Castle Rackrent / Maria Edgeworth ; edited by George Watson

Edgeworth, Maria (1767-1849)

ISBN 10: 0192815393 / ISBN 13: 9780192815392

Published by Oxford : Oxford University Press, 1980

About this Item

Near fine paperback copy; edges very slightly dust-dulled and nicked. Remains particularly and surprisingly well-preserved overall; tight, bright, clean and especially sharp-cornered. Physical description: xliii, 127 p. ; 20 cm. Notes: Originally published in 1995, in the series World classics. Includes bibliographical references (p. [xxxix]-xl). Summary: Four generations of Rackrent heirs - Sir Patrick, the dissipated spendthrift; Sir Murtagh, the litigating fiend; Sir Kit, the brutal husband and gambling absentee; and Sir Condy, the lovable and improvident dupe of Thady's own son, Jason. Subject: Estates, administration - Landlord and tenant - Rural conditions - Poor families - Rich people - Families - Gentry - Ireland - Fiction. Women authors, Irish - 18th century. English fiction. Ireland - Social life and customs - 18th / 19th century - Fiction. Catholicism. History - Rebellion of 1798 - Fiction. General & literary fiction ; Classic fiction. FICTION / Classics / Social science / Women's Studies / Literary criticism / European / English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh. Other names: Watson, George. Genre: Bibliography, Domestic Fiction. Satire. 1 Kg.

Seller Inventory # 232047

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Castle Rackrent / Maria Edgeworth ; edited by George Watson
• Publisher: Oxford : Oxford University Press
• Publication Date: 1980
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0192815393
• ISBN 13: 9780192815392
• Binding: Soft cover
• Edition: World's Classics Edition.
• Weight: 1 kilogram

About this title

Synopsis

With her satire on Anglo-Irish landlords in Castle Rackrent (1800), Maria Edgeworth pioneered the regional novel and inspired Sir Walter Scott's Waverley (1814). Politically risky, stylistically innovative, and wonderfully entertaining, the novel changes the focus of conflict in Ireland from religion to class, and boldly predicts the rise of the Irish Catholic bourgeoisie. The second edition now includes new notes informed by the latest scholarship.

From the Back Cover

Set in Ireland prior to its achieving legislative independence from Britain in 1782, Castle Rackrent tells the story of three generations of an estate-owning family as seen through the eyes -- and as told in the voice -- of their longtime servant, Thady Quirk, recorded and commented on by an anonymous Editor. This edition of Maria Edgeworth's first novel is based on the 1832 edition, the last revised by her, and includes Susan Kubica Howard's foot-of-the-page notes on the text of the memoir as well as on the notes and glosses the Editor offers "for the information of the ignorant English reader." Howard's Introduction situates the novel in its political and historical context and suggests a reading of the novel as Edgeworth's contribution to the discussion of the controversial Act of Union between Ireland and Britain that went into effect immediately after the novel's publication in London in 1800.