''The Wanderer; or, Female Difficulties'' is

Frances Burney Frances Burney (13 June 1752 – 6 January 1840), also known as Fanny Burney and later Madame d'Arblay, was an English satirical novelist, diarist and playwright. In 1786–1790 she held the post as "Keeper of the Robes" to Charlotte of Mecklen ...

’s last novel. Published in March 1814 by Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme and Brown, this historical novel with

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

overtones set during the 1790s tells the story of a mysterious woman who attempts to support herself while hiding her identity. The novel focuses on the difficulties faced by women as they strive for economic and social independence. Begun in the 1790s, the novel took Burney fourteen years to complete. She worked on it sporadically while she wrote plays and was an exile in France. Although the first edition sold out on the strength of Burney's reputation, the scathing reviews of the novel caused it to sell poorly. Reviewers disliked its portrayal of women and its criticism of English society.

Composition

Burney spent fourteen years writing ''The Wanderer''—the longest amount of time she spent writing any of her works. She began the novel in the late 1790s, after finishing '' Camilla'', but stopped, deciding to write plays, which were more profitable. In 1801, Burney's husband, General Alexandre-Jean-Baptiste Piochard D'Arblay, returned to his home country of France and tried to acquire a commission in the French army that would not require him to fight the English. He was unsuccessful and could not then leave France without raising the suspicions of the government, so Burney joined him in April 1802. The

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

, which had halted briefly, resumed and Burney was forced to spend ten years as an exile in France. While there, she worked on a draft of ''The Wanderer''; however, no manuscript of the novel exists, so it is impossible to track the exact progress of the novel. In 1812, Burney left France with her son on the ''Mary Anne'', ostensibly to go to the United States; in actuality, she intended to return in England. The ship illegally docked in England and was captured, making Burney and a few other passengers nominally prisoners.Doody, "Introduction", xi. Burney had not originally intended to work on the novel while in England, but during a long wait for her ship at

Dunkirk Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France. The customs officer, however, was enraged that the manuscript had been sent. According to Burney, he "began a rant of indignation & amazement, at a sight so unexpected & prohibited...He sputtered at the Mouth, & stamped with his feet". He accused Burney of being a traitor; Burney herself believed that without the help of an English merchant at the time, her manuscript would have been destroyed. However in her ''Dedication'' Burney gave a completely opposite account, no doubt to avoid any difficulties for her husband in France.

Plot and themes

''The Wanderer'' opens with a group of people fleeing the Terror. Among them is the

protagonist A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a st ...

, who refuses to identify herself. No one can place her socially—even her nationality and race are in doubt. As Burney scholar

Margaret Doody Margaret Anne Doody (born September 21, 1939) is a Canadian author of historical detective fiction and feminist literary critic. She is professor of literature at the University of Notre Dame, helped found the PhD in Literature Program at Notre D ...

explains, "the heroine thus arrives

n England N, or n, is the fourteenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''en'' (pronounced ), plural ''ens''. History ...

as a nameless Everywoman: both black and white, both Eastern and Western, both high and low, both English and French."Doody, "Introduction", xv. She asks for help from the group, but because she knows no one, she is refused. The protagonist, later identified as Juliet Granville, tries to become self-sufficient, but her story reveals the “difficulties” of a woman in her friendless situation. Women take advantage of her economically and men importune her. She is “a woman totally dispossessed by political events”. Miss Arbe, for example, takes control of Juliet's life and her money (although inexpertly); she also attempts to organise a ladies committee, becoming "a comic spectacle of political life". Specifically, Burney compares Miss Arbe to Robespierre: as Doody explains, "the arrangements of both become swallowed in egotism, are highly disorganized if impetuously directed, and are bound to end in failure".Doody, "Introduction", xix. Throughout ''The Wanderer'', Burney comments on the tyrannical hold that the rich have over the poor in England, showing how the wealthy will accept music lessons from Juliet but refuse to pay for them, placing her in a desperate situation. She also charts the downward spiral of Juliet from gentility to working woman; she begins as a musician and slips into the less-reputable positions of

milliner Hat-making or millinery is the design, manufacture and sale of hats and other headwear. A person engaged in this trade is called a milliner or hatter. Historically, milliners, typically women shopkeepers, produced or imported an inventory of ...

and seamstress. In her cross-class analysis of the problems of women, Burney was probably influenced by

Mary Wollstonecraft Mary Wollstonecraft (, ; 27 April 1759 – 10 September 1797) was a British writer, philosopher, and advocate of women's rights. Until the late 20th century, Wollstonecraft's life, which encompassed several unconventional personal relationsh ...

