Bestowing the Mantle

Abstract

Two late English Jacobin novels, Charlotte Smith’s The Young Philosopher and Maria Edgeworth’s Castle Rackrent consider the situation of reform at the end of a decade marked by soaring hopes and sobering disillusionment. The pervasive running, hiding, wandering, and searching of Smith’s novel is matched by the chaos and lawlessness of Edgeworth’s text, as both authors struggle for a stabilizing center and a legacy to pass on to the next generation of enlightened individuals. The Young Philosopher investigates not so much the rationale for radical change as the frustrations of reformers who have attempted to respond to the exclusions from political advancements and have accepted the sacrifices that accompany the promotion of change. Making way for the “young philosophers”, Smith’s characters assess the state of radicalism at the end of the century, candidly revealing its confusion and uncertainty. Edgeworth’s characters are for the most part not reformers but those responsible for creating the turmoil in contemporary society. The world of Castle Rackrent is devoid of integrity, and thus it is in search of moral agency. The bestowing of the mantle on the next generation is done not with the expectation of an imminent New Jerusalem but with an acknowledgment of ongoing turbulence in a fallen world.KeywordsSocial ContractGreat CoatLegal ProfessionReform MovementAbsentee LandlordThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.