''Leonora'' is a novel written by

Maria Edgeworth Maria Edgeworth (1 January 1768 – 22 May 1849) was a prolific Anglo-Irish novelist of adults' and children's literature. She was one of the first realist writers in children's literature and was a significant figure in the evolution of the n ...

and published in

1806 Events January–March * January 1 ** The French Republican Calendar is abolished. ** The Kingdom of Bavaria is established by Napoleon. * January 5 – The body of Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, lies in state in the Painted Hall ...

. Although Edgeworth is known for having her novels (''

Castle Rackrent ''Castle Rackrent'' is a short novel by Maria Edgeworth published in 1800. Unlike many of her other novels, which were heavily "edited" by her father, Richard Lovell Edgeworth, before their publication, the published version is close to her origin ...

'', ''

The Absentee ''The Absentee'' is a novel by Maria Edgeworth, published in 1812 in ''Tales of Fashionable Life'', that expresses the systemic evils of the absentee landlord class of Anglo-Irish and the desperate condition of the Irish peasantry. There are ma ...

'') address issues of

nationalism Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a in-group and out-group, group of peo ...

in an Anglo-Irish context, ''Leonora'' instead privileges English manners over French ones. The plot of the novel centres on the newly married Leonora and her decision to bring back to England a woman who had been exiled to France. The woman, Olivia, is known as a "

coquette A coquette is a flirtatious woman. It may refer to: * ''The Coquette'' (film), a 1917 German silent comedy film * ''Coquette'' (film), an Academy Award-winning 1929 film starring Mary Pickford * ''Coqueta '' (1949 film), a Mexican musical film * ' ...

," and her controversial behaviour with regard to her marriage had driven her to France, where she cultivated an aristocratic, "French" sensibility that exists apart from conventional

morality Morality () is the differentiation of intentions, decisions and actions between those that are distinguished as proper (right) and those that are improper (wrong). Morality can be a body of standards or principles derived from a code of cond ...

. The novel is written in an epistolary style, which means all of the action is mediated through personal letters and the letter-writers' points-of-view. By having the main characters tell the story through their own perspectives, the reader gets to read full articulations of competing sensibilities and philosophies, although the narrative clearly prefers Leonora's prudent reserve over Olivia's extravagant emotional displays. Indeed, this novel can be read as a critique of

sensibility Sensibility refers to an acute perception of or responsiveness toward something, such as the emotions of another. This concept emerged in eighteenth-century Britain, and was closely associated with studies of sense perception as the means thro ...

, a behavioural phenomenon that tries to correlate a person's emotional sensitivity with her elevated moral sentiments. Olivia, a self-professed woman of sensibility, often makes dramatic displays of

feeling Feelings are subjective self-contained phenomenal experiences. According to the ''APA Dictionary of Psychology'', a feeling is "a self-contained phenomenal experience"; and feelings are "subjective, evaluative, and independent of the sensations ...

that are described by others as "theatrical," or contrived, and in her personal correspondence with her French friend, Gabrielle, Olivia makes grand claims about sentiment and love that, conveniently, justify her insatiable need for attention, particularly male attention. While a conventional reading of

Jane Austen Jane Austen (; 16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist known primarily for her six major novels, which interpret, critique, and comment upon the British landed gentry at the end of the 18th century. Austen's plots of ...

's ''

Sense and Sensibility ''Sense and Sensibility'' is a novel by Jane Austen, published in 1811. It was published anonymously; ''By A Lady'' appears on the title page where the author's name might have been. It tells the story of the Dashwood sisters, Elinor (age 19) a ...

'' dismisses the heroine Marianne's sensibility as romantic teenage folly, Edgeworth's novel ''Leonora'' emphasises Olivia's behaviour as

hypocritical Hypocrisy is the practice of engaging in the same behavior or activity for which one criticizes another or the practice of claiming to have moral standards or beliefs to which one's own behavior does not conform. In moral psychology, it is th ...

narcissism Narcissism is a self-centered personality style characterized as having an excessive interest in one's physical appearance or image and an excessive preoccupation with one's own needs, often at the expense of others. Narcissism exists on a co ...