's '' Maria: or, The Wrongs of Woman'' (1798). However, according to Doody, "Burney is the first novelist seriously to express sympathy for the working women in their normal conditions of work—and to see how the system of employment, not merely individual bad employers, creates conditions of impossible monotony." Elinor Joddrel is the

antagonist An antagonist is a character in a story who is presented as the chief foe of the protagonist. Etymology The English word antagonist comes from the Greek ἀνταγωνιστής – ''antagonistēs'', "opponent, competitor, villain, enemy, riv ...

of the story. She controls her own destiny, largely because she is an umarried heiress, and articulates "feminist views on the economic and sexual oppression of women". During the 1790s, novelists often portrayed feminist characters, sometimes as heroines, such as in

Mary Hays Mary Hays (1759–1843) was an autodidact intellectual who published essays, poetry, novels and several works on famous (and infamous) women. She is remembered for her early feminism, and her close relations to dissenting and radical thinkers ...

’s '' Memoirs of Emma Courtney'' (1796), but more frequently as "grotesque satires" as in Elizabeth Hamilton’s '' Memoirs of Modern Philosophers'' (1800). In the character of Elinor, Justine Crump argues in her article on the novel for

The Literary Encyclopedia ''The Literary Encyclopedia'' is an online reference work first published in October 2000. It was founded as an innovative project designed to bring the benefits of information technology to what at the time was still a largely conservative li ...

, Burney represents feminist arguments, but she does not either explicitly criticise or endorse them. Doody, however, contends that Burney endorses Elinor's feminist arguments because no character contradicts them and Juliet appears to agree with them. When the two discuss women's issues, Juliet does not dispute Elinor's point of view, she adds more points to her argument. Elinor falls hopelessly in love with Harleigh, the brother of her fiancé and a suitor of Juliet's. Harleigh is uncertain whether he should propose to Juliet, as he knows nothing of her family and she earns money by giving young ladies music lesson and instruction on the harp. After Harleigh rejects her, Elinor “abandons decorum altogether”; she dresses up as a man and frightens Juliet with her threats of suicide. It is Harleigh who discovers Juliet's true identity—she is the daughter of a "clandestine" marriage of the Earl of Granville. She was raised in France and forced to marry a revolutionary to save her guardian from the

guillotine A guillotine is an apparatus designed for efficiently carrying out executions by beheading. The device consists of a tall, upright frame with a weighted and angled blade suspended at the top. The condemned person is secured with stocks at th ...

. Juliet fled the marriage, but her husband pursued her, believing that she would inherit the Granville fortune. The Granville family know of her predicament, but refuse to help her. Harleigh abandons Juliet after discovering that she is married. She is eventually rescued by a friend. In the end, Juliet's husband is deported and executed as a spy; her guardian comes to England, thereby granting her respectability and her inheritance. Harleigh returns and proposes. Finally, “Elinor is brought to repudiate, if not her feminist principles, at least her suicidal intentions, and order is restored to the novel”. However, as Doody explains, "Burney gives us the 'happy ending' of course, but not until after she has made sure that we see it is just a formality, and by no means a solution."Doody, "Introduction", xxxiv. The reader cares little for Juliet's marriage to Harleigh and recognises instead that she has become a commodity. The love triangle between Harleigh, Elinor, and Juliet suggests that Elinor should be a villainess who disrupts the happy love of Harleigh and Juliet, however the characterisations of both Elinor and Harleigh challenge this assumption. Harleigh is a "very passive and fussy person", and as Doody argues, "he does not satisfy our ideas of the 'hero' of a love story—who ought to be handsome, dashing, strong, and courageous, if a trifle self-willed." His purpose in the novel is to mark out what is respectable and proper, claiming that Juliet should not perform her music in public nor should she profit monetarily from it. Juliet's defence of her performances to Harleigh mirror Burney's own defence of playwriting to her father,

Charles Burney Charles Burney (7 April 1726 – 12 April 1814) was an English music historian, composer and musician. He was the father of the writers Frances Burney and Sarah Burney, of the explorer James Burney, and of Charles Burney, a classicist a ...

, who strongly disapproved.Doody, "Introduction", xxv. Harleigh is named after

Henry Mackenzie Henry Mackenzie FRSE (August 1745 – 14 January 1831, born and died in Edinburgh) was a Scottish lawyer, novelist and writer sometimes seen as the Addison of the North. While remembered mostly as an author, his main income came from legal role ...

's Harley in ''

The Man of Feeling ''The Man of Feeling'' is a sentimental novel published in 1771, written by Scottish author Henry Mackenzie. The novel presents a series of moral vignettes which the naïve protagonist Harley either observes, is told about, or participates in. ...

'' (1771) and reminiscent of him—a hero of "sentiment and delicacy".

Genre

''The Wanderer'' is a historical novel, part of a new genre that was a response to the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

. During the 1790s and early 19th century, novelists examined the past using fiction. Charlotte Smith analysed the revolution in '' Desmond'' (1792) and '' The Banished Man'' (1794) while

Jane West Jane West (born Iliffe, 1758–1852), was an English novelist who published as Prudentia Homespun and Mrs. West. She also wrote conduct literature, poetry and educational tracts. Life Jane West was born to Jane and John Iliffe in London, but th ...

