Elizabeth Inchbald, A Simple Story

Mary Waters (Wichita State University)

Ed. by Janet Todd, University of Cambridge
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 1791

Places

England (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Novel
Romance

Resources

Elizabeth Inchbald ends her first novel, A Simple Story (1791)declaring that her aim has been to show that even a daughter must receive“A PROPER EDUCATION.” The phrase has been taken to sum up thenovel's argument, unifying it and linking it to the debates aboutwomen's education that raged around the time Inchbald composed andpublished her work. Yet the title seems to signal an ironic intent that willundermine any easy categorization of the novel's purpose. Indeed, thoughthe tale does offer a commentary on women's education, the structural,narrative, and psychological complexities are what have drawn readers to ASimple Story for over two hundred years.

The tale combines two plots separated by a time-span of …

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1964 words

Citation: Waters, Mary. "A Simple Story". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 10 October 2002 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=6981, accessed 22 November 2024.]

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