The Outsider Narrator in Eliza Haywood's Political Novels

Abstract

Although Eliza Haywood's works have generally not been considered political, examination of three of her novels from the 1720s reveals a significant political component. The narrators of these novels identify themselves as political actors by taking up the position of outsiders whose apparently disinterested position endows them with virtue and qualifies them to offer criticisms. These criticisms argue that behavior excused by politicians as merely private is, in fact, political behavior that affects the public sphere. Haywood thus aligns herself with the Tory element of the opposition to Walpole and claims a place for herself within the political sphere.