Mary Davys, The Fugitive

Martha F. Bowden (Kennesaw State University)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.05: English Writing and Culture from the Glorious Revolution to the French Revolution, 1689-1789.
Vol. editors: Paul Baines (University of Liverpool), Daniel Cook (University of Dundee), Pat Rogers (University of South Florida), Nicholas Seager (University of Keele)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1705

Places

Ireland, Republic of (Eire) (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Novel

Resources

The Fugitive and its revised version, The Merry Wanderer, by Mary Davys (1674 [?] -1732) are difficult to pin down generically. They follow a picaresque heroine around the English countryside where she sees human nature displayed in all its amusing diversity. Because each episode encapsulates a moral lesson about greed, hypocrisy, parsimony, extravagance and so on, they bear a strong resemblance to the fables that were popular in England in the period; a resemblance that is emphasized in the earlier version by its use of poetic tags to point the tales. This resemblance is not accidental; there is a reference in both versions to Aesop's fable of the Dog and his Shadow. The stories possess a universal quality and …

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2353 words

Citation: Bowden, Martha F.. "The Fugitive". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 21 October 2006 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=20618, accessed 24 November 2024.]

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