Maria Edgeworth, Castle Rackrent

Sharon Jude Murphy (St. Patrick's College, Drumcondra)

Ed. by Ian Campbell Ross, Trinity College Dublin
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.06: English Writing and Culture of the Romantic Period, 1789-1837.
Vol. editors: Daniel Cook (University of Dundee), Daniel Robinson (Widener University)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1800

Places

England (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Novel

Resources

Castle Rackrent (1800) is one of the most important Irish novels in the English language and, from the very first, generated considerable debate among readers and critics. In part, this was due to the fact that the novel was published at a particularly significant moment in Irish and British history, the year 1800, which saw the dissolution of the Irish parliament in Dublin and the enactment of the Union between Britain and Ireland. The publication of a fiction that implicitly took the relationship between Ireland and Britain as its subject was certain to attract considerable critical attention, and George III himself was reported to have read it and declared “what what – I know something now of my Irish subjects” (…

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2024 words

Citation: Murphy, Sharon Jude. "Castle Rackrent". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 31 May 2007 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=6131, accessed 25 November 2024.]

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