WILLIAM FREND AND MARY HAYS: VICTIMS OF PREJUDICE

摘要

In this article, Susan Purdie interrogates the nature of Mary Hays and William Frend's relationship whilst Sarah Oliver links Hays's obsession with the charismatic Unitarian Dissenter and her rational politics with the characterization of the hero in her second novel. Mistaking William Frend's interest in her writing as a sign of affection, Hays plunged into a sexual obsession with him. A student of the new science of the mind, Hays explored the connection between mind and feelings in letters to William Godwin, and later used them to examine the progress of a woman's desire in her first novel The Memoirs of Emma Courtney (1796). Rejected by Frend and ridiculed by readers who recognized the references in the novel, Hays embarked on a second, darker story of a raped a??ordinarya?? heroine, Mary Raymond. Mary's gentleman rapist Peter Osborne is neither the selfish rake aristocrat who haunts novels of the eighteenth century nor the sentimental hero who is too good for the world. Through Osborne's response to Mary's obstinate refusal to find a solution to her a??problema?? in marriage, Hays explores prejudice of all kinds. However, Hays's characters not only pose philosophical questions about male and female desire and behaviour, but also radical questions about aristocracy's fitness to rule.View full textDownload full textRelated var addthis_config = { ui_cobrand: "Taylor & Francis Online", services_compact: "citeulike,netvibes,twitter,technorati,delicious,linkedin,facebook,stumbleupon,digg,google,more", pubid: "ra-4dff56cd6bb1830b" }; var addthis_config = {"data_track_addressbar":true,"ui_click":true}; Add to shortlist Link Permalink http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09699080903533304