One Great Family: Domestic Relationships in Samuel Richardson’s Novels

This study examines concepts of morality and structures of domestic relationships in Samuel Richardson’s novels, situating them in the context of eighteenth-century moral writings and reader reactions. Based on a detailed analysis of Richardson’s work, this book maintains that he sought both to uphold hierarchical concepts of individual duty, and to warn of the consequences if such hierarchies were abused. In his final novel, Richardson aimed at a synthesis between social hierarchy and individual liberty, patriarchy and female self-fulfilment. His work, albeit rooted in patriarchal values, paved the way for proto-feminist conceptions of female character.

Inhalt:
Acknowledgements
Introduction
1. The system of duty
1.1 Allestree, Delany and reciprocal duties
1.2 Clarissa and the system of duty
1.3 Duty and interiority
1.4 Masquerade, truth and hypocrisy
1.5 Body and mind
2. Alternative structures of relationship: gift, contract, friendship
2.1 The giving of gifts
2.2 Women, gifts, and property
2.3 ‘Puzzling Locke,’ Mulso and the system of duty
2.4 Friendship and the system of duty
2.5 Male authority and the disruption of relationships
3. Grandison and utopia
3.1 The harmonious body
3.2 Cross-gender solidarity
3.3 Grandisonian re-presentations of truth
3.4 Gift-giving in Grandison
3.5 Women among themselves
3.6 Women, free will and control
3.7 Paradise Regained – the utopia of Grandison Hall
4. Conclusion: the double narrative of Sir Charles Grandison
Bibliography
Primary Sources
Secondary Sources


Autor:inneninformation:
Dr. des. Simone Eva Höhn ist Anglistin mit Forschungsschwerpunkt auf dem 18. Jahrhundert.