josephine and a second sister were married off by their
parents to the first men who offered. And her parents disposed of her other
two sisters by sending them off to a nunnery. Josephine, however,
eventually rebels by leaving her miserable husband. The action, recalling
Smith’s, receives encouragement from her brother, Montfleuri, who tries to
“rescue” all of his sisters from the dismal fate to which their parents
betrayed them.
In contrast to Geraldine, Josephine feels no dedication or
obedience to her husband. She feels it is right to leave him, so she does.
In this sense Josephine more closely represents Smith, but in order to
maintain her audience’s respect, their confidence in her as a moral and
reputable authority to be trusted. Smith must steer clear of such blatant
rebellion. Hence her more overtly political and socially unacceptable
opinions and actions are reserved for her secondary heroine, as they were
in her previous novels as well. Josephine’s rebellion, breaking out of her
“ forced marriage, which is for her a form of prison just as the convent was
for her sisters” (Ty 140) suggests other options for women than those of wife
and mother; indeed, Ty asserts that Josephine’s example emphatically
“reveals how being a wife and mother does not necessarily mean felicity
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for the woman, contrary to the lessons of the conservative novelists” (140).
And Josephine’s actions are further distanced from the heroine and her
author through her foreign status; Josephine is, after all, French and
Catholic. Here Smith uses the English prejudice against the French and
Catholicism to her advantage. She has Josephine desire Desmond and go
so far as to act upon them, "giving him her ‘gay and unguarded heart’
(3:338) and body” (Ty 141). Her affair with Desmond results in a child, but
she will not raise it; instead, we find that the baby will join Geraldine’s
brood, and Desmond will adopt them all upon his marriage to Geraldine.
Such an arrangement does not seem to result simply from Josephine's fear
of public censure. Montfleuri, while surprised by the liaison between
Desmond and his sister, remains a dedicated friend and brother.
Interestingly, Geraldine is complicitly involved in concealing from public
knowledge Josephine’s pregnancy, providing her with a place to await the
impending birth. Once again Smith involves a virtuous heroine "in the most
unconventional activities" (Jones 65). Evidently we are to interpret
Desmond and Geraldine’s adoption of the baby as Josephine’s choice not
to play the role of mother. While Geraldine appears dedicated to the idea
that marriage must be maintained at all costs, and at least finds happiness
in motherhood, this is not true for Josephine. She stands then in stark
contrast to Geraldine’s example. The heroine favors matrimony,
monogamy, and motherhood; the secondary heroine prefers an altogether
different path, and her French-Catholic heritage makes the preference
acceptable to English readers who could delight in yet another example of
France’s degradation. At the same time, however, by showing the same
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parental and then marital enslavement of two women from two different
countries and religious backgrounds. Smith demonstrates "the result of
socially and historically produced structures which maintain power
relations that subordinate women, regardless of their skill or intelligence, to
men" (Ty 142).
Albeit somewhat unconventional, Desmond nevertheless fulfills the
role of the courtship novel; it reaches a resolution with the engagement of
the hero and heroine. But along the way Smith has added many twists to
the traditional plot, overtly emphasizing broad political concems through
the hero and his friends, and creating an already married and beleaguered
heroine, righting the wrongs she endured through a bad marriage by being
freed to marry the hero, and propounding the importance of good
childrearing (Desmond even adopts Vemey’s children, at his request).
Thus Smith's politics at the micro level, that is, within the domestic realm,
are revealed through the courtship plot, which in tum compounds and
complements the political perspectives related primarily through letters by
men as they travel throughout France and England. As she has suggested
in her preface and then throughout the novel, personal, emotional
concems intermix and interrelate with broader political ones, and passion
combines with reason. Smith has cleverly played with these dualities
throughout the novel and in so doing, has successfully conveyed her
political ideologies in a pleasurable fictional form.
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A u d ig n s g .B g ç g p t ip n
Initially, the reviewers highly commended Smith for the work. The
European Magazine was the first to review it (XX, July 1792: 22-23),
exclaiming that it "towers far above the common productions of the d ay..
.[and] is not inferior to any of Mrs. Smith's former productions," and
"agreeably enlivened by discussions on the new face of affairs in France."
In August 1792 the Analytical considered it a more finished production
than any other of her former novels (XIII, Aug. 1792:428-35). The Critical
gushed over it, ranking "this last work of Mrs. Smith's in the very first class"
(VI, Sept. 1792:100). And the Monthly Review commended her for
drawing attention to the need for women, as good citizens, to have interest
in politics (an assertion Smith makes in her Preface) (IX, Dec. 1792: 406).
Interestingly, as Hilbish has noted,
[t]he political and moral aspects of the novel, which caused a
crisis in the author's popularity, did not greatly disturb them
[the reviewers]. The Critical reviewer considered the
introduction of French politics the principal novelty' of the
tale, although he did not approve of the side of the issue the
author had been influenced to take by her association with
the reformers and revolutionists. His chief objection was her
injustice in presenting favorably only the one side of the
French struggle. The European reviewer merely remarked
that the author had certainly vindicated the cause of the
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French. At this time the reviewers had no objection to the
intrusion of politics into a novel. (147)
While the critics had no major objections to the story, the reception
of the reading public as the year came to a close and events in France
deteriorated is another story. Many were outraged by its perceived
immorality. Readers seemed to miss the nuances of the work, ignoring the
innocence of Desmond's love for the married Geraldine, the purity of
Geraldine's thought and conduct, and the fact that their intent to marry was
mandated by her husband on his deathbed. Interestingly, Smith had
received no censure with Ethelinde when the married Sir Edward
Newenden falls in love with the title character. In Desmond, however,
perhaps because it is combined with a revolutionary theme, the public
suddenly noticed, or at least suddenly and emphatically objected to these
"immoral tendencies" in the novel. Like Wollstonecraft, Smith was
subjected to personal attacks for living an immoral life, separated as she
was from her husband. Never mind that when she first left him "her sister
says that those who knew the true causes 'could only regret that the
measure had not been adopted years before " (Hilbish 125). Hilbish adds
that "Desmond by many was thought to encourage wives to desert their
husbands, and Mrs. Smith's own separation was recalled. Mrs. Dorset
says that this novel brought a host of literary ladies in array against her,
armed with all the malignity which envy could inspire " (151). Others,
predictably Smith's aristocratic friends, were shocked and offended by her
political views. That she should support the dissolution of aristocratic rank
and privilege was untenable. Ultimately the novel "became greatly
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condemned both because it favored the Revolution and because of its
moral tendency. By it she lost some friends and fumished others an excuse
for withholding their interest in favor of her family" (Hilbish 149).
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The Youn^ Philosopher: From Revolution to individual Reform
The Young Philosopher is Smith’s last novel, and In It she returns to
themes and characterizations played upon In Desmond: political views
that expose the need for, and endorse, the early French revolutionary
cause, with a hero who espouses Its virtues, and a married heroine whose
early life Illustrates the need for “ affective Individuality" (Stone), for
example, the autonomy that could result If women received a proper
education and were allowed to decide whom to marry. This Is not to
suggest that The Young Philosopher Is another Desmond. For one thing. It
Is not written In the epistolary form, as Desmond was. And Smith’s earlier
faith In social and political reform through revolution has been replaced
with a somewhat ambiguous belief In the progress of human nature on an
Individual level. Like Desmond, however. In The Young Philosopher Smith
continues to experiment with the courtship novel form; for example. Smith
uses two parallel sets of heroes and heroines to show continuity of abuse
and to Illustrate the enduring value of a philosophy of radical sensibility
that combines wisdom (education and reason) with unadulterated natural
sensibility or compassion; the lives and Ideologies of the parental hero and
heroine, Mr. and Mrs. Glenmorris, are paralleled by those of the next
generation, represented by Delmont and the Glenmorris’ daughter,
Medora, adding depth but also shading between older and younger. But
before exploring these Innovations In style and their Influence on the
content, we need to understand what happened In Smith’s personal and
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professional lives between Desmond, published at approximately the
midpoint of her novelistic career, and The Younç Philosopher, her final
novel.
Desmond's revolutionary theme and the unconventional
relationships among some of the key characters outraged some of Smith’s
readers and disappointed others. The political winds were tuming in late
1792 in England and in France, and British readers who once may have
been sympathetic toward France’s revolution were no longer. Allene
