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thesummer's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars
An interesting and enjoyable read. I found this while looking for contemporaries to Jane Austen, and I'm not sure why I expected it to be like Austen, but it isn't at all. It is still very recognizably a comedy of manners and was funny and witty, but where Austen contents herself to her two-inch square of ivory that is landed gentry chilling in the countryside, Edgeworth's plots take us a bit more into the realm of the overdramatic and requires-suspension-of-disbelief (ie. one character reads Rousseau's Emile, takes it way too literally, and goes out and finds an innocent sheltered girl to educate and raise into becoming his ideal wife). Not necessarily a bad thing, but different. It reminded me of Shelley's Frankenstein and Doyle's Sherlock Holmes novels in the dramatic plots and stories-within-a-story, and of Cervante's Don Quixote at times in the way it made fun of romance novel tropes and poked at the fourth wall.
Belinda is a solid titular character for a romance/ comedy of manners: a young girl newly entering society who is intelligent, firm, kind, sensible etc. But a perfect heroine, especially a prissy model of principle and virtue like Belinda, is hardly interesting and only leads to yawns, which is why the more mature Lady Delacour steals every scene she is in and indeed steals the entire novel. Lady Delacour is the consummate Slytherin in her social smarts, jaded and witty, but temperamental, suspicious, and morally pretty darn grey; sparkling in society but miserable at home with her life. She makes for a far more interesting character and is the propelling force behind the whole novel. That's why, when her character development arc more or less resolves halfway/two thirds of the way through, the novel loses steam. Because the last third was just about the overblown dramas of Belinda's two suitors, and to be honest, I couldn't care less about them. Belinda is mostly only interesting as a foil to Lady Delacour; she's the straight woman of the piece.
This was also an interesting read because it's the first one from the period I've read where we have people of colour: one of the points on the love triangle is Mr Vincent, who is West Indian Creole, and there is an interracial marriage between servants depicted. These were both edited out/ toned down in a later edition by Edgeworth's less progressive father, so this must have been a little edgy at the time. The depiction of the black servant is not kosher by today's standards of how to write characters of colour (read: racist, but not worse than, say, Long Duk Dong in Sixteen Candles), and there does not seem to be any compunction with Mr. Vincent's fortune coming from slaves (at least, I'm pretty sure that's what it means in 1700s/1800s novels when they refer to someone's money as coming from the West Indies). However, the characters of colour that we do have, combined with a scene where some characters discuss a popular abolitionist poem at the time, give some food for thought. I like to talk about how it's difficult to judge past authors by today's standards, but it's clear in Belinda that abolitionist discourse was accessible and well-known by the the late 1700s/ early 1800s, and that a mixed person of colour who had a rich gentleman as a father was acceptable as a suitor to a young lady of the gentry. This paints a harsher standard by which we can be judging historical authors, and provides even fewer excuses to contemporary authors of historical fiction who choose to only write about white people.
An interesting and enjoyable read. I found this while looking for contemporaries to Jane Austen, and I'm not sure why I expected it to be like Austen, but it isn't at all. It is still very recognizably a comedy of manners and was funny and witty, but where Austen contents herself to her two-inch square of ivory that is landed gentry chilling in the countryside, Edgeworth's plots take us a bit more into the realm of the overdramatic and requires-suspension-of-disbelief (ie. one character reads Rousseau's Emile, takes it way too literally, and goes out and finds an innocent sheltered girl to educate and raise into becoming his ideal wife). Not necessarily a bad thing, but different. It reminded me of Shelley's Frankenstein and Doyle's Sherlock Holmes novels in the dramatic plots and stories-within-a-story, and of Cervante's Don Quixote at times in the way it made fun of romance novel tropes and poked at the fourth wall.
Belinda is a solid titular character for a romance/ comedy of manners: a young girl newly entering society who is intelligent, firm, kind, sensible etc. But a perfect heroine, especially a prissy model of principle and virtue like Belinda, is hardly interesting and only leads to yawns, which is why the more mature Lady Delacour steals every scene she is in and indeed steals the entire novel. Lady Delacour is the consummate Slytherin in her social smarts, jaded and witty, but temperamental, suspicious, and morally pretty darn grey; sparkling in society but miserable at home with her life. She makes for a far more interesting character and is the propelling force behind the whole novel. That's why, when her character development arc more or less resolves halfway/two thirds of the way through, the novel loses steam. Because the last third was just about the overblown dramas of Belinda's two suitors, and to be honest, I couldn't care less about them.
