The Orphan in Eighteenth-Century Fiction : The Vicissitudes of the Eighteenth-Century Subject

Index 1 1 strategies raise their novels to a higher literary status. With such predecessors, Jane Austen can safely assert the supreme literary value of novels, 'in which the most thorough knowledge of human nature, the happiest delineation of its varieties, the liveliest effusions of wit and humour are conveyed to the world in the best chosen language'. 37 Examining eighteenth-century culture and literature through the orphan figure affords new insights into the ways in which the bourgeoisie wrests cultural authority from the landed class. Novels about orphans theorize and dramatize the relations between the bourgeoisie and the aristocracy by investing the orphan's cipher-like nature with the superior qualities derived from recognizable middle-class virtues. These virtues are embodied primarily in female orphans, whose increasing confinement counterpoints the opening-up of the eighteenth-century power structure. In a Foucaultian fashion, the novel responds to and fashions these cultural processes and along with the orphan figure has a significant part to play in the construction of the modern gendered subject. This is what the following study examines in greater detail. Note on spelling: Quotations from the primary texts follow the eighteenthcentury spelling adopted in the scholarly editions used. I have refrained from marking each deviation from modern spelling with [sic]. The Orphan Is Ubiquitous In Fiction Yet A Long-neglected Figure In Criticism. Filling This Critical Gap, The Orphan In Eighteenth-century Fiction Crystallizes Three Pivotal Types Of Orphan In The Long Eighteenth Century: The Foundling, The Heiress And The Dispossessed Child. Using A Psychoanalytic Approach, This Book Examines The Orphan's Changing Role In The Cultural Imaginary Of The Age As Well Its Relationship To The Novel And The Middle-class Subject. Far From Being A Stock Character, The Orphan Is A Nuanced Figure Which Enables A Subtle Understanding Of The Social Anxieties Of The Period. This Theoretically Informed Book Highlights The Key Role The Orphan Figure Plays In The Construction Of Gendered Subjectivity. Containing In-depth Analyses Of Sixteen Major Novels From Defoe To Austen, This Study Is An Essential Guide To The Prehistory Of The Orphan Figure Before The Canonical Novels Of The Victorian Period. 1. Introduction -- Part I: Bastards And Foundlings In Pre-imaginary Oscillation -- 2. Moll Flanders And Fluid Identity -- 3. Tom Jones And Narrative (il)legimitacy -- Part Ii: Mirror, Mirror On The Wall: The Deluded Heiress And The Imaginary -- 4. The Coquette's Lesson: Haywood's Betsy Thoughtless -- 5. The Tragic Coquette: Inchbald's A Simple Story -- 6. Becoming A Benefactress: Burney's Cecilia -- 7. The Imaginist: Lennox's The Female Quixote -- 8. Jane Austen's Emma, The Arch-imaginist -- Part Iii: Dispossessed Children: The Subject Of The Symbolic -- 9. The Name Of The Father: Burney's Evelina -- 10. The Law Of The Father: Inchbald's A Simple Story -- 11. Doomed: Mary Hays's The Victim Of Prejudice -- 12. Liberating Daughters: Charlotte Smith's Emmeline -- 13. The Gothic Of Family Romance -- 14. Legitimacy In Walpole's The Castle Of Otranto -- 15. Dis/harmony In Clara Reeve's The Old English Baron -- 16. Avenged: Ann Radcliffe's The Romance Of The Forest -- Part Iv: The Return Of The Repressed: Radcliffe's Matriarchy -- 17. Escaped: Ann Radcliffe's A Sicilian Romance -- 18. Sanctuary In Ann Radcliffe's The Italian -- Part V: The Orphan In Mourning -- 19. Taking Farewell: Jane Austen's Persuasion -- 20. Conclusion. Eva König. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Front Matter....Pages i-viii Introduction....Pages 1-14 Front Matter....Pages 15-15 Introduction to Part I....Pages 17-24 Moll Flanders and Fluid Identity....Pages 25-38 Tom Jones and Narrative (Il)legimitacy....Pages 39-49 Front Matter....Pages 51-51 Introduction to Part II....Pages 53-58 The Coquette’s Lesson: Haywood’s Betsy Thoughtless....Pages 59-70 The Tragic Coquette: Inchbald’s A Simple Story....Pages 71-78 Becoming a Benefactress: Burney’s Cecilia....Pages 79-89 The Imaginist: Lennox’s The Female Quixote....Pages 90-100 Jane Austen’s Emma, the Arch-Imaginist....Pages 101-112 Front Matter....Pages 113-113 Introduction to Part III....Pages 115-119 The Name of the Father: Burney’s Evelina....Pages 120-131 The Law of the Father: Inchbald’s A Simple Story....Pages 132-141 Doomed: Mary Hays’ The Victim of Prejudice....Pages 142-152 Liberating Daughters: Charlotte Smith’s Emmeline....Pages 153-163 The Gothic of Family Romance....Pages 164-167 Legitimacy in Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto....Pages 168-175 Dis/Harmony in Clara Reeve’s The Old English Baron....Pages 176-184 Avenged: Ann Radcliffe’s The Romance of the Forest....Pages 185-195 Front Matter....Pages 197-197 Introduction to Part IV....Pages 199-201 Front Matter....Pages 197-197 Escaped: Ann Radcliffe’s A Sicilian Romance....Pages 202-211 Sanctuary in Ann Radcliffe’s The Italian....Pages 212-222 Front Matter....Pages 223-223 Taking Farewell: Jane Austen’s Persuasion....Pages 225-241 Conclusion....Pages 242-247 Back Matter....Pages 248-277 The Orphan in Eighteenth-Century Fiction explores how the figure of the orphan was shaped by changing social and historical circumstances. Analysing sixteen major novels from Defoe to Austen, this original study explains the undiminished popularity of literary orphans and reveals their key role in the construction of gendered subjectivity.