A review by bloodhoney
Belinda by Maria Edgeworth

4.0

I am wholly discontented with the ending. First, it is unutterably creepy that Clarence Hervey basically kidnaps a young virginal girl to bring her up in his way of thinking. Is it feminist to realize at the last second that airhead girls don't make good wives and he would rather marry a woman he can talk to and respect? Yes. Is it still super creepy? YES. Belinda should have run into the arms of her other lover, Mr. Vincent. Is Mr. Vincent a gambler? Yes. Is he guilty of being a slave owner? Yes. HOWEVER, Mr. Vincent's dubious racial background ("Creole" sometimes means half-black, and with God as my witness I want to live in a world where people recognize Heathcliff and Mr. Vincent are NOT WHITE) means a marriage between an English lady and a mixed-race man. Which is about as amazing as the marriage between Juba, the Jamaican slave, and the white maid that IS ACTUALLY CANON (no takebacksies, Edgeworth, you'll rip this marriage from my cold dead hands).

Moral: All of the men in this book (Mr. Percival excepted) are horrible choices, and Belinda should have scorned all of them and lived alone writing philosophy and bantering with Lady Delacour.