Gregory notes that at the end of the first stage of the French Revolution,
with the acceptance of the Constitution by the king in September 1791, and
the election of the National Legislative Assembly in October, popular
opinion in England strongly favored the Revolution. But shortly after
Desmond’s publication in June 1792, the French king and queen were
imprisoned, a more radical constitution replaced the one that had been
accepted by the king, and the National Convention (NC) was elected. In
September 1792 the NC declared France a Republic and announced its
policy to aid "all nations desiring to overthrow their kings” (Gregory 20).
Then it lifted trade restrictions with other countries, ending the trade
monopoly England had enjoyed. This, combined with the execution of the
deposed king in January 1793 and the Reign of Terror that followed,
effectively ended English sympathy for the Revolutionary cause. Thus the
timing of Desmond’s publication was unfortunate for Smith. Months after its
publication her readers had little tolerance for a novel that was sympathetic
to the French Revolution. Other, more general beliefs Smith shared with
Jacobin novelists like Wollstonecraft, Inchbald, Bage, and Godwin, that
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“ reason should decide the issue in human affairs and human government,
not power based on money, age, rank, sex, or physical strength” (Kelly,
Jacobin 17), were also losing favor. For example, readers who once had
shown interest in lifting some of the more burdensome restrictions on
women's lives began to distance themselves from the topic, having
renewed difficulty with the purported necessity of “ the portrayal of virtuous
and 'mixed' characters” (Kelly, Jacobin 17). The intent to show morality
called for complexity. Smith, like the Jacobin writers, attempted to reflect
that a person’s actions are not simply good or bad; rather, circumstances
dictated responses. Thus Smith created characters, like Lady Adelina
Trelawny in Emmeline and Josephine de Boisbelle in Desmond, who are
virtuous, moral, and well-intentioned but led by circumstances to commit
grievous errors (adultery in the case of these two women). Creating such
“ mixed characters” “ many novel-writers and critics thought too risky for
presentation to the weak-minded creatures who were assumed to be the
typical novel-readers” (Kelly, Jacobin 18). Smith apparently did not share
the view that her readers were so “ weak-minded” as to not understand her
meaning, and after receiving acceptance of such characterizations in her
early novels, continued to create such characters to advance her
concems and philosophies. But in Desmond the tide of the public's
tolerance of mixed morality characterizations turned, apparently tied in with
their retreat from the ideals of the French revolution, as those ideals, and
the actions resulting from them, became more extreme. A few of the
Jacobin writers would persevere, continuing to write novels with
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revolutionary themes. For Smith, however, making a living proved more
important than promoting a political cause.
Smith retreated from the French revolutionary theme, and in large
part from mixed characterizations, in the novel that followed Desmond. The
Old Manor House (1793) contains no direct references to the French
Revolution, although there is some reference to the American Revolution.
Orlando, the hero of this novel, obtains an ensign’s commission and is sent
to the war in America. Here follow scathing satires on govemmental bad
policy, corrupt motives, and general mismanagement in the war with the
colonies. However, although a portion of the novel centers on the hero’s
actions in America, for the most part Smith reverts to her tried and true
formula for success. The heroine, Moniminia, is young, orphaned, and
unmarried and, interestingly, holds little resemblance to Smith. Moniminia
lives a spartan life cloistered with two old women, her aunt and the owner
of the country estate on which they live. Had it not been for the her only
childhood friend, Orlando, she would have been uneducated. Thanks to
him, however, she is introduced to classic books and seizes every
opportunity to discuss them with her mentor (Orlando). He proves to be a
thoughtful, educated, and devoted man who in the end eams both the long
withheld inheritance from his aunt and Moniminia’s love. Stylistically, the
novel is a bit more adventurous; Smith relies heavily on the gothic,
effectively conveying the fear and alarm variously felt by the hero and
heroine. Little of Smith, however, can be found in this novel other than
some satire on pride of birth and the brief segment supporting the colonies’
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cause over that of England’s. The backlash against the French Revolution
and Desmond quieted the expression of Smith’s political convictions.
Smith writes several more novels after The Old Manor House,
expressing similar themes but in a more cautious and quiet fashion. In her
next novel. The Banished Man (1794), her hero, D’Alonville, is a French
emigre, unjustly banished from his native land because his rank and
fortune marked him as an enemy to the “ new” French revolutionaries, those
who in seeking justice for the peasant class refused to discriminate
between friend or foe within other class ranks. The theme of expatriation
because of injustice and oppression carries through with other characters
as well. For instance, Mrs. Denzit’s situation and attitude seem to reflect
Smith’s; she would like to escape the oppression she has endured in
England but must remain because her children’s inheritance is unsettled.
It is in The Banished Man that Smith first threatens to be publishing
her last novel, a threat she repeats even as she continues to write and
publish more novels: Montalbert (1795), a rather short novel (two volumes)
for which she apologizes and promises more (which never materialized),
and Marchmont (1796), where once again she receives high critical praise
even as she criticizes the English constitution. With the publication of The
Young Philosopher. Nature his Law and God his Guide (1798), however.
Smith finally does make good on her threat. After writing nine novels in a
span of ten years, experiencing the highs and lows of professional praise
and criticism, enduring great personal suffering as a result of the recent
death of her favorite daughter (Anna Augusta, aged 21) and the long-term
legal battle for her children’s inheritance, and having witnessed the demise
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of the eariy ideals of the French Revolution, at this stage Smith’s
revolutionism quite understandably has lost its optimism and complacent
belief in the efficacy of political reform. However, in The Young
Philosooher she displays interest in the philosophic aspect of
revolutionism.
As do many Jacobin novelists as the 1790s comes to a close. Smith
relinquishes hope for a broad social reformation and instead tums her
attention to affecting moral change on an individual level. She appears to
be seeking an intellectual justification for her liberal principles now that
practical justification, in the form of a successful republican govemment in
France, has failed. Thus she "ventures again upon the subject [of
revolutionism], with renewed fervour. But the emphasis is changed. She
has lost faith in reform, and is now a philosophic Revolutionist" (Gregory
222). Armed with this new perspective. The Young Philosopher had to be
written.
We can detect some of Smith’s bittemess at the failure of reform and
the persistence of social and govemmental injustices in her preface to The
Young Philosopher. She begins by drawing an analogy between herself
and sheep, who, like her, often find themselves prey. As one so
experienced in suffering "all the evils arising from oppression, from fraud
and chicane” (iiii). Smith claims to be "above almost any person qualified
to delineate” (iv). Thus she at once introduces the political topic of her
novel, elicits personal sympathy for her continuing unwarranted troubles,
and establishes professional authority to speak of such matters with a high
degree of credibility bom of experience.
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Smith then tums her attention to defending against criticism of form
and content. Here we see traces of bittemess from earlier criticisms as she
attempts to guard against new, or renewed, ones. First Smith notes that her
title may prove to be a misnomer, as her hero does not constantly maintain
the calm and detached demeanor of a philosopher. Instead, he is at times
indeed "injured by fraud and offended by folly” (iv). Of course through
these means of injury and offense Smith can make her statements against
them. In addition, she exposes her ambiguity over whether the revolutionist
philosophy can be sustained at all times by even the most devoted
philosophers-a theme she will retum to throughout the novel. Smith's
pessimism over her own personal situation continually threatens the
optimism of the revolutionist philosophy. Next, having before been
accused of plagiarism, she takes an offensive tact by defending herself
from such charges before they occur. Referring to "the incident of the
confinement in a mad house” (v). Smith assures that the scene was written
“ before I saw the fragment of The Wrongs of Woman’” (v), claiming that so
great is her admiration of Wollstonecraft "whose talents I greatly honoured,
and whose untimely death I deeply regret” (v), that she would freely
acknowledge such borrowing if it had been the case. Smith’s novel does
espouse a philosophy similar to that found in Wollstonecraft’s last work, but
such an affinity marked the works of many within the Godwinian circle of
Jacobins, a circle to which Smith had close personal ties. Her final
disclaimer addresses the associations made between her characters’
opinions and her own, and her tendency to model unpleasant characters
closely after real people, her friends, family, and acquaintances. Hilbish
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provides detailed analyses proving that Smith indeed is guilty of this; the
issues or people who dominate her life at any given moment can be traced
to situations and characterizations in the novel she was writing at the time.
Nevertheless, Smith was sensitive to such criticism and, according to
Hilbish, had suffered the censure of friends and family after the publication
