 First edition title page | |
| Author | Maria Edgeworth |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Publisher | J. Johnson |
Publication date | 1814 |
| Publication place | Ireland |
| Media type | Print (Hardback &Paperback) |
Patronage is a four volume fictional work byAnglo-Irish writerMaria Edgeworth and published in 1814. It is one of her later books, after such successes asCastle Rackrent (1800),Belinda (1801),Leonora (1806) andThe Absenteein 1812, to name a few. The novel is a long and ambitious one which she began writing in 1809. It is the longest of her novels.[citation needed]
Patronage as a book is path-making; it was among the first novels with athesis and as such, it opened the way forSir Walter Scott'shistorical novels.[1] In the novel, Edgeworth focuses on and scrupulously explores the various types ofpatronage and the many forms it takes in all strata of English society. Despite the rigor of her analysis, Edgeworth obtains a sense of subtlety through her ingenious use of variations in characterizations and a well diversified plot. The plot is made up of many incidents, great and small, that take the reader through a wide range of situations. Much like her contemporary,Jane Austen, Edgeworth had a gift for conveying social conventions through brilliant dialogue and acute moral observations. However, unlike Austen, Edgeworth's writing diverges intoessay and an overemphasis on ideas (of which she has a large number) and veers once or twice into the didactic.[1]
The literary scholar Alastair Fowler notes her "flawless ear for speech" and ability to produce "brilliant dialogue", as well as the way her various subplots are linked by chains of causation that rest ultimately on a trivial plot element, much as Austen later was able to do so superbly.[1]
Edgeworth was eldest daughter ofRichard Lovell Edgeworth, theAnglo-Irish politician, writer and inventor who had 21 other children with four wives. This book received theimprimatur of her famous father when published.[2]
Patronage + Maria Edgeworth.
Patronage + Maria Edgeworth.
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