's '' The Loyalists'' looked at the

English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...

. 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 (n ...

's ''

Waverley Waverley may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Waverley'' (novel), by Sir Walter Scott ** ''Waverley'' Overture, a work by Hector Berlioz inspired by Scott's novel * Waverley Harrison, a character in the New Zealand soap opera ''Shortland Stree ...

'' (1814) was published the same year as ''The Wanderer''. Although the novel is set during 1793–94, "the dire reign of the terrific Robespierre", Burney does not fill the text with references to specific historical events. Neither

Louis XVI Louis XVI (''Louis-Auguste''; ; 23 August 175421 January 1793) was the last King of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. He was referred to as ''Citizen Louis Capet'' during the four months just before he was ...

nor

Marie Antoinette Marie Antoinette Josèphe Jeanne (; ; née Maria Antonia Josepha Johanna; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was the last queen of France before the French Revolution. She was born an archduchess of Austria, and was the penultimate child a ...

are mentioned in the novel, for example. ''The Wanderer'' also draws on the conventions of

Gothic fiction Gothic fiction, sometimes called Gothic horror in the 20th century, is a loose literary aesthetic of fear and haunting. The name is a reference to Gothic architecture of the European Middle Ages, which was characteristic of the settings of ea ...

, specifically "mystery and concealment, spying and flight". Like

Ann Radcliffe Ann Radcliffe (née Ward; 9 July 1764 – 7 February 1823) was an English novelist and a pioneer of Gothic fiction. Her technique of explaining apparently supernatural elements in her novels has been credited with gaining respectability for G ...

's '' The Romance of the Forest'' (1791), the heroine of ''The Wanderer'' is unknown and in need of sympathy at the beginning of the story. Throughout the story, the heroine's name is consistently concealed and later only half-revealed.

Publication and reception

''The Wanderer'' was published in five volumes by Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme and Brown on 28 March 1814.Doody, "Note on the text", xxxviii. Burney was one of the most popular novelists in Britain at the beginning of the 19th century, but she had not published a novel since 1796. ''The Wanderer'' was greatly anticipated and Longman printed a large first edition of 3,000 copies. All of these copies were sold to booksellers before the novel's actual release. Believing the novel would be a best-seller, they issued a second edition of 1,000 copies on 15 April 1814 and planned three additional ones. However, compared to Burney's earlier novels, ''The Wanderer'' was not a success. Only 461 copies of the second edition were sold during 1814 and over the next ten years, only 74. The leftovers were pulped. ''The Wanderer'' was translated into French by and Auguste-Jacques Lemierre d'Argy under the title ''La Femme errante'' and published in Paris in 1814; Burney described the translation as "abominable".Doody, "Note on the text", xxxix. A three-volume American edition was published in New York in 1814. No other editions were published until Pandora Press's 1988 reissue. ''The Wanderer'' received unfavourable reviews, "with one or two quite damning",Crump which may have seriously affected its sales. Reviewers argued that Burney's earlier novels had been better; ''The Wanderer'' was improbable and the language was "prolix and obscure". They were also taken aback by its criticism of England at a time when the entire country was celebrating its victory over

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

. The negative reviews were published quickly (for the 19th century): two hostile reviews appeared in April 1814; a genuinely favourable review did not appear until April 1815. Critic

William Hazlitt William Hazlitt (10 April 177818 September 1830) was an English essayist, drama and literary critic, painter, social commentator, and philosopher. He is now considered one of the greatest critics and essayists in the history of the English lan ...

, in particular, complained in the ''

Edinburgh Review The ''Edinburgh Review'' is the title of four distinct intellectual and cultural magazines. The best known, longest-lasting, and most influential of the four was the third, which was published regularly from 1802 to 1929. ''Edinburgh Review'', ...

'' about the novel's focus on women: “The difficulties in which urneyinvolves her heroines are indeed, ‘Female Difficulties;’ – they are difficulties created out of nothing.” According to Hazlitt, women did not have problems that could be made into interesting fiction. The reviewer for the ''

British Critic The ''British Critic: A New Review'' was a quarterly publication, established in 1793 as a conservative and high-church review journal riding the tide of British reaction against the French Revolution. The headquarters was in London. The journa ...

'' found the character of Elinor distasteful and guided readers to Hamilton's more conservative ''Memoirs of Modern Philosophers''.Doody, "Introduction", xxix. Since the 1980s, ''The Wanderer'', along with Burney's other works, has become the focus of serious scholarship and is popular among students.

Notes

Bibliography

* Crump, Justine.
The Wanderer, or, Female Difficulties
.

(subscription required). 29 February 2004. Retrieved 29 January 2009. * Doody, Margaret Anne. "Introduction" and "Note on the text". ''The Wanderer''. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001. .

External links

''The Wanderer''
at

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(scanned books original editions) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wanderer 1814 British novels Fiction set in the 1790s English novels