Maria Edgeworth
Edgeworth was the first major Irish novelist, whose regional fictions of Anglo-Irish life directly inspired Scott's Waverley series. Her children's stories and novels of education were equally influential throughout the nineteenth century.
Works
- Castle RackrentIrish estate saga told through portraits of successive generations and their decline
- The AbsenteeNovel of an Irish landlord's redemption and the tensions between England and Ireland
- BelindaNovel of feminine education and moral choices through a heroine's coming-of-age
- EnnuiNovel exploring class tensions and aristocratic ennui in an Irish gentleman's experience
- HelenNovel of a woman navigating marriage, intellect, and social constraint in polite society