The Orphan in Eighteenth-Century Fiction

The Orphan in Eighteenth-Century Fiction explores how the figure of the orphan was shaped by changing social and historical circumstances. Analysing sixteen major novels from Defoe to Austen, this original study explains the undiminished popularity of literary orphans and reveals their key role in the construction of gendered subjectivity.

König's study remains a valuable contribution to studies of identity in the novel, one which convincingly argues for the significance of orphaned characters in eighteenth-century fiction, and which makes a clear argument for the psychic function of narratives featuring orphan figures. This is an argument that other scholars will profitably be able to build upon and refine. (Sarah Tindal Kareem, Modern Language Review, Vol. 3 (1), January, 2016)

Eva König's The Orphan in Eighteenth-Century Fiction: The Vicissitudes of the Eighteenth-Century Subject (2014) examines the figure of the orphan through Lacanian psychoanalysis. König's study is an excellent (and often provocative) first look at the reasons behind the prevalence of the orphan as a gendered subject and one that will certainly generate more discussion in the future. (Tommi Kakko, English Studies, Vol. 97(7), 2016)

"The Orphan in Eighteenth-Century Fiction brings together a psychoanalytical approach to the orphan as a gendered subject with the political evolution of class relations during the eighteenth century and a historical view of the development of the novel as a genre. The result is a masterful argument that balances original insights into individual texts with a far-reaching thesis about the literary-historical and psychosocial significance of the orphan figure." Professor Angela Esterhammer, University of Toronto, USA

"Summing up: Recommended" M. E. Burstein, CHOICE

Autorentext

Eva König is Lecturer at the University of Zurich, Switzerland, where she has taught courses on literary analysis and cultural theory. Her research interests include eighteenth-century literature, post-colonial literature, Marxist theory, gender theory, and psychoanalysis.

Inhalt

1. Introduction PART I: BASTARDS AND FOUNDLINGS IN PRE-IMAGINARY OSCILLATION 2. Moll Flanders and Fluid Identity 3. Tom Jones and Narrative (Il)legimitacy PART II: MIRROR, MIRROR ON THE WALL: THE DELUDED HEIRESS AND THE IMAGINARY 4. The Coquette's Lesson: Haywood's Betsy Thoughtless 5. The Tragic Coquette: Inchbald's A Simple Story 6. Becoming a Benefactress: Burney's Cecilia 7. The Imaginist: Lennox's The Female Quixote 8. Jane Austen's Emma, the Arch-Imaginist PART III: DISPOSSESSED CHILDREN: THE SUBJECT OF THE SYMBOLIC 9. The Name of the Father: Burney's Evelina 10. The Law of the Father: Inchbald's A Simple Story 11. Doomed: Mary Hays's The Victim of Prejudice 12. Liberating Daughters: Charlotte Smith's Emmeline 13. The Gothic of Family Romance 14. Legitimacy in Walpole's The Castle of Otranto 15. Dis/Harmony in Clara Reeve's The Old English Baron 16. Avenged: Ann Radcliffe's The Romance of the Forest PART IV: THE RETURN OF THE REPRESSED: RADCLIFFE'S MATRIARCHY 17. Escaped: Ann Radcliffe's A Sicilian Romance 18. Sanctuary in Ann Radcliffe's The Italian PART V: THE ORPHAN IN MOURNING 19. Taking Farewell: Jane Austen's Persuasion 20. Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index