Memoirs of Modern PhilosophersWhen the Anti-Jacobin Review described Memoirs of Modern Philosophers in 1800 as “the first novel of the day” and as proof that “all the female writers of the day are not corrupted by the voluptuous dogmas of Mary Godwin, or her more profligate imitators,” they clearly situated Elizabeth Hamilton’s work within the revolutionary debate of the 1790s. As with her successful first novel, Letters of a Hindoo Rajah, Hamilton uses fiction to enter the political fray and discuss issues such as female education, the rights of woman and new philosophy. The novel follows the plight of three heroines. The mock heroine, Bridgetina Botherim—a crude caricature of Mary Hays—participates in an English-Jacobin group, leading her to abandon her mother and home to pursue her beloved to London in hopes of emigrating to the Hottentots in Africa. The second heroine, Julia Delmont, is another member of the local group; she is seduced by a hairdresser masquerading as a New Philosopher. She is left pregnant and destitute only to discover that her actions caused her father’s untimely death. The third heroine is the virtuous Harriet, whose Christian faith enables her to resist the teachings of the New Philosophers. |
From inside the book
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... thing for the common people , who , not having the advantages of military disci- pline , required a parson with some notion of hell , instead of a cat - of- nine - tails , to keep them in awe . " 31 His misplaced pride in Julia accounts ...
... thing ridiculous without pointing at him . " 38 Clearly Hamil- ton left nothing to chance in Memoirs of Modern Philosophers and had char- acters speak actual passages from both Godwin and Hays's works . Bridgetina , like Julia Delmond ...
... thing of its con- tents . " Contents , sir , " answered she , " it is the farthest thing in the world from contents , I assure you . I never had no contents about it . It is some of the scribbles of a scrubby fellor of an author , who ...
... things combin'd , " Strikes on the quick observer . " Akenside's Pleasures of the Imagination . " As the objections , which you tell me have been made to this part of the work by your friends , cannot be more fully obviated than by the ...
... thing useful . Do , Bridgetina , my dear , talk to your cousin a little about the cowsation , and perfebility , and all them there things as Mr. Glib and you are so often upon . You have no ideer what a scholar she is , " continued the ...
Contents
6 | |
27 | |
Contemporary Works | 391 |
The Hottentots | 401 |
Reviews of Memoirs of Modern Philosophers | 407 |
Select Bibliography | 415 |