Spoiler
I couldn't bring myself to be invested in Belinda/Hervey because their actual courtship early on was so :/ Hervey just goes from being like "Ah she's artfully trying to entrap me into a marriage!" to "I was wrong, she is perfect and modest and I love her!" and there's like no basis for Belinda being into him. Also, how the hell am I supposed to take Hervey seriously given the aforementioned Rousseau Emile incident?This was also an interesting read because it's the first one from the period I've read where we have people of colour: one of the points on the love triangle is Mr Vincent, who is West Indian Creole, and there is an interracial marriage between servants depicted. These were both edited out/ toned down in a later edition by Edgeworth's less progressive father, so this must have been a little edgy at the time. The depiction of the black servant is not kosher by today's standards of how to write characters of colour (read: racist, but not worse than, say, Long Duk Dong in Sixteen Candles), and there does not seem to be any compunction with Mr. Vincent's fortune coming from slaves (at least, I'm pretty sure that's what it means in 1700s/1800s novels when they refer to someone's money as coming from the West Indies). However, the characters of colour that we do have, combined with a scene where some characters discuss a popular abolitionist poem at the time, give some food for thought. I like to talk about how it's difficult to judge past authors by today's standards, but it's clear in Belinda that abolitionist discourse was accessible and well-known by the the late 1700s/ early 1800s, and that a mixed person of colour who had a rich gentleman as a father was acceptable as a suitor to a young lady of the gentry. This paints a harsher standard by which we can be judging historical authors, and provides even fewer excuses to contemporary authors of historical fiction who choose to only write about white people.
nullandvoidlibrary's review against another edition
this is a school book, it is the end of the semester, and i am so tired.
ninarg's review against another edition
3.0
In some ways, this was exactly what I had expected:
- At the centre of the novel is a beautiful young girl without a husband. Both her aunt Stanhope and her friend Lady Delacour do what they can to get Belinda, our heroine, married.
- Belinda is good and kind and decent and moral. She sees the best in people and believes that happiness lies in doing your duty.
- The good people are rewarded, the bad people punished for their behaviour.
- At the end, the pieces all come together a bit too perfectly, deus ex machina and all.
But on the plus side:
- Lady Delacour is a marvellous creation - she is saucy, cruel, funny and kind and has all the best lines. Behind her confident facade she is afraid and vulnerable.
- The book is actually funny!
- It features people of other skin colours than white, and one of them (Mr Vincent from Jamaica) is even a serious candidate as a husband for our heroine.
- The conclusion, where the characters are discussing how to end the novel was quite clever.
- And though this isn't to do with the book itself, I enjoyed comparing this to Jane Austen's writing. JA read Maria Edgeworth and even mentioned this novel in Northanger Abbey and it's easy to see how JA's writing is in line with a novel like Belinda, subject-wise, though JA's works are infinitely better; they are better plotted, less moralistic and more re-readable. ()
I enjoyed it, it was fun, but it's not a book I couldn't live without.
- At the centre of the novel is a beautiful young girl without a husband. Both her aunt Stanhope and her friend Lady Delacour do what they can to get Belinda, our heroine, married.
- Belinda is good and kind and decent and moral. She sees the best in people and believes that happiness lies in doing your duty.
- The good people are rewarded, the bad people punished for their behaviour.
- At the end, the pieces all come together a bit too perfectly, deus ex machina and all.
But on the plus side:
- Lady Delacour is a marvellous creation - she is saucy, cruel, funny and kind and has all the best lines. Behind her confident facade she is afraid and vulnerable.
- The book is actually funny!
- It features people of other skin colours than white, and one of them (Mr Vincent from Jamaica) is even a serious candidate as a husband for our heroine.
- The conclusion, where the characters are discussing how to end the novel was quite clever.