of Desmond. So, while it is apparent to all that she does share many of the
beliefs of the novel’s more liberal or radical characters. Smith claims
otherwise, asserting that
There may be many traits, many ideas, and even many
prejudices, which may be necessary to support or render
these characters natural, that are by no means those of the
composer of the book; I declare therefore against the
conclusion, that 1 think either like Glenmorris or Armitage, or
any other of my personages, (vi)
Smith goes on to state that her intentions in this novel are "to expose the ill
consequences of detraction; to shew the sad effects of parental
resentment, and the triumph of fortitude in the daughter, while too acute
sensibility, too hastily indulged, is the source of much unhappiness to the
mother” (vii). But, before we too quickly condemn the mother for her flaws.
Smith rushes on to assure that "no distresses can be created without such
m en.. .whose profession empowers them to perpetrate... wickedness”
(vii). Hence responsibility for the mother’s flaws quickly transfers to others
who cause her to indulge too hastily in "acute sensibility”.
Smith concludes her preface with a shift in tone. The bittemess
disappears, replaced by a calm, quiet tone and modest assessment of the
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story to follow, expressing her sincere desire that her audience may find it
"not uninteresting,” and "relieved with such ornaments as a very slight
knowledge of natural history, and a minor talent for short pieces of poetry.”
She closes by saying that she "trusts” that this latest novel, which, she
informs, cost her some effort, "will not be less favourably received than the
greater part of those which have preceded it” (viii). The preface is then
signed "Charlotte Smith” and dated London, June 6th, 1798. Adopting this
mode of modesty and sincerity. Smith tames any tendency the audience
may have to approach the novel harshly or critically. Her pleasant,
solicitous demeanor, so much in contrast to the egotism at times present in
both her prefaces and her novels, functions as a kind of peace treaty and
invitation. Like a good host. Smith extends hospitality to her readers,
opening the door to her story and graciously beckoning them inside. The
tact is markedly different from the one she took in Desmond's preface,
indicating that the dogmatic approach of the earlier novel has been
discarded in favor of a calmer, more philosophical approach.
Although Smith’s preface at first reveals traces of bittemess at the
failure of reformation, viewing it as a “ setback to the advance of reason”
(Kelly, Jacobin. 10), it also demonstrates renewed faith that a philosophy
emphasizing "value of sympathy rather than argument” could affect change
by "achieving individual moral reform” fKelly. Jacobin 111. But, in order for
change to occur, the philosophy had to be articulated and demonstrated.
Smith, as she had done so many times before, once again charges herself
with the duty to educate through fiction, seizing one last time on the still
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popular courtship novel format to do so. Thus The Young Philosopher
registers her new belief In the power of this philosophy.
The novel Is really a story within a story, or a twice-told tale; the
lives of the young hero, George Delmont, and heroine, Medora Glenmorris,
parallel that of the older, married ones, Mr. and Mrs. Glenmorris. Although
there Is some change between the philosophies of the older and younger
generations, this Is not a really a story of reversal or transformation; rather,
the mirroring of the lives of the parents with that of the children shows
endurance and continuity (Ty 143). In particular, the doubling technique
emphasizes the tyrannical abuse women continue to suffer In late
eighteenth-century Britain. As Eleanor Ty puts It, the mother-herolne
serves as a paradigm for the daughter-herolne (143). The novel, then. Is
primarily a mother-daughter story, although Delmont, Armitage (friend to
Delmont and the Glenmorrises), and Glenmorris help to articulate the faith
In natural. Individual goodness philosophy.
In the first volume we are Introduced to the young hero, George
Delmont, through minor characters who nevertheless represent all too
common attitudes and behaviors of late eighteenth British society.
Delmont, In a rather melodramatic scene, rescues from a carriage accident
a slightly Injured Miss Martha Goldthorpe, an heiress, and her cousin,
Middleton Winslow, whose reckless driving caused the carriage to
overtum. The young hero Insists that they and Middleton's parents, the
Reverend and Mrs. Winslow, must stay at Upwood, his country home, to
recuperate. Miss Goldthorpe epitomizes the silly young women who have
read too many romances; she Is Immediately smitten with her handsome
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rescuer, and embellishes her Injuries so as to prolong her stay at Upwood.
Her Intent, of course. Is to snare Delmont as her husband.
The Winslows are no better. Petty and peevish, they desire their son
(Middleton) to many Miss Goldthorpe, thus making her fortune his, and
have little concern for the happiness of either. Miss Goldthorpe’s obvious
attachment to Delmont alarms them, and their alarm Is Inflamed further when
they hear his history. They learn from his disapproving aunt, Mrs.
Crewkheme, that Delmont's late mother brought him up "unconventionally".
She taught him to reason and, as a result, he has become a free-thlnking
philosopher who, though related to nobility, has chosen agriculture as his
profession and Is unconcerned about losing a long-anticipated
Inheritance. Smith defines a "freethinker" as someone who "venture[s] to
think on every topic of human enquiry, and most on those which seem to
Involve the happiness or misery o f.. .[the human] species” (4:11). Thus the
revolutionist philosophy requires wisdom, derived from education and
reason, but much of the focus Is on compassion or sensibility; If one can
look deeply one can accurately Identify the real victims, victims of a
corrupt system, and extend compassion to them. For example, beggars are
victims of the social and economic conditions of the wealthy and powerful,
rather than the wealthy being robbery “ victims” of beggars who must steal
to eat. Given this characterization of Delmont and his philosophy, we are
not surprised to leam that Delmont has taken little notice of Miss
Goldthorpe’s barely veiled advances. Miss Goldthorpe’s vanity and
silliness, and the Winslows’ callous attitudes and haughty demeanor
Illustrate all too common behaviors and attitudes and provide a striking
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contrast to those of the dual heroes and heroines. And Mrs. Crewkheme’s
severe criticism of Delmont's qualities and beliefs further Illustrates the
difficulty In following a philosophy of Individual goodness and generosity,
and hence highlights Delmont’s exceptional nature.
Fortunately for Delmont, however, there are some who share his
“ free-thlnking” (1:173-176) philosophy. Mr. Armitage, Delmont's friend and
neighbor. Is one such example, and he In turn Introduces others, namely,
the mother-daughter dual heroines, Mrs. Glenmorris (Laura) and Medora.
They have come from America to pursue Medora's right to Inherit a portion
of her maternal grandmother's fortune. Although Mr. Glenmorris Is a
naturalized American committed to the American Ideal that people should
be judged for their work ethic rather than their money or social standing, his
concern for his daughter convinced him that he would be negligent In his
duties as a father If he did not pursue her rightful Inheritance. He cannot
leave his farm, so he entrusts Armitage, an old family friend, with assisting
his wife and daughter while they are In England. Armltage's reputation as a
freethinker leads him to live a rather secluded life. Consequently, his
establishing a woman and her daughter In a country cottage raises
suspicions and gossip. The rumors become more distorted when Delmont's
frequent visits are discovered. The visits begin Innocently enough.
Delmont and Armitage are good friends who share a love of philosophical
debate. Mrs. Glenmorris and Medora also enjoy participating In such
discussions, and Delmont soon comes to respect and admire mother and
daughter.
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For most of the story Laura Glenmorris functions as a married
heroine. Her qualities surface through the way she raises her daughter;
she sacrifices for her by leaving husband and America behind and
enduring all kinds of hardships and prejudices in England, where she has
come for the sole purpose of securing for her daughter her rightful
inheritance. The story of a mother sacrificing her happiness and felicity for
her child, and fighting a vicious battle with unscrupulous lawyers and a
convoluted legal system echoes, of course. Smith’s own struggles. Once
again Smith has shaped a heroine in her own image.
The philosophical discussions shared at Armltage’s allow Smith to
reveal her own philosophy and her ambivalence over some parts of it.
Although the philosophy of the men, Glenmorris, Delmont, and Armitage, is
similar to that of the women’s, (Mrs. Glenmorris and Medora), there are
some distinctive nuances. For example, the men assert that the love of
money governs too many, including England’s govemment, and leads to
infringements on others’ “ natural” rights, and that all people should think for
themselves and act on these thoughts. Thus by their credo society could
be reformed by individual actions and attitudes of goodness and
generosity. Smith then contrasts this political idealism with the practical
realism of Mrs. Glenmorris, who recognizes that in actual experience
inconsistencies exist in those who try to govern their lives by natural
sensibilities, reason, and a commitment to freedom. According to her
there are instances.. .wherein, to use a phrase of the day,
existing circumstances, to which submission is compelled,
will not allow this entire freedom of action. For example, look
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at Glenmorris’ conduct about his daughter. No man is so little
affected by pecuniary considerations as he is-None have
sacrificed more to obtain a perfect freedom of speaking,
writing, and acting.. .For himself he would be content.. . yet,
