Product Description

First published in the turbulent decade following the French Revolution, Memoirs of Emma Courtney is based on Mary Hays' own passionate struggle with romance and Enlightenment philosophy. A feminist and ardent disciple of Mary Wollstonecraft, Hays reveals the lamentable gap between `what women are' and `what woment ought to be'. The novel is one of the most articulate and detailed expressions of the yearnings and frustrations of a woman living in late eighteenth-century English society. It questions marital arrangements and courtship rituals by depicting a woman who actively pursues the man she loves. The novel explores the links between sexuality, desire, and economic and social freedom, suggesting the need for improvement in the laws of society which `have enslaved, enervated, and degraded woman'.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #92533 in Books
• Published on: 2000-12-21
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 272 pages

Sandra Sherman, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville
"this wonderful formerly obscure novel now yields the intellectual excitement and scandalous frisson that it generated upon publication."

From the Publisher
The Broadview Editions series is an effort to represent the ever-changing canon of literature in English by bringing together texts long regarded as classics with valuable, lesser-known literature. Newly type-set and produced on high-quality paper in trade paperback format, the Broadview Editions series is a delight to handle as well as to read.

Each volume includes a full introduction, chronology, bibliography, and explanatory notes along with a variety of documents from the period, giving readers a rich sense of the world from which the work emerged.

About the Author
Eleanor Ty is Assistant Professor of English at Wilfrid Laurier University, Ontario.

Customer Reviews

the perils of sensibility
This is a really good edition of the novel. The editor, Marilyn Brooks has provided an excellent and helpful introduction, notes and scholarly appendices. The story is written in the form of letters, as was fashionable at the end of the 18th century and tells the story of Emma's life through her own words. The novel is a plea for greater scope for women to develop intellectually and to take control of their own lives and destiny.

It is also a warning for her readers not to depend on men for support and guidance. It is also a warning about the dangers of 'Sensibilty', meaning allowing passion and emotion to dominate.