The Glamour of Freedom: Rethinking the Marriage Plot in Imogen Hermes Gowar’s The Mermaid and Mrs. Hancock
This essay 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 form...
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| Vydáno v: | URI:https://journals.openedition.org/ebc, |
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| Médium: | Article ou chapitre numérique |
| Jazyk: | Français |
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Études britanniques contemporaines
2025
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| On-line přístup: | Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM |
| Shrnutí: | This essay 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 essay thus focuses on the character of Polly Campbell, a former slave who now works in London as a courtesan, and how she comes to realise 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 centre. |
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