when his daughter’s interest is in question.. . . [he rejects his
own values, sending wife and daughter back to England in
pursuit of an inherited fortune.].. . I mention all this.. to prove
to prove to you that there is hardly any case wherein it is
possible for a man, however determined he may be, to shake
off the fetters which are for the most part wantonly imposed, so
entirely to emancipate himself, as not to be dragged back in
some instance to the forms of society. (1.229-232)
The passage reveals a number of important insights. First, we see in it
Smith’s own practicality bom of experience. Existing circumstances
influenced many of Smith’s actions, including becoming a novelist and
waging a long legal battle over her children’s inheritance. Similarly, Laura
Glenmorris has left the comfort of her home and husband to fight for an
inheritance that could improve her daughter’s life. A clear connection,
then, has been established between Smith and this married heroine.
Secondly, the passage summarizes Mr. Glenmorris’ ideology, and links it
with that of Armitage and Delmont, although Glenmorris, like his wife, does
not seem to share the same degree of faith in human progress as do
Armitage and Delmont. And finally, Delmont has been introduced to Mrs.
Glenmorris’ practical understanding of the limits of philosophy. His
philosophy depends on people having the exceptional ability to resist
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corrupt social pressures and Instead follow their hearts (feelings or
sensibilities) and heads (reasoned, educated thinking) which will then lead
individuals to act unselfishly and benefit others-a very optimistic
philosophy, indeed, but very much in keeping with that of William Godwin
and other Jacobins of the day. While not yet ready to give up his ideals,
Delmont respects the position Mrs. Glenmorris and Medora hold and seeks
to hear more, prompting more visits and a strong bond to form between
them. Smith has laid the groundwork for the courtship between Delmont
and Medora to begin, and for Mrs. Glenmorris to tell a cautionary tale of her
own courtship.
Smith devotes neatly the entire second volume to Laura Glenmorris*
story, the first third of which is a tale of her courtship. In effect, the present
story that ultimately culminates in the young heroine (Medora) receiving
her inheritance and the young hero (Delmont) being granted the young
heroine’s hand in marriage, comes to a halt in favor of the mother’s tale
attesting her heroism in the face of familial tyranny. Smith first introduced
the unconventional characterization of a married heroine in Desmond. She
retums to it because it successfully evokes sympathy, and through it, she
hopes to evoke further individual reform.
As Mrs. Glenmorris recounts her story, we see first hand the terrible
consequences of parental despotism and greed. Although seemingly a
digression, Laura’s tale plays a central role in establishing the values
Smith apparently believed were important to live by, and contrasts them
with the greedy, self-serving values and harmful actions of others. Her
story also serves as a waming to Medora and Delmont, who have
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requested permission to marry. In a corrupt society, dangers lurk even
when a marriage is based on love and respect. Finally, revealing her
tyrannizers early on enables Delmont later on to ignore malicious rumors
spread by those who wish to punish Mrs. Glenmorris and Medora.
U tira Glenmom?.' gtbiy
While her parents are in London for the marriage of their elder
daughter to a wealthy man of society, the neglected Laura, left at the
family’s country home, falls in love with Glenmorris, a distant relation who
lives on the estate. Through her father’s kindness this scholar (Glenmorris)
with a reputation for being “ somewhat [of an] eccentric genius” had
become apprenticed as an accountant; Laura’s father is determined that
his relation succeed in business. Glenmorris is not happy as an
accountant, however, and while her parents are away he and Laura spend
happy, carefree days together. Their mutual love and respect for each
other and their intellectual compatibility are apparent.
Once again Smith paints a flattering portrait of herself in Laura,
creating an educated, thinking heroine, equal to an intelligent man. And as
she does for Geraldine in Desmond. Smith gives this heroine an ideal mate,
Glenmorris. But Laura’s parents object to the match, in part because he is
poor and has no social stature and few prospects for success (He’s failed
as an accountant; he’d rather be writing poetry or walking in the woods.),
but mainly because, like the Harlowes in Richardson’s Clarissa, they wish
to marry her off to some rich old man who will take her without a dowry.
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Their wish nearly becomes a reality; Laura's parents attempt to force her to
marry an older man of their choosing, as Clarissa Marlowe’s parents do to
her, seeking to further their economic gain and to end any possibility of an
elopement with Glenmorris. Nightmarish scenes ensue as Laura finds
herself locked up in a room at her sister's estate. The gothic style Smith
employs here dramatically enhances the theme of tyranny, particularly the
tyranny women suffer, that will dominate more than half of the novel. The
first part of Laura’s story concludes with a heroic flair as Glenmorris
rescues her. After making their escape, Laura and Glenmorris elope and
settle at his dilapidated family estate in a remote area of Scotland. Thus
The Young Philosopher’s first courtship narrative concludes.
But their courtship takes up only a third of Laura Glenmorris’
narrative. The other two-thirds recounts wild events and hardships
endured before the couple finally settles on a farm in America, where
Medora is bom and they find peaceful happiness. But before all of this, a
brief period of bliss in Scotland illustrates how Glenmorris" philosophy
works; Glenmorris treats his workers with heartfelt kindness, and they
retum it with heartfelt loyalty. At the Scottish estate, Glenmorris and Laura
are poor but find great joy in each other and the impending birth of their first
child. Smith’s personal disillusionment, however, necessitates the
shattering of this bliss. Outside forces, in the form of pirates, invade this
isolated paradise. Although the couple dodged the greedy materialism that
prompted Laura’s parents to imprison her until they could profit by her
marriage to a rich man, this time the Glenmorrises are not so lucky. During
the robbery, Glenmorris is wounded and then kidnapped by the pirates;
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Laura manages to escape but soon will find herself prisoner of others, also
because of greed.
Alone, pregnant and vulnerable, Laura falls prey to Glenmorris’ only
living relatives, who are next in line to inherit Glenmorris’ estate should he
leave no heir. Predictably, Smith creates the situation to illustrate the
lengths some people will go to for money and possessions. Ladie Kilbrodie
and her son, Glenmorris’ relations, abduct Laura from the castle and lock
her up in a room at their home. This is the second time Laura has been
abducted and imprisoned by family, first by her parents, now by her in
laws. Like the mother-daughter twice-told tale, doubling scenes of
abduction and imprisonment reinforce the extent of social corruption. Two
different relations have cruelly abused her, treating her as a object and
subjecting her to their greed. While imprisoned this second time, Ladie
Kilbrodie torments her, hoping that the mother-to-be’s discomposure will
cause harm to her unborn baby and insure its death (and the Kilbrodies’
inheritance). Laura does experience much anguish; she does not know
the fate of her husband and suffers brutal tyranny by Ladie Kilbrodie,
whose "pride and.. poverty had made her avaricious; not for herself.. .but
in the hope of aggrandizing her two sons.. . . The supposed death of
Glenmorris and the probability there was that his child, if bom alive, might
not long survive, were circumstances not to be overlooked by [her]” (2:97).
Nevertheless, Laura determines to live for her baby. When the baby boy is
bom two months prematurely, she conceals the news and seeks an
escape. The baby dies, however, leaving Laura distraught. But she
recovers and escapes before Ladie Kilbrodie can torment her further by
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forcing Laura to marry the Laird, Ladie Kilbrodie s elder son. From the
remote wilds of the Scottish coast, Laura is rescued by a friend of
Glenmorris', Lord Macarden. But she is still vulnerable; Macarden falls in
love with her and proposes marriage. Although he is kind, Laura declines
his offer. Macarden is not deterred from protecting her, however, and in
the process he becomes seriously wounded in a dual with Laird Kilbrodie.
Glenmorris, who had been taken to America by the pirates, retums in time
to rescue her from Kilbrodie, and the couple are reconciled but not before
Glenmorris expresses doubts about Laura’s faithfulness. Again, snap
judgments and gossip are the sources of the misunderstanding and not
even the usually philosophic Glenmorris is immune.
Laura’s and Glenmorris’ experiences convince them that England
and Scotland are too corrupted for reformation, so they go to America
where, according to Mr. Glenmorris, people have "one great and
predominant feature in their character which I loved and honoured-they
were determined to be free” (2:241). As their daughter reaches maturity,
however, Glenmorris questions whether their choices are fair to their
daughter. Hence Laura and Medora travel back to England in the belief
that recovering Medora’s inheritance may offer her broader opportunities.
Mrs. Glenmorris’ history is thus concluded and the story retums to the
present where the events of Medora’s young life unfold, and we see that
history is repeated.
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British Tyranny: The “ Wrongs of Women”
The second half of the novel, volumes three and four, tells Medora’s
story, making the title truly a misnomer, as Smith suggests in her preface,
since the women’s stories dominate both In focus and in length. And the
predominate theme of tyranny-particularly the wrongs women suffer-is
passed along from the mother to the daughter. In fact, Medora will also be
twice imprisoned, first by the lawyers who do the bidding of her matemal
