Mary Robinson’s fifth novel, Walsingham; or, The Pupil of Nature, was published by T.N. Longman in 1797. Like her other novels, Walsingham addresses many political themes, such as women’s rights to inheritance, the value of personal merit over rank, and the importance of education for both sexes. In addition, Walsingham makes strong social critiques, particularly about socially-prescribed class and gender roles and about the dangers of excessive sensibility. The novel is also notable because of its generic mixing: poetry that is essential to the story’s development is interspersed throughout, and Robinson published these poems separately in newspaper poetry columns to popular and critical acclaim.
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Citation: Prefontaine, Carrie-Ann. "Walsingham". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 27 November 2007 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=8680, accessed 21 November 2024.]