Memoirs of Emma Courtney

Memoirs of Emma Courtney (1796) is a novel by English writer and feminist Mary Hays. Inspired by events from her own life, as well as by her acquaintance with radical political philosophers William Godwin and Mary Wollstonecraft, Hays¿s novel received mixed reviews and was controversial for its representation of female sexuality, adultery, infanticide, and suicide. Modern critics and readers, however, have recognized the novel as a groundbreaking work of feminist fiction. In a series of letters to her adopted son Augustus Harley, Emma Courtney reveals the tragic details of her life. Young and in love with Augustus¿s father, Courtney dreamed of marrying him and starting a family. Despite their true connection, Harley is unable to marry¿his continued income is only guaranteed, he claims, if he remains a bachelor. Meanwhile, a man named Mr. Montague promises Courtney a life of safety and financial stability if she will agree to marry him, which, after learning that Harley has secretly been married all along, she does. Heartbroken, Courtney settles for a life with her new husband, and raising her daughter becomes her only cause for passion. When she realizes the extent of Mr. Montague¿s dishonesty, however, she struggles to reconcile her former sense of individuality with the life she has been forced to live. When Harley suddenly reappears, however, feelings from the past return that threaten to flood Courtney¿s heart and overturn what stability she thought had been her own. Memoirs of Emma Courtney is an epistolary novel exploring themes of desire, inequality, and the love that transcends the values and bonds of society. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Mary Hays¿s Memoirs of Emma Courtney is a classic of English literature reimagined for modern readers.

About the author

Mary Hays was a self-taught intellectual who wrote essays, poetry, novels, and various books about notable women. She is recognized for her early feminism and her strong relationships with dissenting and radical philosophers of her period, such as Robert Robinson, Mary Wollstonecraft, William Godwin, and William Frend. She was born in 1759 into a family of Protestant separatists who opposed the practices of the Church of England (the established church). Hays was called by those who detested her as 'the baldest disciple of Wollstonecraft' by The Anti Jacobin Magazine, assailed as a 'unsex'd female' by priest Robert Polwhele, and sparked controversy throughout her long life with her defiant writings. Hays was impressed by Mary Wollstonecraft's A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, and after writing to her with admiration, the two women became friends. The backlash following Wollstonecraft's death and the posthumous release of her Memoirs influenced Hays' later work, which some academics have described as more conservative. Among these later productions is the six-volume compendium Female Biography: or Memoirs of Illustrious and Celebrated Women of All Ages and Countries, in which Wollstonecraft is not mentioned, despite the fact that Hays wrote an extensive obituary for The Annual Necrology shortly after Godwin's controversial Memoirs were published. If Wollstonecraft was overlooked in the nineteenth century, Hays and her writing received even less critical or academic attention until the twentieth century's rising feminist movement.

Summary

Memoirs of Emma Courtney (1796) is a novel by English writer and feminist Mary Hays. Inspired by events from her own life, as well as by her acquaintance with radical political philosophers William Godwin and Mary Wollstonecraft, Hays’s novel received mixed reviews and was controversial for its representation of female sexuality, adultery, infanticide, and suicide. Modern critics and readers, however, have recognized the novel as a groundbreaking work of feminist fiction. In a series of letters to her adopted son Augustus Harley, Emma Courtney reveals the tragic details of her life. Young and in love with Augustus’s father, Courtney dreamed of marrying him and starting a family. Despite their true connection, Harley is unable to marry—his continued income is only guaranteed, he claims, if he remains a bachelor. Meanwhile, a man named Mr. Montague promises Courtney a life of safety and financial stability if she will agree to marry him, which, after learning that Harley has secretly been married all along, she does. Heartbroken, Courtney settles for a life with her new husband, and raising her daughter becomes her only cause for passion. When she realizes the extent of Mr. Montague’s dishonesty, however, she struggles to reconcile her former sense of individuality with the life she has been forced to live. When Harley suddenly reappears, however, feelings from the past return that threaten to flood Courtney’s heart and overturn what stability she thought had been her own. Memoirs of Emma Courtney is an epistolary novel exploring themes of desire, inequality, and the love that transcends the values and bonds of society. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Mary Hays’s Memoirs of Emma Courtney is a classic of English literature reimagined for modern readers.

Product details

• Authors: Mary Hays, Hays Mary
• Publisher: Ingram Publishers Services
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 09.09.2021
• EAN: 9781513206295
• ISBN: 978-1-5132-0629-5
• No. of pages: 198
• Dimensions: 127 mm x 203 mm x 15 mm
• Weight: 342 g
• Illustrations: Illustrationen, nicht spezifiziert
• Series: Mint Editions; Mint Editions—Women Writers; Mint Editions (Women Writers)
• Subjects: Fiction > Science fiction, fantasy; Fiction: special features, FICTION / Epistolary, Feminism and feminist theory, Epistolary fiction, Biographical fiction / autobiographical fiction