grandmother. Lady Mary, from whom Medora should receive her
inheritance, and second by Delmont’s roguish brother, Adolphus. And
Lady Mary will imprison her own daughter, Laura, once again too, all in an
effort to deny Medora her inheritance. Two generations of women suffer
the same effects from similar causes; their examples seem to prove that,
indeed, “ existing circumstances” can interfere with the philosophy of
progress the heroes embrace.
Although much of volume three is about Medora’s circumstances,
we see little of her. Most of it relates to the activities of others while she is
missing. The first half of volume three establishes the conditions, having to
do with the corruption of society in general and of certain people in
particular, that prompt the kidnapping of first the daughter, Medora, and
then the mother, Laura. Good people, those motivated to help others in
need simply because it is right, are contrasted with bad ones, those whose
every action is calculated to benefit themselves. Smith is particularly hard
on lawyers and accountants; there are many involved in the story and
each is portrayed as a despicable crook and hypocrite. For instance, the
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lawyers involved in Medora’s inheritance case privately admit that half of
the inheritance legally belongs to Medora (the other half belongs to Lady
Mary’s other granddaughter, Miss Mary Cardonnel), yet they devise and
execute an elaborate kidnapping plot on Lady Mary’s behalf. These same
lawyers, Mr. Sedative, Mr. Clang, and Mr. Brownjohn, then attempt to dupe
their employer (Lady Mary) by trying to force a marriage between Medora
and Mr. Darnell, Brownjohn’s brother, that, once accomplished, would
enable Darnell and his cohorts to claim Medora’s half of Lady Mary’s
money for themselves. Other corrupt characters who play critical roles in
the abuse Medora and Laura suffer in the second half of the novel are
Delmont’s elder brother, Adolphus; Mrs. Grinsted, Lady Mary’s close
friend; and, of course. Lady Mary de Verdon herself.
Adolphus’ role as a selfish libertine provides Smith with an
opportunity to criticize not only the British aristocracy’s penchant for
gaming but also to illustrate the evils of primogeniture, contrasting this
system with the absence of it in the newly reformed France:
Adolphus, far from feeling any disposition to retum to London,
and release George [Delmont] from the heavy consequences
of the engagements he had entered into [entailing Upwood],
was plunging into deeper play. . . inevitably involving himself
in tenfold ruin.
He persisted, however, in considering George as one
bom only to promote his views and obey his mandates.
Impressed with ideas of primogeniture at a very early age, he
could never submit to any mention of equality even among
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brethren. Nothing, he said, was more infamous than the
change made in that respect in France— he thought it
scandalous that in any country, the younger branches of a
family should be suffered to diminish the property of the elder
.... As it was, he had no hesitation in calling upon his purse
or his services, nothing doubting of his right to command both.
(3:134-135)
Adolphus also conveniently distracts his brother, delaying Delmont's
ability to intervene in the abuses plotted against Laura and Medora. And
Adolphus' corruption is so great that when he becomes the first to discover
the kidnapped Medora, he imprisons her in his hotel room and attempts to
rape her.
Mrs. Grinsted, through whom Laura had hoped to reconcile with her
mother, is no better. She pretends to be sympathetic to Laura's situation
and even loans her some much-needed money. But soon Mrs. Grinsted
begins to exact Lady Mary's revenge upon her daughter, subjecting Laura
to mental torment when, like Lady Mary once had, she finds her own
daughter, Medora, missing. Mrs. Grinsted taunts Laura with the idea that
rather than having been kidnapped, Medora has gone to Scotland to elope
with Delmont. Of course Mrs. Grinsted was well aware of the truth, that
Lady Mary had had Medora kidnapped. But, according to Smith, Mrs.
Grinsted's maxim was "that evil might always be done, and in short, that it
lost its nature, and was no longer evil, when good was intended to be
promoted by its commission” (3:105). The "good” to be promoted, in this
case, was to punish an undutiful daughter (Laura, who eloped with
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Glenmorris against her parent’s wishes) and to deny the daughter’s
daughter of her Inheritance.
Lady Mary de Verdon, however, Is the most despicable character.
Her own greed and perverse, vindictive sense of justice lead her to
assemble her entourage of lawyers, accountants, and other accomplices
like Mrs. Grinsted In order to retaliate against members of her own family,
the unsuspecting, and Innocent, Laura and Medora. Lady Mary Is an
example of a woman who has lost all touch with her natural sensibilities;
Instead, social dictums rule her thinking and feelings, and she Is
convinced that “ [s]he would, by holding Mrs. Glenmorris In her power, put
an end to the prosecution of a suit which she could not think of with
patience, and acquit herself of her matemal duties In a manner even
exemplary, by receiving, though under another name, the daughter who
had thrown off her protection, and defied her authority” (3:231).
In stark contrast to her own mother. Lady Mary, Laura Glenmorris Is
a loving and supportive mother. The flaw Smith alludes to In her preface,
that Mrs. Glenmorris at times possesses too much sensibility. Indeed leaves
her (Mrs. Glenmorris) susceptible to her mother’s retaliation. Natural
sensibility. Smith suggests, must be balanced at all times by wisdom (a
combination of reason and education). Forsaking wisdom and allowing her
natural sensibility to dominate, Laura Glenmorris naively believes she can
reconcile with her mother and obtain Medora’s Inheritance. Since she had
no evidence that Lady Mary had changed, Mrs. Glenmorris foolishly
exposes herself to the abuses she had long ago managed to escape.
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Lawyers capitalize on Laura and Medora’s vulnerable position, first
by inflicting Lady Mary’s abuse and then compounding it with their own.
They lure Laura to London and invite her to dine with them on the pretense
of settling the inheritance case. The lawyers’ real purpose, however, is to
abduct Medora. This dinner scene, where all present save Laura are
inebriated, illustrates women’s inability to be heard in a patriarchal society.
Laura soon realizes the futility of her presence at the dinner. Especially
telling to her was the men’s observation "that ladies, however great their
understanding, were apt to be a little impatient in matters, which to hurry
would be to mar” (3:144). After such belittlement, Laura, "vexed at the loss
of time and of money” (3:145) returned home to find Medora gone. While
the abduction was done at Lady Mary’s bidding, the lawyers’ attempt to
force a marriage between Medora and one of the lawyer’s brothers was
their own plan for their own benefit and betrays their employer.
The rest of volume three relates Laura’s reaction to her daughter’s
kidnapping, her brief encounter with the goodness and generosity of Miss
Mary Cardonnel (her niece), and the duplicity of Mrs. Grinsted and Lady
Mary which leads to her own kidnapping and imprisonment (under an
assumed name) in a mad house. By abducting and imprisoning Laura,
Lady Mary effectively silences her and ends the search for Medora; as a
result, she thinks, all of her money will be inherited by Miss Cardonnel, the
daughter of Lady Mary’s beloved elder, and obedient, daughter. Through
these events Smith provides severe criticism of British society, particularly
the laws and social mores that leave women vulnerable to victimization.
Laura, for example, attempts to be strong and to act independently to
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rescue her daughter; she determines to leave the home of the abusive Mrs.
Grinsted (to which she had unwittingly been brought-in a sense another
imprisonment) and to advertise her daughter’s disappearance in order to
locate her. But this mother’s sensibility for her daughter’s fate, her fear for
the terrors Medora may be enduring, overcome hen she suffers numerous
emotional breakdowns because of Medora’s disappearance and the taunts
and torments inflicted by Mrs. Grinsted and Lady Mary. In addition to the
mistreatment she receives from Mrs. Grinsted and the inheritance lawyers,
Laura is subjected to ridicule by strangers. Echoing the criticism she
herself suffered and at times succumbed to, Smith shows Laura victimized
by ladies "who were so extremely fashionable that they looked with great
contempt on Mrs. Glenmorris (Laura), and whisperingly enquired who that
odd looking woman was, and whether she was not an author?" (3:124).
Laura knows no one in London to whom to turn for help, even strangers
seem to be against her, and the men she has relied upon in the past,
Glenmorris, Armitage, and Delmont, are unreachable.
On the one hand, Laura’s response is admirable; here is a truly
devoted mother. On the other hand, her inability to function and rescue her
daughter demonstrates a weakness not apparent in her youth. Through
Laura Glenmorris’ example. Smith suggests that strong, independent young
women later become weak after they marry and come under the protection
of a husband. Thus the whole concept of women’s protection by men is
flawed, even under the most benign circumstances with a loving and
respectful husband. Smith explains:
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In the severe trials she had been exposed to in the early part
of her life, Mrs. Glenmorris had shewn no want of fortitude and
force of mind. The series of years she had since passed with
a man, the strength of whose understanding had subdued the
violence of his passions, and who possessed the rare
assemblage of genius and reason, had given to a mind
naturally superior rank every advantage which it could derive
either from every inconvenience, she had not felt the evils of
life, and was now but ill prepared to resist what had so
unexpectedly fallen upon her-the heaviest, the severest of
all miseries-the loss of a beloved child. (3:216)
So, while endorsing marriage between loving and equal partners, Smith
