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Youth, beauty, a vast inheritance—Miranda and her sister Althea seem to have everything they could ever want. When Miranda marries the rakish Clitander, she does so for love, assuming his motives are honorable. Soon, he shows his true colors. Witty and tragic, The Mercenary Lover is a story of identity and desire by Eliza Haywood.
About the author
Eliza Haywood (1693-1756) was an English novelist, poet, playwright, actress, and publisher. Notoriously private, Haywood is a major figure in English literature about whom little is known for certain. Scholars believe she was born Eliza Fowler in Shropshire or London, but are unclear on the socioeconomic status of her family. She first appears in the public record in 1715, when she performed in an adaptation of Shakespeare's
Timon of Athens in Dublin. Famously portrayed as a woman of ill-repute in Alexander Pope's
Dunciad (1743), it is believed that Haywood had been deserted by her husband to raise their children alone. Pope's account is likely to have come from poet Richard Savage, with whom Haywood was friends for several years beginning in 1719 before their falling out. This period coincided with the publication of
Love in Excess (1719-1720), Haywood's first and best-known novel. Alongside Delarivier Manley and Aphra Behn, Haywood was considered one of the leading romance writers of her time. Haywood's novels, such as
Idalia; or The Unfortunate Mistress (1723) and
The Distress'd Orphan; or Love in a Madhouse (1726), often explore the domination and oppression of women by men.
The History of Miss Betsy Thoughtless (1751), one of Haywood's final novels, is a powerful story of a woman who leaves her abusive husband, experiences independence, and is pressured to marry once more. Highly regarded by feminist scholars today, Haywood was a prolific writer who revolutionized the English novel while raising a family, running a pamphlet shop in Covent Gardens, and pursuing a career as an actress and writer for some of London's most prominent theaters.
Summary
The Mercenary Lover (1726) is a novel by Eliza Haywood. Blending tragedy and comedy, Haywood explores the intersection of ambition, family, and desire to reveal how women so often fall victim to the whims of villainous men. The Mercenary Lover is considered a prime example of the popular genre of amatory fiction, which often used love triangles to expose the imbalance between male and female desire in a patriarchal society. Miranda and Althea are young, beautiful, and wealthy. Regardless of their individual merits, however, they both fall victim to unbridled desire in the form of the dastardly Clitander. When he chooses Miranda, she counts herself lucky and prepares for a life of passion and companionship. Meanwhile, the young man begins fantasizing about what he could do with her inheritance, and soon hatches a plan to take control of their family estate. What follows is a tale of betrayal and greed, a series of tragic events that threatens to divide two sisters forever. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Eliza Haywood’s The Mercenary Lover is a classic of English literature reimagined for modern readers.
