‘TO BE CHOSEN, NOT OFFERED’: AN INTRODUCTION TO SARAH HARRIET BURNEY’S TRAITS OF NATURE (1812)

Authors

  • Carmen María Fernández Rodríguez University of La Coruña

Keywords:

Sarah Harriet Burney, gender studies, eighteenth-century studies, british literature, patriarchal violence

Abstract

This paper analyzes the social dimension of the family novel Traits of Nature (1812), which was written by the half-sister of the celebrated authoress Frances Burney, Sarah Harriet Burney (1775-1844), who also produced Clarentine (1796), Geraldine Fauconberg (1808), Tales of Fancy (1816) ­­ and The Romance of Private Life (1839). For this purpose, we will briefly contextualize this work and follow the approach of gender studies and the Burney Studies. The aim here is to explore how family relationships are articulated and the effect of violent and social ostracism on the heroine. Through a number of repetitions and parallelisms, the novel depicts patriarchal abuses, which is responded with violence and rebellion. In Traits of Nature, Sarah Harriet does not only vindicate her female condition, but also offers a grim vision of social relationships, which must be taken into account in the Burney Studies and singles her out from other women writers of the period.

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Published

18/05/2017

How to Cite

Fernández Rodríguez, C. M. “‘TO BE CHOSEN, NOT OFFERED’: AN INTRODUCTION TO SARAH HARRIET BURNEY’S TRAITS OF NATURE (1812)”. ES Review. Spanish Journal of English Studies, no. 36, May 2017, pp. 129-44, https://revistas.uva.es/index.php/esreview/article/view/742.

Issue

No. 36 (2015)

Section

Artículos

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