simultaneously asserts that as long as society remains corrupt and tyranny
is nurtured by the legal system, such alliances leave women susceptible to
abuse should they ever find themselves without a man's protection. And
while Smith’s main focus is in this novel is on women’s plights, we shall see
that men too may find themselves victims of tyranny, especially those who
have faith in human goodness and generosity. For example, Delmont’s
faith that his brother can be reformed allows him to risk all his financial
assets, assets he will need to support a wife, and Glenmorris nearly loses
wife and daughter by his faith that Medora’s inheritance money can and
should be acquired and, later, in volume four, finds himself imprisoned for
debt when he returns to England to rescue Laura and Medora. Smith’s
advocacy of this dual position hints at her ambiguity and at the conclusion
to come, that philosophers like the Glenmorrises and Delmont can only find
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happiness In a place like America, where corruption is not so entrenched.
Also, Smith suggests that only a sustained radical sensibility, wisdom
balanced with sensibility or compassion, can avoid duplicitous tyranny.
The end of volume three senres two key functions in addition to
setting in motion the women’s eventual rescue. First, Smith reduces any
criticism that may be directed at Mrs. Glenmorris for possessing a woman’s
weakness (experiencing periods of apparent madness) by demonstrating
than men, too, are capable of such a response. Delmont’s reaction to the
women’s disappearance parallels Laura Glenmorris’ response to her
daughter’s disappearance; like Laura, Delmont becomes half crazed with
worry. For a brief period, he allows his natural sensibilities to overtake his
reason. So distraught is Delmont by the disappearances of Medora and
Laura, he cannot eat or sleep. Second is Delmont’s admission that “ in the
present instance all his philosophy was useless” (3:249). His philosophy
relied on a “ firmness of mind” that could shake “ off his prejudices, and
[subdue] his feelings,” but Delmont could not “ escape from his misery,”
because rather than enjoying a balance of reason and sensibility, as his
philosophy required, his sensibility at this moment was too predominant
(3:248-9). In a moving passage Smith proves what she had suggested in
her preface, that the young philosopher sometimes “ forgets his
pretensions, and has no claim to the character of a Philosopher” (iv).
Through Delmont, Smith admits that
There are still some instances where the greatest vigour of
intellect had failed under the pressure of human misery; and
the fortitude of a philosopher of twenty-three might well desert
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him, when evils were felt that had subdued the stoicism of the
most illustrious characters.-Delmont tried.. .to argue away
the anguish that now overwhelmed him. (3:249-50)
By exposing the flaws in his philosophy, Smith creates a space where he
may vent his anger, railing against the corrupt lawyers and accountants
who tyrannize innocent people like Medora and her mother. A philosopher
should have to keep such passion in check, but having succumbed to
passion over reason, Delmont satisfies readers through his tirade against
Sir Appulby, a lawyer involved in Medora’s inheritance case and another
one involving Delmont’s uncle. Smith writes:
Sir Appulby Gorges.. might have forgotten that he was mortal.
In his own family [he was] a furious and gloomy tyrant.. As
unaccustomed, therefore, to hear truth as to tell it, he shrunk
from the manly, plain dealing of Delmont as an affront; yet an
affront which he feared to resent, because he knew how well
he deserved that it should be repeated. (3:278)
Desmond questions Appulby about his part in the women’s disappearance,
and from him we leam that the malicious gossip of Mrs. Crewkheme
(Delmont’s great-aunt) has fueled much of the situation. With Delmont
calling Appulby a “revolting hypocrite” (3:282), volume three concludes.
Nothing is gained by bringing Appulby to his knees by speaking to him the
truth of his despicable actions and character, but certainly the reader, and
presumably Smith, feels better for it.
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Medora^s story
Volume four reveals Medora’s actions after her abduction and
continues the criticism of British society and politics that concluded volume
three, with Smith emphasizing once again the importance of "free-thinking,”
defined as the ability to think for oneself unencumbered by social and
political prejudices. Armitage, apparently voicing the views of Smith
despite her prefatory disclaimer, admits to being "a démocrate [sic] and a
jacobin [sic]” (4:13), and defines and distinguishes the two for Mrs.
Crewkheme.
You apprehend that these democrats have a prodigious and
unquenchable hatred against all established govemments,
and have an horror of kings and of nobility. Now I have
nothing of all this. I respect the established govemment of my
country, and never disturb it. If I could not live contented
under it, I would go to another. I venerate, honour, I would
die, were it necessary, for a good king-for a king shewing
himself worthy of the sacred charge, by devoting himself to
the real happiness and prosperity of the people.. . 1 hold all the
wild schemes of universal equality as utterly impracticable,
and altogether absurd; so impracticable, that if it could be
established to-morrow, inequalities more unjust and more
shocking would exist in six weeks; if, therefore, you annex
this system to the word democrats, I am none. (4:15-16)
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Armitage continues with an examination of a Jacobin-Mrs. Crewkheme’s
definition and then his.
Lastly, as to my being a jacobin [sic], which, I take it for
granted, includes every thing that you can imagine horrible..
. 1 have only to say, that if you mean, among other heavy
misdemeanors included under it, that I either approve, or ever
did approve of the violence, cruelty, and perfidy, with which
the French have polluted the cause of freedom, you are
greatly mistaken I deny many of their maxims, and I abhor
almost the whole of their conduct. I never do believe that
axiom of politicians, which says, that evil may be done to
produce good. (4:16)
Through his speeches Smith clarifies her position on the French Revolution
and seems to endorse the philosophy of the power of individual good to
produce further good. The powerful veracity of Armitage's words is
illustrated by Mrs. Crewkheme being “ repelled by [the] integrity and truth”
of them, but they do not change her; Mrs. Crewkheme remains a
dangerously evil woman. The dichotomy between Armitage's philosophy
and Mrs. Crewkheme’s response to it demonstrates once again Smith’s
uncertainty regarding the efficacy of the philosophy.
But Armitage is not the only one espousing philosophic ideology.
Smith retums to the madhouse and Mrs. Glenmorris, who had suffered for
ten days with a fever, leading her keepers to treat her as if she were truly
mad. She has not lost her reason, however, even though it appears as
though she has lost everything else. She tries to communicate her
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predicament to her doctor and nurse, but they remain convinced of nothing
except her madness and her need to remain institutionalized. Smith offers
an interesting authorial footnote to Laura's observation while imprisoned
that “ there was nothing good but libertv and fresh air." noting that “I believe
I have made some of my heroines (I know not which) say the same thing,
but it is a sensation ever so present to me in my own person that it must be
forgiven if it is here a repetition, or an instance of egotism” (4:87). A few
pages later Laura makes the additional observation that freedom leads to
calmness and good, reasonable thinking. So Smith continues her political
and ideological commentary through the women characters as well as
through the men. Laura then gathers the strength to demand her freedom,
and discovers her mother’s involvement in her abduction and Medora’s.
But she will remain imprisoned for a while longer, and will experience yet
another breakdown at the false news that Medora has wed Darnell. Only
after Mr. Glenmorris arrives in London, and escapes his own imprisonment
for debt, will Laura attain her freedom and be reconciled with her husband
and daughter.
Other women who also contribute ideological perspectives in the
novel are Miss Cardonnel (Medora’s cousin) and her friend. Miss
Richmond (daughter of Sir Harry). As we have seen. Miss Cardonnel is,
like Montfleuri in Desmond, one of those rare persons whose sensibilities
are not corrupted even when raised with aristocratic privilege. Despite
being brought up by the selfish and vindictive Lady Mary, Miss Cardonnel
possesses deep compassion for the underprivileged and the distressed.
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Her character seems to prove the young philosopher’s belief that individual
goodness exits and can overcome corrupt societal pressures. But Smith’s
own ambivalence compels her to temper Miss Cardonnel’s example with
that of her friend, Miss Richmond, who professes the philosophy that "some
scheme of self-gratification occupies every individual; and that nobody
cares for those who cannot in some way or other contribute to their
pleasure or their profit" (4:154). Miss Cardonnel believes there are
exceptions, like Delmont, whom she has just met. Miss Richmond wants to
believe there are some exceptions, too, but, she asserts, "when my dear
Mary [Miss Cardonnel] has lived to obsenre the men of the world, such as 1
have been used to see, she will know how rare those exceptions are"
(4:154). Through Miss Richmond we see Smith toning down the optimism of
that of the young philosopher.
However, the last half of the final volume provides much to be
optimistic about, although these are all related to those rare personages to
whom Miss Richmond refers. Medora, for example, shows great strength
and ingenuity in escaping her kidnappers. For instance, having escaped
her kidnappers and attempting to retum to London, Medora mistakes
Adolphus for Delmont at an inn. In yet another scene of kidnapping and
imprisonment, Adolphus carries her up to his room and attempts to rape
her, but Medora has the temerity to escape through a window. Like her