- And though this isn't to do with the book itself, I enjoyed comparing this to Jane Austen's writing. JA read Maria Edgeworth and even mentioned this novel in Northanger Abbey and it's easy to see how JA's writing is in line with a novel like Belinda, subject-wise, though JA's works are infinitely better; they are better plotted, less moralistic and more re-readable. (
Spoiler
The part where Clarence Hervey felt honour-bound to marry one girl while being in love with another is echoed in both Persuasion and Sense and Sensibility, though JA's solutions are not as far-fetched as it is in BelindaI enjoyed it, it was fun, but it's not a book I couldn't live without.
ameliaminamikoji's review against another edition
4.0
'As he entered the room, Clarence Hervey's first glance was at Belinda, and rapid as it was, it explained his whole heart.'
june_englit_phd's review against another edition
4.0
“Clarence Hervey might have been more than a pleasant young man, if he had not been smitten with the desire of being thought superior in every thing, and of being the most admired person in all companies. He had been early flattered with the idea that he was a man of genius; and he imagined that, as such, he was entitled to be imprudent, wild, and eccentric. He affected singularity, in order to establish his claims to genius. He had considerable literary talents, by which he was distinguished at Oxford; but he was so dreadfully afraid of passing for a pedant, that when he came into the company of the idle and the ignorant, he pretended to disdain every species of knowledge. His chameleon character seemed to vary in different lights, and according to the different situations in which he happened to be placed. He could be all things to all men—and to all women.”
I have to admit at the outset of my review that I didn't enjoy this novel as much as I had hoped I would. This literary genre is "right up my street", and being a huge fan of classics, I had high expectations of an Austen-esque tale of a young lady coming into society. However, a quarter of the way into the book, I was beginning to find it a bit tedious and, at times, hard to follow.
The heroine of the story is Belinda Portman, who is sent by her match-making aunt to live with the fashionable Delacours in London. The problem is that Mr and Mrs Delacour don't get on well at all - he is inebriated most of the time, and seems to have illicit dealings with Mrs Luttridge; and she is flirting with Clarence Hervey - the "Mr Darcy" figure of the tale. Caught in the middle of the friendship she has with both Mrs Delacour and Clarence Hervey, things are not easy for Belinda. Throw into the mix an unpleasant admirer, (Sir Philip - who is out to make trouble in any way he can), a strange woman (aptly named Mrs Freke), jealousy, banishment, a formidable dowager, an unknown 17-year-old woman, a gambler with an obsession with roulette (and the consequences thereof) and a narrow escape for two people from disastrous marriages and you have a jam-packed-full storyline!
The novel improves as it progresses - although the ending is a little rushed. It's not what I would categorise as a "comedy", although there are some light-hearted exchanges between characters, but on the whole, is an enjoyable read.
I have to admit at the outset of my review that I didn't enjoy this novel as much as I had hoped I would. This literary genre is "right up my street", and being a huge fan of classics, I had high expectations of an Austen-esque tale of a young lady coming into society. However, a quarter of the way into the book, I was beginning to find it a bit tedious and, at times, hard to follow.
The heroine of the story is Belinda Portman, who is sent by her match-making aunt to live with the fashionable Delacours in London. The problem is that Mr and Mrs Delacour don't get on well at all - he is inebriated most of the time, and seems to have illicit dealings with Mrs Luttridge; and she is flirting with Clarence Hervey - the "Mr Darcy" figure of the tale. Caught in the middle of the friendship she has with both Mrs Delacour and Clarence Hervey, things are not easy for Belinda. Throw into the mix an unpleasant admirer, (Sir Philip - who is out to make trouble in any way he can), a strange woman (aptly named Mrs Freke), jealousy, banishment, a formidable dowager, an unknown 17-year-old woman, a gambler with an obsession with roulette (and the consequences thereof) and a narrow escape for two people from disastrous marriages and you have a jam-packed-full storyline!
The novel improves as it progresses - although the ending is a little rushed. It's not what I would categorise as a "comedy", although there are some light-hearted exchanges between characters, but on the whole, is an enjoyable read.
elizastudying's review against another edition
4.0
I read this book for my bachelor thesis, which I am going to write on feminist writers in the 1790s and around 1800. Like a lot of books from around that period, this book was tedious at times. Knowing Austen was an admirer of Edgeworth, however, is clear, if you've read some Austen already. In a way, this novel was a bit more ingeniously put together than most of Austen's novels and I was very surprised at how everything came together in the last 60 pages. I am sure this novel will become even more interesting to me as I start my research!
strzinski's review against another edition
funny
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
blankgarden's review against another edition
4.0
My review: https://theblankgarden.com/2019/03/14/review-belinda-maria-edgeworth/
mossbloom's review against another edition
4.0
It was hard to figure out what kind of book this was for a while. It was very dark for a romantic comedy. But too sweet for a drama. It was unlike much I have read before and I really enjoyed it. I loved the little self-aware bit at the end.