Haywood: Certain Island
Eliza Fowler Haywood (c. 1693–1756) was a prolific writer, widely connected actress and critical philosopher. Besides her contributions to moral philosophy and economics, she provides noteworthy insights into early eighteenth-century English society. Haywood’s precise critique of a government ignoring the needs of its most vulnerable citizens remains compelling today.
Her two-volume utopian work Memoirs of a Certain Island Adjacent to the Kingdom of Utopia (1724) is a mythological re-telling of the many problems facing early eighteenth-century England. In the first volume, Haywood discusses the economic and financial crisis brought about by England’s South Sea Bubble and interweaves it with her philosophical argument of genuine love and the corruption wrought by greed and lust.
The second volume will be published in 2025.
Eliza Fowler Haywood (c. 1693–1756) was a prolific writer, actress, a widely connected scholar, a critical philosopher, and economist. Her contributions to moral philosophy and economics provide a clear view of early 18th century English society.
The second volume of the philosopher and economist’s Memoirs… focuses more closely on the political, strategical failures of the English ministries as mediators between the Sovereign and the people, examining the accompanying decadence and moral decline of the English population. At the core lies Haywood’s observation that women are the first to suffer from the consequences of societal and financial crises.
300 years after its first publication in 1724, this comprehensive edition of Eliza Haywood’s Memoirs… makes accessible a fundamental utopian text. Illustrating the threat of moral decline in financial crises, Haywood’s sharp critique of a government ignoring the needs of its own people remains compelling today.
