Leaving Utopia Behind: Maria Edgeworth’s Views of America

Abstract

Maria Edgeworth was an Anglo-Irish writer who was born in 1768 and died in 1849 and thus was able to witness the economic and ideological changes that shaped British society in the aftermath of the French Revolution. Though Edgeworth upheld utilitarian and enlightened ideas very similar to the ones inspiring the American Founding Fathers, studies on her oeuvre have never been interested in the vision of America reflected in her tales and novels. This paper analyses some of Edgeworth’s little-explored narratives and corresponds to three different moments in her career. Edgeworth considered America to be a place where the individual could begin a new life away from home (“Tomorrow” [1804]), a tolerant country open to all religious creeds (Harrington[1817]) and an alternative motherland for the Irish during the Famine (Orlandino [1847]). The author was conditioned by the historical circumstances in Ireland, and she remained faithful to her pedagogic aim. However, instead of resorting to an idealisation of America, Edgeworth associated the new land with freedom and hope. In these narratives, and from a more or less serious point of view, she depicted America as a prize reserved for courageous hardworking people and even as an escape from the grim reality at home.