Their fathers' daughters: Hannah More, Maria Edgeworth, and patriarchal complicity

Abstract

What does it mean for a woman writer to identify strongly with her father and with the patriarchal tradition he represents? What factors motivate such identification, and what are its consequences? This book answers such questions through a close examination of the lives and selected works of two late eighteenth-century women writers, Hannah More and Maria Edgeworth, who were complicitous with their fathers' politics. While feminist theory has developed a powerful body of explanations for some women's rebellion against patriarchy, it has not yet adequately accounted for the many women - like More and Edgeworth - who gladly wrote the conservative political writings which actively proselytized against social democracy. This book exposes the complex psychological dynamics behind their choices, uncovers `daughterly complicity', and discusses the motivations behind such behaviour.