Family and the Law in Eighteenth-Century Fiction: The Public Conscience in the Private Sphere (Cambridge Studies in Eighteenth-Century English Literature and Thought, Series Number 15)

family And The Law In Eighteenth-century Fiction Offers Challenging Interpretations Of The Public And Private Faces Of Individualism In The Eighteenth-century English Novel. John P. Zomchick Begins By Surveying The Social, Historical And Ideological Functions Of Law And The Family In England's Developing Market Economy. He Goes On To Examine In Detail Their Part In The Fortunes And Misfortunes Of The Protagonists In Defoe's Roxana, Richardson's Clarissa, Smollett's Roderick Random, Goldsmith's The Vicar Of Wakefield And Godwin's Caleb Williams. Zomchick Reveals In These Novels An Attempt To Produce A 'juridical Subject': A Representation Of The Individual Identified With The Principles And Aims Of The Law, And Motivated By An Inherent Need For Affection And Community Fulfilled By The Family. Their Ambivalence Towards That Formulation Indicates A Nostalgia For Less Competitive Social Relations, And An Emergent Liberal Critique Of The Law's Operation In The Service Of Society's Elites. Family and the Law in Eighteenth-Century Fiction offers challenging new interpretations of the public and private faces of individualism in the eighteenth-century English novel. John P. Zomchick begins by surveying the social, historical and ideological functions of law and the family in England's developing market economy. He goes on to examine in detail their part in the fortunes and misfortunes of the protagonists in Defoe's Roxana, Richardson's Clarissa, Smollett's Roderick Random, Goldsmith's The Vicar of Wakefield and Godwin's Caleb Williams. Zomchick reveals in these novels an attempt to produce a 'juridical subject': a representation of the individual identified with the principles and aims of the law, and motivated by an inherent need for affection and community fulfilled by the family. Their ambivalence towards that formulation indicates a nostalgia for less competitive social relations, and an emergent liberal critique of the law's operation in the service of society's elites.--Publisher description Frontmatter Preface (page xi) Acknowledgments (page xviii) 1 Introduction (page 1) 2 Roxana's contractual affiliations (page 32) 3 Clarissa Harlowe: caught in the contract (page 58) 4 Tame spirits, brave fellows, and the web of law: Robert Lovelace's legalistic conscience (page 81) 5 Roderick Random: suited by the law (page 105) 6 Shadows of the prison house or shade of the family tree: Amelia's public and private worlds (page 130) 7 The embattled middle: longing for authority in The Vicar of Wakefield (page 154) 8 Caleb Williams: negating the romance of the public conscience (page 177) Bibliography (page 193) Index (page 207) 1. Introduction -- 2. Roxana's Contractual Affiliations -- 3. Clarissa Harlowe: Caught In The Contract -- 4. Tame Spirits, Brave Fellows, And The Web Of Law: Robert Lovelace's Legalistic Conscience -- 5. Roderick Random: Suited By The Law -- 6. Shadows Of The Prison House Or Shade Of The Family Tree: Amelia's Public And Private Worlds -- 7. The Embattled Middle: Longing For Authority In The Vicar Of Wakefield -- 8. Caleb Williams: Negating The Romance Of The Public Conscience. John P. Zomchick. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 193-206) And Index. This book draws upon social, political and legal history to show that law and family play a central role in shaping the fictional world of six eighteenth-century English novels.