Belinda by Maria Edgeworth

Belinda, Maria Edgeworth’s second novel, was first published in 1801 by the radical publisher Joseph Johnson. On the surface, this society novel assumes a linear marriage plot, narrating Belinda Portman’s social debut during the London season, subsequent circumventing of feckless gallants, and ultimate triumph in securing the hand of the apparently reformed hero Clarence Hervey. However, this straight marriage plot is disrupted by the complex history of Lady Delacour, Belinda’s chaperone. Lady Delacour is the leader of the ton, celebrated for her beauty and incisive wit; her story competes with Belinda’s and engenders much of the novel’s activity. Through her reflexive recitation of her history in volume one we learn of her failing marriage and her struggles with motherhood, as well as her dalliance with the aptly named Colonel Lawless, intrigue with the cross-dressing Harriet Freke, and rivalry with Mrs. Luttridge, the latter of which results in a duel during which Lady Delacour sustains an injury to her chest. Upon consulting a quack, who is more interested in keeping her dependant on laudanum than curing her, she is convinced she is suffering from terminal breast cancer, and her resulting fear and secrecy generate much of the novel’s intrigue. This complex novel is also well known for its colonial subplot, wherein the racialized characters Augustus Vincent (a wealthy “creole” West Indian), and Juba (a Black servant), recently arrived in England from Jamaica, romantically pursue White Englishwomen, revealing anxieties about gender, race, home, and nation (Greenfield, PMLA 112(2):214–228, 1997).