Castle Rackrent ; : and, Ennui / Maria Edgeworth ; edited by Marilyn Butler

"I could not but admire my lady's spirit, and was proud to see Castle Rackrent again in all its glory"

Thady Quirk is the ever-present steward to four generations of a dying dynasty in Castle Racrent, hilariously flattering and encouraging his hapless masters on their road to ruin. Ingeniously drawing on an actual chronicle of Maria Edgeworth's family experiences, the narrative subtly emerges as a devastating commentary on the Anglo Irish occupation of rural Ireland. This volume also includes Ennui, a natural sequel to Castle Rackrent with its family nurse of the Irish Rebellion of 1798, the lazy and gullible English earl, Lord Glenthorn, learns a shocking secret that will drive him and his nurse apart

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

Maria Edgeworth (1767–1849) was born in Oxfordshire and, after being educated in England, went to Edgeworthstown in Ireland to act as her father's assistant and governess to his many other children. With her father she wrote several educational books, and as a novelist she earned the praise of Sir Walter Scott.

Marilyn Butler (1937–2014) was rector of Exeter College, Oxford. She was educated at the University of Oxford and taught both there and at Cambridge, where she was the King Edward VII Professor of English Literature from 1986 to 1993. Her books include Jane Austen and the War of Ideas, Peacock Displayed, and The Collected Works of Maria Edgeworth. Butler also edited Castle Rackrent and Ennui by Maria Edgeworth.