Views Maria Edgeworth

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1.1 ireland
1.2 social
1.3 education

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miniature of edgeworth adam buck, c. 1790

though maria edgeworth spent of childhood in england, life in ireland had profound impact on both thinking , views surrounding irish culture. fauske , kaufman conclude, [she] used fiction address inherent problems of acts delineated religious, national, racial, class based, sexual, , gendered identities. edgeworth used works such castle rackrent , harrington express feelings on controversial issues.

ireland

in works, edgeworth created nostalgic past of ireland in attempt celebrate irish culture. suvendrini perera said edgeworth s novels traced gradual anglicanization of feudal irish society. edgeworth s goal in works show irish equal english, , therefore warranting equal, though not separate, status. essay on irish bulls rejects english stereotype of irishmen , portrays them accurately in realistic, everyday settings. common theme in irish works, combating caricatured irish accurate representations. in work edgeworth places focus on linguistic differences between irish , english societies, foil how dynamic , intricate irish society in spite of english stereotypes.

edgeworth s writing of ireland, irish tales, offer important rearticulation of burkean local attachment , philosophical cosmopolitanism produce understanding of nation neither tightly bordered (like nations based on historical premises such blood or inheritance) or not borderless (like based on rational notions of universal inclusion). edgeworth used writing reconsider meaning of denomination anglo-irish , , through interrogation reinterpreted both cosmopolitan , national definitions of belonging reconstitute anglo-irish less category ongoing mediation between borders. in edgeworth s irish novels, education key both individual , national improvement, according edgeworth, foundation of well-governed estate , foundation of well-governed nation . more specifically, slow process of education instills transnational understanding in irish people while retaining bonds of local attachment nation secured. centrality of education not suggests edgeworth s wish rooted yet cosmopolitan or transnational judgment, distinguishes writing constructions of national identity national character, linking through earlier cosmopolitan constructions of universal human subjects. claiming national difference anchored in education, culture rather nature, edgeworth gives national identity sociocultural foundation, , thereby opens space in change can happen.

social

maria agreed act of union, thought should not passed against wishes of irish people. concerning education, thought boys , girls should educated equally , together, drawing upon rousseau s ideas. believed woman should marry suits in character, temper, , understanding. becoming old maid preferable incompatible union. story vivian tales of fashionable life , patronage attack eighteenth-century english whig governance of ireland corrupt , unrepresentative. edgeworth strove self-realization of women , stressed importance of individual. wanted greater participation in politics middle class women. work helen demonstrates point in passage: women highly cultivated, , political subjects @ present of importance, of such high interest, human creatures live in society, can hardly expect, helen, you, rational being, can go through world is, without forming opinion on points of public importance. cannot, conceive, satisfy common namby-pamby little missy phrase, ladies have nothing politics . sympathised catholics , supported gradual, though not immediate, catholic emancipation.

education

first edition title page practical education, 1798

to illustrate care must taken in teaching children , emphasise necessity of directing , managing attentiveness, maria edgeworth drew several comparisons non-european peoples. in 1798 book practical education maintained unnecessarily causing fatigue should great concern of educators. in making point mode of instruction tired attention hurtful children, reasoning people can pay attention 1 thing @ time, , because children can appear resistant repetition, teachers naturally should vary things. however, educators should mindful of fact that, while variety relieves mind, objects varied must not entirely new, novelty , variety when joined, fatigue mind edgeworth states. teaching of children needed follow considered methods, needed evidence concern appropriateness , proper sequencing, , needed guided consideration forms of teaching empowering , enabling, not fatiguing or disabling. in edgeworth s work, attention of child appears key site pedagogical work , interventions.