''Patronage'' is a four volume fictional work by

Anglo-Irish Anglo-Irish people () denotes an ethnic, social and religious grouping who are mostly the descendants and successors of the English Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. They mostly belong to the Anglican Church of Ireland, which was the establis ...

writer Maria Edgeworth and published in 1814. It is one of her later books, after such successes as ''

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

'' (1800), ''

Belinda Belinda is a feminine given name of unknown origin, apparently coined from Italian ''bella'', meaning "beautiful". Alternatively it may be derived from the Old High German name ''Betlinde'', which possibly meant "bright serpent" or "bright linde ...

'' (1801), '' Leonora'' (1806) and '' The Absentee ''in 1812, to name a few. The novel is a long and ambitious one which she began writing in 1809. It is the longest of her novels. ''Patronage'' as a book is path-making; it was among the first novels with a

thesis A thesis ( : theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: ...

and as such, it opened the way for

Sir Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels '' Ivanhoe'', '' Rob Roy' ...

historical novel Historical fiction is a literary genre in which the plot takes place in a setting related to the past events, but is fictional. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literature, it can also be applied to other ty ...

s. In the novel, Edgeworth focuses on and scrupulously explores the various types of

patronage Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings, popes, and the wealthy have provided to artists su ...

and the many forms it takes in all strata of English society. Despite the rigor of her analysis, Edgeworth obtains a sense of subtlety through her ingenious use of variations in characterizations and a well diversified plot. The plot is made up of many incidents, great and small, that take the reader through a wide range of situations. Much like her contemporary,

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 ...

, Edgeworth had a gift for conveying social conventions through brilliant dialogue and acute moral observations. However, unlike Austen, Edgeworth's writing diverges into

essay An essay is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a letter, a paper, an article, a pamphlet, and a short story. Essays have been sub-classified as formal a ...

and an overemphasis on ideas (of which she has a large number) and veers once or twice into the didactic. The literary scholar Alastair Fowler notes her "flawless ear for speech" and ability to produce "brilliant dialogue", as well as the way her various subplots are linked by chains of causation that rest ultimately on a trivial plot element, much as Austen later was able to do so superbly. Edgeworth was eldest daughter of Richard Lovell Edgeworth, the

politician, writer and inventor who had 21 other children with four wives. This book received the imprimatur of her famous father when published.

Notes

References

* {{Authority control 1814 British novels Novels by Maria Edgeworth 19th-century Irish novels