| Residential College | false |
| Status | 已發表Published |
| Imogen Hermes Gowar's The Mermaid and Mrs. Hancock: Rethinking the Eighteenth-Century Marriage Plot | |
PETER DAVID MATHEWS 
| |
| 2024-10 | |
| Conference Name | Société d'Études Anglaises Contemporaines (SEAC) Conference |
| Source Publication | Société d'Études Anglaises Contemporaines (SEAC)
 |
| Conference Date | October 17-18, 2024 |
| Conference Place | Université de Caen-Normandie |
| Country | France |
| Abstract | This paper examines how Imogen Hermes Gowar's novel The Mermaid and Mrs. Hancock (2018) uses its eighteenth-century setting to rethink the literary device of the marriage plot. One key reason why historical novelists are interested in the eighteenth century is the new conception of freedom that formed during this period, especially in the context of the slave trade. The first part of this paper thus focuses on the character of Polly Campbell, a former slave who now works in London as a courtesan, and how she comes to realize that, despite the luxury around her, her position is really a hidden form of slavery. The second part considers how the life choices of women in this term are shaped by economic considerations. Seeing matrimony as a form of servitude, many of Gowar's female characters choose prostitution and the money it brings as an act of empowerment, only to find that financial considerations repeatedly betray their desire for freedom. In the face of this double bind, the final section looks at how Gowar's protagonists, Jonah and Angelica, attempt to construct a new twist on the marriage plot that consciously eschews the logic of economic transaction, seeking instead to place desire and forgiveness at its center. |
| Keyword | English Literature |
| Subject Area | 文学 ; 文学批评 ; 英国文学 |
| URL | View the original |
| Funding Project | The Ends of Ian McEwan |
| Language | 英語English |
| WOS ID | WOS:P-2399-2015 |
| Citation statistics | |
| Document Type | Conference paper |
| Collection | DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH |
| Corresponding Author | PETER DAVID MATHEWS |
| Affiliation | University of Macau |
| Recommended Citation GB/T 7714 | PETER DAVID MATHEWS. Imogen Hermes Gowar's The Mermaid and Mrs. Hancock: Rethinking the Eighteenth-Century Marriage Plot[C], 2024. |
| APA | PETER DAVID MATHEWS.(2024). Imogen Hermes Gowar's The Mermaid and Mrs. Hancock: Rethinking the Eighteenth-Century Marriage Plot. Société d'Études Anglaises Contemporaines (SEAC). |
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