My high-born rulership

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
John Downman 1807:
Maria Edgeworth

My high-born rule ( Engl. Castle Rackrent ) is a novel by British writer Maria Edgeworth , published in 1800 under Joseph Johnson in London.

None of the last four gentlemen at Rackrent Castle holds the property together, but rather throws the rent he has taken out of the window with both hands. Even more - the last lord of the castle, Baronet Sir Condy (actually Conolly) Rackrent, is hopelessly in debt.

This satire on Anglo - Irish landowners is believed to be the forerunner of Scotts Waverley .

shape

In the appendix to the novel, consisting of 28 footnotes to the text, Maria Edgeworth reveals herself as the editor of the memoir about the Rackrent family . Your first-person narrator is the almost 80-year-old Thady Quirk, devoted steward of the gentlemen at Rackrent Castle in Ireland. Right at the beginning of the novel, Thady briefly introduces the reader to a distinguished gentleman - his son, the lawyer Mr. Jason Quirk. Why the father distances himself from the business conduct of the son only emerges as a punchline at the end of the novel. Attorney Quirk takes ownership of the rack rent completely.

Thadys persiflierender sound rises from a pleasant restraint on a sly old man who has remained thoroughly modest. Schlösser aptly writes: "The unobtrusiveness of the presentation makes it all the more haunting." Very rarely, Thady comes a little closer to the reader, for example when he asks: "If you want to know more, I am not very capable to report it to you; but...".

content

Sir Patrick O'Shaughlin, the first of the four rack rents mentioned above, only knows Thady from his grandfather's stories. When it was Sir Patrick's birthday, his coachman had to drink quirk with him every year. The story in a nutshell: His grace, generous, had drunk the money, got into debt and died an honest man in bed after a feast.

His son, the legal scholar Sir Murtagh Rackrent, likes to litigate his tenants. The court costs devour a large part of the rental income. There are also arguments with his wife, Lady Rackrent, a born Skinflint. In a marital dispute over a lease, Sir Murtagh bursts a vein and passes away. The widow wishes Thady a nice day. She makes off with all the household effects on and off to Dublin. The marriage has remained childless. Sir Kit, one of the deceased's younger brothers, becomes master of Rackrent Castle. Since the brisk officer finds empty rooms, he prefers to stay in Bath . There in England the bachelor gambled away the rental income and also ran into debt. When Sir Kit's chief renter fails to collect enough rent, His Grace makes Thady's son Jason his rent taker. Actually, Thady had intended the boy to be a priest.

Sir Kit wants to "marry the richest heiress in England". The marriage becomes an unhappy one. This Lady Rackrent also survives her husband, because Sir Kit dies in a duel. The widow travels to England, never to be seen again, and Thady's darling Condy - from a distant branch of the family and a lawyer by profession - becomes lord of the castle. Thady's son Jason is promoted to administrator under Sir Condy. Of course, the new man will marry the wrong man. Sir Condy prefers Mr. Moneygawl's daughter from the neighborhood of a relative of Thady's. His grace is expended during the candidacy for a seat in parliament. Lady Rackrent simply flees from the crumbling castle to her family in Mount Juliet's Town before the overwhelming mountain of debt. The agreeable Sir Condy lets them go. However, the runaway had an accident a little later on a carriage ride. The doctors give up on the woman. She survived.

Thady's son Jason buys the bankruptcy estate. The new lord of the castle doesn't have to throw Sir Condy out. The former landlord needs an "air change". For health reasons he retires to the hunting lodge, drinks his punch, has a fever, dies and gets "only a very poor funeral".

reception

  • Schlösser praises the “astonishingly true and real” little novel, Maria Edgeworth's “best work”, in the highest tones: “This pearl from the treasure of English cultural heritage ...” It points to meaningful names - for example Castle Rackrent is called Schloss Wucherpacht . The families Skinflint and Moneygawl could with miser and money Schneider to be translated. Quirk hot feint . Schlösser refers to a letter from the author from 1834. It says that in Thady Quirk the Irish peasant is condensed into a single figure.

English

  • 2008 Review by Julie Nash.
  • November 14, 2011: Review at The Literary Omnivore
  • Overview The first-person narrator at Castle Rackrent

German-language editions

Web links

English

Wikisource: Castle Rackrent  - Sources and full texts (English)

Remarks

  1. ↑ Apparently Dublin is n't too far away. The Rackrents own lands in O'Shaughlin's Town, Gruneaghoolaghan and in Crookagnawaturgh (edition used, p. 72, 14th Zvu).
  2. ↑ Edition used.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ engl. John Downman
  2. ↑ engl. Joseph Johnson
  3. ↑ Edition used, p. 95, 1. Zvo
  4. ↑ Edition used, pp. 95–112
  5. ↑ Edition used, p. 5, 3. Zvo
  6. ↑ Schlösser in the afterword of the edition used, p. 122, 10. Zvo
  7. ↑ Edition used, p. 93, 12. Zvo
  8. ↑ Schlösser in the afterword of the edition used, p. 120, 4th Zvu
  9. ↑ Schlösser in the afterword of the edition used, p. 122, 3rd Zvu
  10. ↑ Schlösser in the afterword of the edition used, p. 118, 14. Zvu
  11. ↑ Schlösser in the afterword of the edition used, p. 118, 5th Zvu
  12. ↑ Schlösser in the afterword of the edition used, p. 121, 12. Zvo
  13. ↑ Schlösser in the afterword of the edition used, p. 120, 9. Zvu