mother, Medora faces formidable obstacles and has no one to turn to for
help. Instead, Medora recalls the lesson of virtue, taught to her by her
mother, to draw her strength. This is not the typical "virtue" that women
were supposed to possess but, rather,
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a virtue as becoming in a woman as in a man. It is not
firmness, Medora, she [her mother] has often said, that gives
an unpleasant and unfeminine character to a woman; on the
contrary, the mind which has acquire a certain degree of
reliance on itself, which has learned to look on the good and
evil of life, and to appreciate each, is alone capable of true
gentleness and calmness.. . . (4:227)
Medora has this lirmness of mind” and is not nearly as naive as others
have made her out to be. Her sweetness and youth belie her awareness of
evil. Smith asserts that Medora's "simplicity and innocence” united with
"good sense and inteçritv” of understanding” (3:250-51 ) enable her to
resist the corruption that everywhere attempts to warp her judgment.
Stepping outside the conventions of the novel for a moment, in a second
footnote Smith attempts to clarify her meaning:
I do not know whether this expression [integrity] conveys my
meaning, which is, that natural strength and rectitude of mind,
seldom seen, because it must be strong indeed where it has
resisted the early counteraction of what is called education;
but which, where it does survive, forms characters capable of
every thing that is good and great. (3:251)
Ultimately, as Chris Jones has observed, in The Young Philosopher, “ the
hope for the future is not in political measures, as in Desmond, but in the
human faculties of reason and sensibility.” and Medora embodies the
“ hope of sensibility [or integrity]” (181).
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But Medora and the other characters in the novel who persist in their
good deeds and unselfish behavior are exceptions. Ultimately the
philosophy that Smith promotes seems to be based on exceptions and
eccentricity. Ty explains that "Smith associates reason here, not with
masculine logic, but with independent and ex-centric" thinking, as it is
placed in opposition to the traditions and customs of society” (145).
Medora learned this exceptional way of thought from her mother, just as
Delmont learned it from his mother. Laura taught her daughter to “ [d]o what
good you can to all; never willfully injure any— these are the acquisitions
that will.. bestow repose on their possessor-1 say repose, my Medora,
because we abuse the word happiness; it is meant to convey an idea
which is, I fear, never realized” (4:228). Sustaining such characteristics
under the most perverse conditions, however, is what Smith has doubts
about.
The only character who never relinquishes her radical sensibility is
Medora (Miss Cardonnel, too, may qualify, but she has not been tested
with abuse). Through numerous abductions, imprisonments, and attempted
rapes, Medora exhibits strength, fortitude, and creative initiative; she
rescues herself. And, early on Medora had begged her mother to give up
the scheme for her inheritance and to retum to America. Thus even before
her first abduction Medora demonstrates her superior qualities and
requests to go home to America and forget pursuing the inheritance. Smith
writes:
Medora was too intelligent, and had already acquired too
much judgment to be deceived.
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“I know,” said she, “ you are very uneasy my mother;
and why do you attempt to conceal It from me?-For God's
sake let us give up this chace [sic] after fortune, and retum to
my father We were very happy before this project of going
to law, that I might share Miss Cardonnel’s fortune, was
unfortunately put into our heads. We may be very happy
again, if we determine to hasten back to America, and think no
more about it; if Delmont loves me as he says he does, he will
go with us.. . . ” (3:110-111)
Having received permission from her father to marry Delmont, Medora
knew she had found her “ fortune” in Delmont’s love and has faith that he
will go with her to America; if he will not, she is certain then that “ it would
be a misfortune to me to be married to him” (3:112), and that she would be
able to get over it. Medora’s responses display an unusual strength and
wisdom befitting a heroine and illustrating perfectly the demeanor of those
who subscribe to her philosophy.
So although much about the daughter parallels her mother in
characterization and situation, only Medora seems able to sustain the
ideas and actions of the revolutionist philosophy. Perhaps this is because
Smith has allowed for some improvement in the life of the daughter over that
of her mother’s. Like Inchbald’s A Simple Story, to a limited degree Smith’s
The Young Philosopher plays off the stories of mother and daughter to
provide space for some change and growth. For example, Mr. and Mrs.
Glenmorris raise their daughter, Medora, differently from the way Mrs.
Glenmorris’ parents raised her; she is not treated as an object nor used to
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feed their greed. Instead, the Glenmorrises hope that their daughter will be
able to enjoy the freedom to choose her mate and have educated her so
that she may do so wisely. And, while Medora faces her share of trouble,
rather than duplicating her mother’s reactionary responses to early
obstacles, Medora seizes the opportunity to react differently. Thus while
similar evils plague the daughter, she capitalizes on her mother’s
experiences and thereby reduces the impact of the difficulty she faces.
The trials of the mother and the mother’s hope for a better life for her
daughter are well known to Smith. As a mother who suffered greatly from
troubles not of her making, and one who fought for years to support and
eventually improve the lives of her children. Smith had first-hand
experience with such a story. As the end of her preface suggests. Smith
also had some optimism that she had raised good children, and that they
would enjoy better lives because of this. So, although much of the novel
seems to negate Delmont’s optimistic belief, that human nature will progress
to become more benevolent and generous, by focusing on first the
suffering of the mother, and then the suffering of the daughter. Smith
nevertheless holds out the possibility that the philosophy may be right. In
fact. Smith provides another improvement to Medora’s life-she receives
her portion of her inheritance after all. But she does not achieve this
benefit through a corrupt legal system. Instead, her inheritance comes
through pure means: Miss Cardonnel, Medora’s cousin, voluntarily gives
her half of the inheritance when she teams of their relationship and their
grandmother’s cruel treatment of Medora. Miss Cardonnel’s generosity is
truly exceptional; she vows not to wed until she has come of age so as to
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ensure that her desire to share the money with Medora will be carried out.
Some progress has occurred for and through some individuals; apparently
it is a very slow process, and one more likely to be found in a place like
America. Displaying once again her pessimism regarding England’s
entrenched corruption, and her faith in a new country founded on
democratic principles that champion worth based on individual merit and
generosity of spirit. Smith has Delmont and Medora retum to America with
her parents, presumably to live "happily ever after.”
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Conclusion
In the eariy 1990s I became interested in writing a dissertation on a
little known or forgotten female novelist of the late eighteenth century.
When I came across Charlotte Smith, I knew she was the one to study.
Smith’s nine novels written between 1788 and 1798 provided an
abundance of primary literature to explore and make sense of, and
between my own university’s libraries and the nearby Huntington Library,
her novels were accessible, even if it meant painstakingly reading these
multi-volume tomes in the Huntington’s Rare Book Reading Room. Even a
quick investigation into Smith as a subject revealed a fascinating life and
persona, an assessment that has held up as I explored further.
Now that I am at the end of this dissertation project, I am all the more
certain that Smith rewards this kind of attention. I began this project with the
hypothesis that there was something more to the era than the polar camps
of the radical Jacobins and the conservative blue-stockings. Dale
Spender and several other scholars had begun to uncover a wealth of
women writers in the late eighteenth century, debunking the old notion that
the period between Richardson and the Romantics was desolate, lacking in
authorship and innovation. Indeed, we now acknowledge that this era was
teeming with novelists and that their novels were full of interesting ideas
and innovations. Novels and novel-reading flourished, especially the
sentimental courtship novels written by women for women, and female
novelists were able to make a career out of novel writing, just as many
women scholars today have seen their careers flourish thanks to the
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current explosion of interest in the ideologies and activities of women of this
period. The more I read and discovered just how expansive novel writing
and the late eighteenth-century reading public’s thirst for them were, the
more I began to wonder why it had been deemed an uninteresting period of
relative inactivity.
I should not have been surprised to find that the period was really a
hotbed of novelistic activity, however. Literary histories published in the
first part of the twentieth century, some of them by well-known scholars
such as J. M. S. Tompkins and Aliens Gregory, discussed a number of the
late eighteenth century’s women novelists and their novels. So why had
this information been forgotten or ignored? Part of the answer must be
attributed to what literary scholars have privileged; these are, after all,
only novels, only written by women, and had only "trivial” subjects such as
love and romance as their themes. In short, the novels and their authors
were not deemed of serious scholarly interest; they are not "great works,"
and offered little value to literary studies.
Admittedly, the formal quality of these novels does not stand up to
the criteria we have determined for canonical works. But I hypothesized
