Castle Rackrent (Oxford World's Classics)
Editorial Reviews
From 500 Great Books by Women; review by Erica Bauermeister
Thady Quirk - or "honest Thady" - having lived on the estate of Castle Rackrent for most of his long life, takes it upon himself to "publish the MEMOIRS of the RACKRENT FAMLY." Speaking in Irish vernacular, he describes the masters he and his family have served under: Sir Patrick, who fills his house with guests and drinks himself to death; Sir Murtagh, his heir, a "great lawyer," who refuses - "out of honor" - to pay Sir Patrick's debts; and Sir Kit, who gambles and eventually sells his estate to Thady's son. Through Thady's memories of these landowners (and the tenants who all too often had to pay for the landownders' indulgences) we gain a picture of fedual life in Ireland before the Irish Revolution. Thady is an unreliable narrator who, it appears, cannot - or does not - tell the whole story. Which leaves a question. Is Thady a naive and loyal servant or is he a clever and self-serving man who knows how to get his point across and his plans accomplished without seeming to know what he is saying or doing? Adding to the underlying irony of the narrative is the contrast between Thady and the anonymous, condescending British voice of the mock glossary of terms. Humorous and biting, Castle Rackrent is a largely unrecognized jewel of social satire. -- For great reviews of books for girls, check out Let's Hear It for the Girls: 375 Great Books for Readers 2-14.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Book Description
With her satire on Anglo-Irish landlords in Castle Rackrent (1800), Maria Edgeworth pioneered the regional novel and inspired Sir Walter Scott's Waverley (1814). Politically risky, stylistically innovative, and wonderfully entertaining, the novel changes the focus of conflict in Ireland from
religion to class, and boldly predicts the rise of the Irish Catholic bourgeoisie. The second edition now includes new notes informed by the latest scholarship.
Castle Rackrent (Oxford World's Classics)
Castle Rackrent (Oxford World's Classics),Maria Edgeworth,George Watson,Kathryn J. Kirkpatrick,Oxford University Press, USA,0192835637,Classics,English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh,Fiction,Literature - Classics / Criticism,Literature: Classics,Women's Studies - General,16th to 18th century fiction,19th century fiction,British Isles,Fiction / Classics,Literature/English | British Literature | 19th C
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