The City Jilt: or the Alderman Turn'd Beau

by Eliza Fowler Haywood

The 18th century was a wealth of knowledge, exploration and rapidly growing technology and expanding record-keeping made possible by advances in the printing press. In its determination to preserve the century of revolution, Gale initiated a revolution of its own: digitization of epic proportions to preserve these invaluable works in the largest archive of its kind. Now for the first time these high-quality digital copies of original 18th century manuscripts are available in print, making them highly accessible to libraries, undergraduate students, and independent scholars.Western literary study flows out of eighteenth-century works by Alexander Pope, Daniel Defoe, Henry Fielding, Frances Burney, Denis Diderot, Johann Gottfried Herder, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, and others. Experience the birth of the modern novel, or compare the development of language using dictionaries and grammar discourses. ++++The below data was compiled from various identification fields in the bibliographic record of this title. This data is provided as an additional tool in helping to insure edition identification: ++++British LibraryT057429Attributed to Eliza Haywood. Includes: "The whimsical apothecary," relating an incident at the celebration of the birth of the Prince of Wales on 12 August 1763.London: printed by T. Bailey, [1764?]. 56p.; 8

Genres: Read For School

60 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1726

About the author

Eliza Haywood (1693 – 1756), born Elizabeth Fowler, was an English writer, actress and publisher. Since the 1980s, Eliza Haywood’s literary works have been gaining in recognition and interest. Described as “prolific even by the standards of a prolific age” (Blouch, intro 7), Haywood wrote and published over seventy works during her lifetime including fiction, drama, translations, poetry, conduct literature and periodicals. Haywood is a significant figure of the 18th century as one of the important founders of the novel in English. Today she is studied primarily as a novelist.

Reviews

[Carter · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5

[Joslin Boals · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you’ve felt female rage in your life, this short story is for you.

Generational female rage encapsulates the core of this story as a woman seeks revenge not only against her ex-fiancé but all men because of what has been done to her. She schemes with her best friend to con many men out of their money through card games. Although the story is a bit fantastical, nearly every woman will relate to Glicera and the fantasy of revenge against those who have done you so wrong you can’t stand it.

Many parts of this story are reminiscent of Taylor Swift’s rage songs, especially mad woman and Vigilante Sh*t. Although it is 18th century literature, it feels strangely modern and accessible to someone like me, who can hardly stand reading literature from this time period. There are some misogynistic themes entwined throughout, which is disappointing, but I also didn’t expect it to be a perfect piece of feminist literature considering the culture surrounding the text.

I would highly recommend reading this if my above thoughts resonate with you (and even if they don’t, consider giving it a shot)!