that these late eighteenth-century female novelists and their novels offered
insight into the era on a number of fronts simply because of the sheer
volume in which they were produced, and that "best seller” novels like
those written by Charlotte Smith could prove particularly insightful simply
because they were so popular. In other words, reading and studying
novels such as Smith’s could provide a better understanding of what was
important to the reading public at the end of that century. Understanding
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literary tastes for content and style at any particular time period also
promotes understanding of sociopolitical concerns and may reveal clues to
how and why one literary style moves into the next, how in this case the
Age of Reason led to the Romantic period.
For example, studying the novels of authors like Charlotte Smith lays
bare the turmoil of the 1790s resulting from the many social and economic
changes that take place throughout the eighteenth century, culminating
with the American and French Revolutionary wars. The turmoil manifests
itself both in the competing and conflicting ideologies arising during the
period and in the variations of the practice or application of them. Should
women be educated? What kind of education should they receive? What
should they do with such education? What role should women play in
society? How much authority should they have within their own
households? Should they engage in public discourse? And, if so, in what
type of forum? These questions and many others are just a part of the
emerging identity in the 1790s of what Gary Kelly calls the middle class
“ domestic woman,” one who follows a “ programme to become a social and
cultural, and thereby a political revolutionary[,] merg[ing] Wollstonecraft's
Revolutionary feminism with the earlier conduct book tradition” (Women
28).
The fact that such turmoil embroiled the late eighteenth century is not
news, but perhaps the extent and degree are. Typically, literary scholars
focus on polarity; we work hard to situate writers and their works into
radical or conservative camps. Women writers of the 1790s either belong
to the society of morality and manners (for example, Jane Austen and
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Frances Burney), or to a society of revolutionaries, labeled as radicals,
whose concerns are relegated to a small circle of Jacobins, of which
William Godwin and Mary Wollstonecraft are prominent figures. Their
import and impact are then diminished, for how can such a minor group of
radical thinkers represent the majority’s ideas and concems? The
ideologies and concems of writers of the era are placed into neat little
camps which fail to recognize the complex and sometimes competing views
within a single novel or held by one particular novelist. For example, Jane
Austen’s works either have been labeled conservative and uncomplicated,
or her complicated characters and the competing ideologies expressed in
her novels are seen as illustrating a lack of authorial control.
Austen increasing has been given her due in recent years, as has
Mary Wollstonecraft, although admittedly for very different reasons. But
Charlotte Smith and the many other women authors of this period continue
to be declared "minor” writers, unworthy of much literary concem because
of perceived flaws in technique and/or contradictory plot and
characterizations. Both the writings of Wollstonecraft and Smith, for
example, contain very similar themes. Both also enjoyed a certain amount
of renown; eighteenth-century critics and the public alike tended to admire
most of Smith’s works, and Wollstonecraft too enjoyed some contemporary
praise. But the praise Wollstonecraft received typically was limited to her
nonfiction, particularly her two "Vindications," and these were admired
only by those who already agreed with the revolutionary opinions she
asserts. These same works gamered her plenty of infamy as well. In
Wollstonecraft's own day, her novels were neither reprinted nor reviewed,
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truly a bad sign for one so well known. Yet modem scholarship, and by
that I mean late twentieth-century literary scholarship in English, has
focused much attention on Mary Wollstonecraft, shedding much light on
her work and glorifying her objectives and positions to such a degree that
she has variously been called the mother of feminism, first feminist, and "a
great leader of human beings" (Taylor 206).
Charlotte Smith, on the other hand, held similar views and used
these themes in her works of fiction while at the same time managing to
achieve and maintain, at least for the most part, wide popularity. And the
quality of this fiction, though not brilliant, is certainly superior to
Wollstonecraft's fiction. Yet literary scholars continue to analyze
Wollstonecraft's fiction and to neglect Smith's, or dismiss her work because
her liberal themes are couched in conventional, sentimental stories. Gary
Kelly, for example, persists in labeling Smith as someone on the fringes" of
radicalism; he cannot fully credit her ideas because her plots seem so
typical and mundane. Yet he cannot ignore her contributions either;
Desmond, in particular, speaks loudly the ideas credited to Jacobins like
Godwin and Wollstonecraft.
It seems clear that this disparity in attention and interest emanates
from our deep admiration for the seemingly original and radical piece.
Vindication of the Rights of Woman, a daring work that openly exposed
Wollstonecraft's views on women and their position in eighteenth-century
British society. While admittedly Smith does not assert her feminist views to
the same degree as Wollstonecraft, nevertheless, their written themes and
their personal backgrounds are so strikingly similar, I was compelled to
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undertake this investigation and analysis of Smith’s fiction and the
historical reception it received to discern the reason(s) for her current
obscurity.
If we recognize and acknowledge the highly complex nature of
Smith's ideas and her suggestions for how to act upon them, we can see
that the perceived "flaws" of her novels are often conscious and
purposeful, or, at the very least, accurately reflect the social and political
upheaval of the time-for the majority. In fact, the audience of the period
seems to perceive as fluid and flexible what we see as flawed and
contradictory. Ultimately, we should read Charlotte Smith’s fiction because
it enhances our perspective of the era, particularly the social and political
concems of women throughout the 1790s, and the tacts taken to express
such concems as the revolutionary period moved on to the post
revolutionary period and then on to the beginnings of the Victorian era.
Her novels illustrate that the era’s revolutionary ideals were at times strong
and firm, at other times wavering and uncertain, and sometimes even
abandoned or contradicted. Analyzing the life and the novels of an author
such as Smith enables us to see the Victorian era as more than simply a
backlash response to the radical politics of the preceding revolutionary
period. Rather, we see the gradual shift in approach by the Jacobins and
their ilk, from adamant and optimist faith in the potential for democratic
social reform to faith in individual moral reform, to the more pessimistic
belief that adults were perhaps beyond reform, turning attention (and hope)
to educating children properly in democratic ideals.
136
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Precisely because the women novelists of the 1790s focused their
attention on the domestic, middle-class woman, we know that they do in
fact bespeak the concems of the many; they were, after all, popular
novelists writing mass-produced, widely-circulating novels. And, as is the
case for Smith, many of the stories found their basis in part from real
women's lives.
What I am arguing here is that study of popular domestic fiction, as
opposed to canonical heroic fiction, provides better insight, a more
accurate understanding, of very real human concems and conflicts of an
era. Charlotte Smith’s novels break up the neat divisions we have carved
the era, its writers, and its ideologies into. Motivations for writing and
concems about which to write were simultaneously complex and various,
and such an understanding sheds new light on the period.
Finally, as I suggested earlier, the answer to the attention of one
author and relative neglect of another appears to be attributable to our
preference for "serious" ideas to be expressed in what we consider the
equally "serious," nonfictional essay form. Charlotte Smith and many of her
contemporaries remain in obscurity because they lie in the popular middle
ground. Perhaps more so than the majority of her colleagues. Smith, like
Wollstonecraft and Mary Hays, promoted liberal political doctrines, but like
the majority of her colleagues, she couched them in traditional plots both
because she needed to be popular to insure necessary financial success
and because she herself was uncertain and conflicted about women’s role
in society, and the degree of social and political change that was needed
or prudent. Ultimately, the reason for both Smith’s novelistic success in her
137
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own lifetime, and her relative obscurity today, lies in the fact that she wrote
fiction of the middle ground.
138
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Asset Metadata

Creator Wright, Lynn Marie (author)

Core Title Charlotte Smith: Life of a novelist, novels of a life

Degree Doctor of Philosophy

Degree Program Literature

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag Biography,literature, English,OAI-PMH Harvest,women's studies

Language English

Contributor Digitized by ProQuest (provenance)

Advisor Schor, H. M. (committee chair), [illegible] (committee member), Manning, Peter (committee member)

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c17-365269

Unique identifier UC11353652

Identifier 9902895.pdf (filename),usctheses-c17-365269 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier 9902895.pdf

Dmrecord 365269

Document Type Dissertation

Rights Wright, Lynn Marie

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the au...

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus, Los Angeles, California 90089, USA