基本説明
収録作品：Anon., Berkeley Hall; Or, The Pupil of Experience (1796)このジャンル随一の娯楽作家の作。Jane West, A Tale of the Times (1799)反ジャコバン派思潮が最高潮に達した中、作者の第3作は、政治的というよりも道徳的な主張に重きを置く。Isaac D’Israeli, Vaurien; Or, Sketches of the Times (1797)新時代の哲学者を懐疑主義や狂信主義と同様に時代を歪めたと非難する。Sophia King, Waldorf; Or, The Dangers of Philosophy (1798)衝動的な少年が瞑想的な解放者と実践的な哲学者の間で揺れ動く。Edward Dubois, St Godwin: A Tale of the 16th, 17th, and 18th c. (1800)Edited by Robert Milesゴドウィン嫌悪の表明。Charles Lucas, The Infernal Quixote: A Tale of the Day (1801)1798年のアイルランド蜂起を材に、キリスト教への信仰と社会組織こそ、悪と急進思想に対するイギリスの最良の守りであることを示す。
Full Description
A selection of Anti-Jacobin novels reprinted in full with annotations. The set includes works by male and female writers holding a range of political positions within the Anti-Jacobin camp, and represents the French Revolution, American Revolution, Irish Rebellion and political unrest in Scotland.
Contents
Part II Volume 6 Anon., Berkeley Hall; Or, The Pupil of Experience (1796) Berkeley Hall is without a doubt one of the most entertaining novels of the genre. It is also exceptional in that the action is almost entirely set in America . Indeed, though the plot and the novel's central concerns are intricately tied up with the contemporary British Jacobin/anti-Jacobin debate, the novel displays such detailed insights into recent American history and politics - with the action ostensibly taking place before the American Revolution, during the French and Indian War in the late 1750s - that it deserves a prominent place in early American literature, as well as in 1790s British literature. Volume 7 Jane West, A Tale of the Times (1799) Jane West's third novel, published when anti-Jacobin sentiments were at their strongest, differs from most of the other novels in this collection in that the author does not so much take on political as moral issues, and in that she does so within a context of nationalism and femininity. Volume 8 Isaac D'Israeli, Vaurien; Or, Sketches of the Times (1797) This novel belongs to the sub-genre of the anti-Jacobin novel whose main aim is to whip up conspiracy-mania amongst its readers (Charles Lucas's The Infernal Quixote also belongs to this category). Although dismissing with scorn the new philosophers for having disfigured the age with equal measures of scepticism and fanaticism, the novel at the same time displays considerable wit and understanding. The novel is also interesting for its caricature of Godwin (as 'Mr Subtile') and its dismissal of Wollstonecraft's 'models of voluptuous freedom'. Volume 9 Sophia King, Waldorf; Or, The Dangers of Philosophy (1798) The novel's hero, Waldorf, is an impulsive youth who comes under the influence of the emancipated Lok, puts into action his purely speculative notions, proselytizes, and strews his path with victims. Through the juxtaposition of a speculative (Lok) and a practical philosopher (Waldorf) this novel presents a strong plea for maintaining and cherishing the domestic economy of hearth and home. Edward Dubois, St Godwin: A Tale of the 16th, 17th, and 18th c. (1800) It is a measure of the degree of hatred the figure of William Godwin evoked amongst the anti-Jacobins that he and, more particularly, his novel St Leon: A Tale of the Sixteenth Century were singled out for special satirical treatment in this novel. Killing two Revolutions with one stone, Dubois's satire is a brilliantly witty parody of Godwin's 'radical' change of tack from the uncompromising rationalist that wrote the Enquiry and Caleb Williams to the champion of the domestic economy and the 'affections of the heart' that wrote St Leon . Though inaccurate, the parody is highly entertaining. Volume 10 Charles Lucas, The Infernal Quixote: A Tale of the Day (1801) This novel introduces us to a range of new philosophers, including the 'Virtuosos' who, according to Miss Whitney, 'hate the Government because it is a modern fabric and use all their might to overturn the State ...'. The book's main villain, Marauder, is a guiding spirit in the Irish Rebellion of 1798. Presented as an emissary of Hell, Marauder is determined to conquer for his master the yet unvanquished island of Britain . Marauder's new philosophy is exposed as vanity, hypocrisy and self-interest, whilst his opponent's (Wilson Wilson's) faith in the Christian doctrine and social fabric are held up as Britain 's best defence against the forces of evil and radical thought.
