Leonora

by Maria Edgeworth

Although Edgeworth is known for having her novels (Castle Rackrent, The Absentee) address issues of nationalism in an Anglo-Irish context, Leonora instead privileges English manners over French ones. Leonora, though not published until 1806, was commenced three years before that date: the circumstances under which it was written were to a certain extent unique in Maria Edgeworth's life; for we are told that throughout the time occupied in writing the story, she had in mind the offer of marriage made to her by Monsieur Edelcrantz, a Swedish gentleman of good position, "of superior understanding and mild manners," as she told her aunt in a letter partly written before the proposal and finished afterwards. This seems, from the biographies, to have been the only time this truly good and sensible woman was ever sought in marriage by any man; and it shows some of the good qualities she possessed, that though she refused him, yet from the respect she bore him and the esteem in which she held him, this story was written to a large extent with a view to his approbation, though we are told that she never knew whether or not he had read it.

Genres: Classics, Romance, Fiction, Novels, British Literature, English Literature

311 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1806

About the author

Maria Edgeworth was an Anglo-Irish gentry-woman, 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.

Reviews

[Kirk · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5

[Amanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rating for the plot, not for the writing, as Edgeworth is usually pretty solid on that front. Heavily didactic, and basically boils down to "beware of French ladies and their loose morals." And I'm not quite sure it's a happy ending with what a jackhole Leonora's husband turned out to be.

[samarina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Como já diria o pensador contemporâneo Rennan da Penha:

"Então para de falar que ele é seu
Marido dos outros não é presente de Deus
Talarica
'Tava sentando no macho da tua amiga
E tu vai tomar um pau."

Obviamente bem escrito, mas além da narrativa espistolar(que eu particularmente não curto tanto), teve como enredo principal assuntos que me irritam muito: cornas mansas e homens adúlteros.

**disclaimer: sei como eram as coisas naquela época e que mulher não podia fazer muita coisa a não ser aceitar mas!!não sou obrigada a gostar, chega a ser patético o jeito que a Leonora se humilha pelo marido, que tem tanta culpa de traí-la quanto a "amiga" dela.

[Mary Fagan · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable critique of the cult of sensibility and the sentimental novel.