19 Henry Mackenzie, The Man of Feeling (1771)
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Alexandra Ileana Bacalu
Abstract
Henry Mackenzie’s highly popular The Man of Feeling (1771) is an emblematic British sentimental novel, promoting the values of moral sentimentalism and the larger culture of sensibility, while also revealing their problematic underside. Written and published in the times of David Hume and Adam Smith, with the looming figures of the third Earl of Shaftesbury and Francis Hutcheson in the background, the novel explores the congruity between virtue and feeling, as well as the connections between sympathy, pleasure, and self-approbation. In addition to this, the novel takes the fragmentariness of eighteenth-century novels to new levels. It relies on the claim to historicity and the motif of the found manuscript, flaunting an episodic structure, missing chapters, interspersed fragments and poems, forged sections, a narrative introduction, footnotes, comments, and other intrusions by the narrator and editor. Its complex formal and narrative features pose a very challenging question: How is Harley, the novel’s protagonist, to be read?
Abstract
Henry Mackenzie’s highly popular The Man of Feeling (1771) is an emblematic British sentimental novel, promoting the values of moral sentimentalism and the larger culture of sensibility, while also revealing their problematic underside. Written and published in the times of David Hume and Adam Smith, with the looming figures of the third Earl of Shaftesbury and Francis Hutcheson in the background, the novel explores the congruity between virtue and feeling, as well as the connections between sympathy, pleasure, and self-approbation. In addition to this, the novel takes the fragmentariness of eighteenth-century novels to new levels. It relies on the claim to historicity and the motif of the found manuscript, flaunting an episodic structure, missing chapters, interspersed fragments and poems, forged sections, a narrative introduction, footnotes, comments, and other intrusions by the narrator and editor. Its complex formal and narrative features pose a very challenging question: How is Harley, the novel’s protagonist, to be read?
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Editors’ Preface V
- Contents VII
- Introduction 1
-
Part I: Systematic Questions
- 1 The Novel and Liberty: Individual Freedom and Civic Order 21
- 2 The Novel and Sense(s): Reason, Sentiment, and Subjectivity 41
- 3 The Novel and Intimacy: Gender, Sexuality, and Queer Readings 65
- 4 The Novel and Cultural Encounters: Colonialism, Cosmopolitanism, and the Other 85
- 5 The Novel and the Literary Marketplace: Print Culture, Popular Reading, and an Emerging British Canon 107
- 6 The Novel and the Environment: Nature, Cultivation, and Alien Ecologies 123
-
Part II: Close Readings
- 7 Aphra Behn, Oroonoko, or The Royal Slave (1688) 141
- 8 Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe Trilogy (1719‒1720) 157
- 9 Jonathan Swift, Gulliver’s Travels (1726) 175
- 10 Samuel Richardson, Clarissa, or The History of a Young Lady (1747–1748) 193
- 11 Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, A Foundling (1749) 211
- 12 Eliza Haywood, The History of Miss Betsy Thoughtless (1751) 229
- 13 Robert Paltock, The Life and Adventures of Peter Wilkins (1751) 243
- 14 Charlotte Lennox, The Female Quixote (1752) 259
- 15 Samuel Johnson, The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia (1759) 279
- 16 Sarah Scott, Millenium Hall (1762) 295
- 17 Laurence Sterne, The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman (1759–1767) 311
- 18 Frances Brooke, The History of Emily Montague (1769) 327
- 19 Henry Mackenzie, The Man of Feeling (1771) 347
- 20 Tobias Smollett, The Expedition of Humphry Clinker (1771) 365
- 21 Frances Burney, Evelina (1778) 381
- 22 Phebe Gibbes, Hartly House, Calcutta (1789) 399
- 23 Ann Radcliffe, The Romance of the Forest (1791) 417
- 24 Charlotte Smith, Desmond (1792) 435
- 25 Mary Wollstonecraft, Maria: or, The Wrongs of Woman (1798) 449
- 26 William Earle, Obi; or The History of Three-Fingered Jack (1800) 467
- 27 Anonymous, The Woman of Colour; A Tale (1808) 483
- 28 Maria Edgeworth, Ormond (1817) 499
- 29 Sir Walter Scott, Rob Roy (1817; revised 1829–1830) 519
- 30 Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus (1818) 539
- 31 Jane Austen, Persuasion (1818) 557
- Index of Names 575
- Index of Subjects 583
- List of Contributors 595
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Editors’ Preface V
- Contents VII
- Introduction 1
-
Part I: Systematic Questions
- 1 The Novel and Liberty: Individual Freedom and Civic Order 21
- 2 The Novel and Sense(s): Reason, Sentiment, and Subjectivity 41
- 3 The Novel and Intimacy: Gender, Sexuality, and Queer Readings 65
- 4 The Novel and Cultural Encounters: Colonialism, Cosmopolitanism, and the Other 85
- 5 The Novel and the Literary Marketplace: Print Culture, Popular Reading, and an Emerging British Canon 107
- 6 The Novel and the Environment: Nature, Cultivation, and Alien Ecologies 123
-
Part II: Close Readings
- 7 Aphra Behn, Oroonoko, or The Royal Slave (1688) 141
- 8 Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe Trilogy (1719‒1720) 157
- 9 Jonathan Swift, Gulliver’s Travels (1726) 175
- 10 Samuel Richardson, Clarissa, or The History of a Young Lady (1747–1748) 193
- 11 Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, A Foundling (1749) 211
- 12 Eliza Haywood, The History of Miss Betsy Thoughtless (1751) 229
- 13 Robert Paltock, The Life and Adventures of Peter Wilkins (1751) 243
- 14 Charlotte Lennox, The Female Quixote (1752) 259
- 15 Samuel Johnson, The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia (1759) 279
- 16 Sarah Scott, Millenium Hall (1762) 295
- 17 Laurence Sterne, The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman (1759–1767) 311
- 18 Frances Brooke, The History of Emily Montague (1769) 327
- 19 Henry Mackenzie, The Man of Feeling (1771) 347
- 20 Tobias Smollett, The Expedition of Humphry Clinker (1771) 365
- 21 Frances Burney, Evelina (1778) 381
- 22 Phebe Gibbes, Hartly House, Calcutta (1789) 399
- 23 Ann Radcliffe, The Romance of the Forest (1791) 417
- 24 Charlotte Smith, Desmond (1792) 435
- 25 Mary Wollstonecraft, Maria: or, The Wrongs of Woman (1798) 449
- 26 William Earle, Obi; or The History of Three-Fingered Jack (1800) 467
- 27 Anonymous, The Woman of Colour; A Tale (1808) 483
- 28 Maria Edgeworth, Ormond (1817) 499
- 29 Sir Walter Scott, Rob Roy (1817; revised 1829–1830) 519
- 30 Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus (1818) 539
- 31 Jane Austen, Persuasion (1818) 557
- Index of Names 575
- Index of Subjects 583
- List of Contributors 595