Memoirs of Emma Courtney

First published in the turbulent decade following the French Revolution, Memoirs of Emma Courtney is based on Mary Hays' own passionate struggle with romance and Enlightenment philosophy. A feminist and ardent disciple of Mary Wollstonecraft, Hays reveals the lamentable gap between 'what women are' and 'what woment ought to be'. The novel is one of the most articulate and detailed expressions of the yearnings and frustrations of a woman living in late eighteenth-century English society. It questions marital arrangements and courtship rituals by depicting a woman who actively pursues the man she loves. The novel explores the links between sexuality, desire, and economic and social freedom, suggesting the need for improvement in the laws of society which 'have enslaved, enervated, and degraded woman'.

ISBN 0199555400   Weight (grammes) 191 ISBN13 9780199555406 (What's this?)   Published in Oxford Publisher Oxford University Press   Series title Oxford World's Classics Imprint Oxford University Press   Previous ISBN 9780192837295 Format Paperback   Height (mm) 196 Publication date 28 May 2009   Width (mm) 129 DEWEY 823.6   Spine width (mm) 12 DEWEY edition DC22   Academic level General Pages 272

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