Slight Productions: An Introduction to Maria Edgeworth’s Comic Dramas (1817)

oleh: Carmen María Fernández-Rodríguez

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: Asociación Española de Estudios Irlandeses 2012-03-01

Deskripsi

Most studies on Maria Edgeworth’s oeuvre are centred on her Irish tales. Despite the growing interest in this woman writer, there is no research on her amateur theatricals. After a brief contextualisation of Edgeworth and the stage, this paper aims to describe and highlight the main features of Comic Dramas (1817), one of Edgeworth’s lesser productions. The volume includes three pieces (Love and Law; The Two Guardians and The Rose, Thistle and Shamrock) which are set in Ireland and England. Apart from the presence of issues from her tales and educational manuals, what interests us here is that, far from upholding Anglicisation, the Anglo-Irish authoress defends community and an integrating British nation. Comic Dramas is admittedly tinctured by sentimentalism and social critique. For this reason, the examination of these pieces cannot be neglected to obtain a comprehensive panorama of Edgeworth’s vision of Ireland.