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A review by ninarg
Belinda by Maria Edgeworth
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.