. Maria Edgeworth's letter to Mrs. Pruxton at Black Castle, Navan, dated 8 June 1806, reads: "------ Lady Olivia in 'Leonora' is now supposed by all Dublin to be a portrait of Lady Asgill ife_of_ ife_of_Sir_Charles_Asgill,_2nd_Baronet">Sir_Charles_Asgill,_2nd_Baronet.html"_;"title="ife_of_Sir_Charles_Asgill,_2nd_Baronet">ife_of_Sir_Charles_Asgill,_2nd_Baronetand_that_wherever_they_go_they_have_to_defend_me_by_asserting_that_I'm_not_acquainted_with_the_said_Lady_Asgill._Very_luckily_I_never_did_meet_her_at_Lady_Holt's_where_she_was_intimate._She_was_educated_by_Mademoiselle_Le_Noir_who_was_Miss_Bracebridge's_governess_and_who_was_more_like_Mademoiselle_Panache_than_Lady_Asgill_is_-_to_Olivia_-_at_all_events_this_fancy_of_the_Dublin_fine_world_promotes_the_sale_of_the_book_and_I_am_content._-------." Henrietta_Ponsonby,_Countess_of_Bessborough.html" ;"title="Sir_Charles_Asgill,_2nd_Baronet.html" ;"title="Sir_Charles_Asgill,_2nd_Baronet.html" ;"title="ife of ife_of_Sir_Charles_Asgill,_2nd_Baronet">Sir_Charles_Asgill,_2nd_Baronet.html"_;"title="ife_of_Sir_Charles_Asgill,_2nd_Baronet">ife_of_Sir_Charles_Asgill,_2nd_Baronetand_that_wherever_they_go_they_have_to_defend_me_by_asserting_that_I'm_not_acquainted_with_the_said_Lady_Asgill._Very_luckily_I_never_did_meet_her_at_Lady_Holt's_where_she_was_intimate._She_was_educated_by_Mademoiselle_Le_Noir_who_was_Miss_Bracebridge's_governess_and_who_was_more_like_Mademoiselle_Panache_than_Lady_Asgill_is_-_to_Olivia_-_at_all_events_this_fancy_of_the_Dublin_fine_world_promotes_the_sale_of_the_book_and_I_am_content._-------." Henrietta_Ponsonby,_Countess_of_Bessborough">Lady_Bessborough,_writing_to_Granville_Leveson-Gower,_1st_Earl_Granville.html" ;"title="Sir Charles Asgill, 2nd Baronet">ife of Sir Charles Asgill, 2nd Baronet">Sir_Charles_Asgill,_2nd_Baronet.html" ;"title="ife of Sir Charles Asgill, 2nd Baronet">ife of Sir Charles Asgill, 2nd Baronetand that wherever they go they have to defend me by asserting that I'm not acquainted with the said Lady Asgill. Very luckily I never did meet her at Lady Holt's where she was intimate. She was educated by Mademoiselle Le Noir who was Miss Bracebridge's governess and who was more like Mademoiselle Panache than Lady Asgill is - to Olivia - at all events this fancy of the Dublin fine world promotes the sale of the book and I am content. -------." Henrietta Ponsonby, Countess of Bessborough">Lady Bessborough, writing to Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Earl Granville">Granville Leveson-Gower from Paris on Thursday, 23 December 1802, had this to say about Maria Edgeworth: "…..I was introduc'd by him [François de la Harpe] to the famous Miss Edgeworth and her Brother. By the by, I am sure she wrote it all herself, for the brother seems a fool and a coxcomb; she very ugly, but delightful."

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1806 British novels Epistolary novels Novels by Maria Edgeworth Novels about nationalism 19th-century Irish novels