New Essays on Maria Edgeworth

Devoted to the varied writings of the influential novelist children's author and educator this collection situates Edgeworth's writing in the context of her life and times. Combining postcolonial historical and gender criticism the contributors offer fresh readings of Edgeworth's novels stories letters and educational texts including Belinda Moral Tales Practical Education Helen and The Absentee. Throughout her work Edgeworth confronts a world whose values while grounded in tradition and supported by slavery and colonial domination are being challenged and ultimately changed in surprising ways by women peasants servants and other voices from the margins. In discussing Edgeworth and her writing the contributors also offer innovative perspectives on the novel and other central issues of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century literature. The collection will be invaluable to established scholars working in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century literature women's studies and children's literature as well as to students encountering Edgeworth for the first time.