Tales And Novels: Forrester. The Prussian Vase. The Good Aunt

by Maria Edgeworth

Tales And Forrester. The Prussian Vase. The Good Aunt by Maria Edgeworth. This collection gathers Edgeworth’s didactic moral tales that blend social satire with intimate portraits of family life and education. The pieces scrutinize vanity, propriety, and the responsibilities of parents and guardians through varied settings—from Mrs. Temple’s drawing rooms and Panache’s theatrical witticisms to peasant generosity and the craftsman’s workshop. Recurring themes include the moral economy of generosity, the transformative power of learning, and the tension between appearances and true character. Across stories such as Mademoiselle Panache, The Knapsack, Lame Jervas, The Will, The Limerick Gloves, Out of Debt Out of Danger, The Lottery, Angelina; or, L’amie Inconnue, and The Good French Governess, Edgeworth advocates prudence, industry, honesty, and kindness as the foundations of happiness. The narratives depict how prudent domestic management, friendship, and virtue endure beyond fashionable surfaces, offering readers a lucid meditation on education, character, and social duty.

488 pages, Paperback

Published August 12, 2021

About the author

Maria Edgeworth was an Anglo-Irish gentry-woman, a daughter of Richard Lovell Edgeworth, born in Oxfordshire and later resettling in County Longford. She eventually took over the management of her father's estate in Ireland and dedicated herself to writing novels that encouraged the kind treatment of Irish tenants and the poor by their landlords.