Belinda (Oxford World's Classics)

By Maria Edgeworth

Book Overview

The lively comedy of this novel in which a young woman comes of age amid the distractions and temptations of London high society belies the challenges it poses to the conventions of courtship, the dependence of women, and the limitations of domesticity. Contending with the perils and the varied cast of characters of the marriage market, Belinda strides resolutely toward independence. Admired by her contemporary, Jane Austen, and later by Thackeray and Turgenev, Edgeworth tackles issues of gender and race in a manner at once comic and thought-provoking. The 1802 text used in this edition also confronts the difficult and fascinating issues of racism and mixed marriage, which Edgeworth toned down in later editions.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0192837095
• ISBN13: 9780192837097
• Release Date: August 1999
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Length: 544 Pages
• Weight: 0.83 lbs.
• Dimensions: 5.1" x 0.9" x 7.7"

Customer Reviews

Memorable Characters

Lady Delacour is by far the most intriguing character in this novel but Belinda and the two male leads, (Mr. Hervey and Mr. Vincent) can carry their own. This is a wonderful novel filled with a few surprises and mystery. For instance - who is the captive Virginia, what is her story, and how does she figure into Belinda's future? The book is highly readable and you won't want to put it down in order to find out who will end up with who and what will become of the enigmatic Lady Delacour. Typical themes of the times - sexism, colonialism, etc are woven throughout the beautiful prose. Highly recommended!

Arrived in Plenty of Time

I needed this book for an English class I was taking and NONE of the bookstores around me carried it. Thanks for getting to me so quickly. Why the bookstores didn't carry it I don't know...excellent piece of literature.

A joy to read

I started reading Belinda around 6pm and finally around 2:30am I decided that I had best go to bed and finish the book later. Well, 10 minutes later my light was back on and I stayed up until 6:30am finishing the book. Not even all of Jane Austen's work has done that to me!The themes of gender and sexual attitudes, colonialism, religion, etc can easily be found in this work if you're interested in it for its scholarly value. However for the lay person it is a beautifully written, light read that is reminiscent of Austen's Mansfield Park or Sense and Sensibility (I certainly don't see many parallels to Pride and Prejudice as one reviewer did). If you're looking to go past Austen into early 19th century English literature, I would certainly recommend this book highly.

A good read!

Why I never heard about this book until I stumbled upon it online, I will never know! This is as good as any Jane Austen novel, and should have a BBC film of it's own.