Belinda

The lively comedy of this novel in which a young woman comes of age amid the distractions and temptations of London high society belies the challenges it poses to the conventions of courtship, the dependence of women, and the limitations of domesticity. Contending with the perils and thevaried cast of characters of the marriage market, Belinda strides resolutely toward independence. Admired by her contemporary, Jane Austen, and later by Thackeray and Turgenev, Edgeworth tackles issues of gender and race in a manner at once comic and thought-provoking. The 1802 text used in thisedition also confronts the difficult and fascinating issues of racism and mixed marriage, which Edgeworth toned down in later editions.Edgeworth, Maria is the author of 'Belinda', published 1999 under ISBN 9780140436433 and ISBN 014043643X.