The Rise of the Novel in the Celtic Periphery: a Study on the Political, Pedagogical and Antinovelistic Composition of Castle Rackrent

Abstract

This paper demonstrates how the perception of union in the difference can be perceived in the novel Castle Rackrent written by Maria Edgeworth and published in 1800. It investigates the pedagogical aspects of this fictional narrative, classified as National Tale, and explores the mediation offered by its structure, especially the paratextual elements. At the same time, it reflects about the challenges of forming a conciliatory dimension in the novel, which does not bring marriage as the solution to the narrative conflict. This work argues that the social challenges imposed by the troubled reality of the Celtic periphery do not allow the composition of a realist novel and result in a sort of antinovel, which marks the contradictions and ambivalences of Irish reality at a critical moment of history. It concludes by demonstrating how this novel presents an ideological solution that can be identified in two fronts: a reformist perspective supported by the Anglo-Irish elite, which would allow the preservation of the status quo and of the traditions of the country; and an act of assimilation to be performed by Great Britain at the time of its union with Ireland, one that incorporates the alterity instead of rejecting it.