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
Results 1-5 of 73
... voice in parliament or the legislature they were not silent in the revolutionary debate raging in print . While Mary Wollstonecraft was somewhat unusual in publishing a political polemic ( Vindication of the Rights of Woman 1792 ) ...
... voice throughout . The " editor " Jarvis explains how he obtained the partially damaged manuscript in his Paternoster Row lodgings from a recently deceased male lodger . The editor interrupts the narrative to direct the reader , whom he ...
... voice was raised to what a musical friend of mine calls the scolding pitch , was severe- ly chiding the latter for the time she had taken to sweep out the garret . The maid , indignant of rebuke , answered not in words but in deeds ...
You have reached your viewing limit for this book.
You have reached your viewing limit for this book.
Contents
6 | |
27 | |
Contemporary Works | 391 |
The Hottentots | 401 |
Reviews of Memoirs of Modern Philosophers | 407 |
Select Bibliography | 415 |