In the previous three posts, I gave a synopsis of the satirical novel Rosella, or, Modern Occurrences, by Mary Charlton. This novel is not so well-known as other novels of the same type, such as The Female Quixote or The Heroine.
   If you're familiar with the modern academy, you won't be surprised to know that scholars are mostly interested in the question of whether Rosella's author Mary Charlton has feminist leanings or not. Natalie Neill devotes much of her introductory essay on Rosella to examining the apparently conflicting messages: “Although Rosella can be read as a conservative satire, there are tensions in the text that complicate such a reading…. Further complicating our understanding of Rosella is the way that it opens itself to feminist counter readings…”
   I think Charlton, like other authors of the period, mocks and criticizes human foibles on both sides of any question. As did Austen. Consider that Austen satirizes the vain Sir Walter Elliott but also skewers his toad-eating attorney Mr. Shepherd and Mr. Shepherd’s ambitious-social-climbing daughter, Mrs. Clay. So, which side is she on--is she with Jacobins who want to overthrow the aristocracy or is she an Anti-Jacobin who believes people should stay in the social class they were born into? I think she’s laughing at both sides. Likewise, Lydia Bennet is ignorant and has no education, Mary Bennet is a pedant and uses her education to be tiresome, while Elizabeth is the happy medium between the two.

​   In my previous post, I introduced a discussion of the forgotten novel Rosella, or, Modern Occurrences (1799) by Mary Charlton. This novel is a good candidate for books to read when you've read everything Austen wrote and want more. In the last post I went over the prologue of the book which sets up the premise for the story: this is about two good friends, Sophia and Selina, who are deluded novel-readers. Sophia is a widow, Selina is married to a grouchy old attorney, so they live their lives vicariously through Sophia's unacknowledged daughter, Rosella Montresor.
   Sophia Beauclerc, having buried both of her parents, is a wealthy heiress. For the sake of her Gothic romance fantasies, she is fortunate that her estate outside of London is next door to the stately home of an unmarried nobleman! Rosella doesn’t realize that when Sophia sends her to walk or ride in the neighbourhood, or play her harp and sing in the hermitage rather than in the parlor, it is all with the intention of catching Lord Morteyne’s eye and ear. What happens instead is that a gang of “men of fashion” burst drunkenly on to the property in quest of the beautiful songstress. In the process of frightening Rosella with their loud admiration, her harp is badly damaged.
   The harp disappears, and before long, a beautiful new harp is mysteriously delivered, rather like the pianoforte that shows up in Highbury in Emma. Rosella assumes it’s a generous gift from her dear friend Miss Beauclerc. The reader, or at least this reader, assumed that Lord Morteyne was honourably taking responsibility for the boorish behavior of his guests. Sophia and her friend Selina believe that it’s proof that his Lordship is smitten with Rosella. 

    ​Well, I’ve read over a hundred novels of the long 18th century, and I think I’d put Rosella, or Modern Occurrences at the top of the list for readability because of author Mary Charlton's humorous and knowing voice. I’ll be making more than one comparison to Austen here—Charlton is not quite in the same tier as Austen, but she combines a traditional marriage-plot novel with plenty of wry humour. This is because Rosella, at least in some aspects, is a parody. Yes, she pokes a lot of fun at Gothic novels along the way, but we still have a satisfying love match between a likeable hero and heroine, a love story which takes place in the real world, not in the elevated sentimental world of the 18th century novel. Her views of society and morality are the conventional views, but the story is energetic and fresh and often funny. 
      Rosella was such a revelation to me that I'll be posting multiple posts and quoting liberally from it, to give you a flavour of Charlton's writing. 
     Rosella is the titular heroine of this four volume novel, but first I want to look at the prologue contained in the opening chapters of the novel. It is this story which sets up the parodic pattern and also the basic premise—Rosella the heroine must contend, often unknowingly, with the efforts of two deluded older women who try to mold her into a Gothic heroine and who throw her into heroine-like situations which only create difficulties for her...

    Very often, when reading old novels, I come across some striking passage when the author or authoress, or one of their characters, delivers their strong views about something, such as slavery or empire or women's rights.  I've long since realized that Jane Austen was not outspoken about any of these issues, compared to her peers. I conclude that people who think she was outspoken or radical have not read enough of the popular literature of the time to have a basis for comparison. 
    But if I bang on that drum every time I review an old novel, I'll sound like a broken record. (ooh, mixed metaphors).  So I've  excerpted these three examples about feminism from novels I've recently read, to present them together. The first two are examples of feminists--okay, tragic, doomed, feminists, but they are given the chance to have their say. The third is a speech from a "mixed character," someone presented as flawed, but essentially good.
    The feminist message is delivered not by the heroine, but by a side character. Then it is made clear to us that this side character may be sympathetic, but is not entirely admirable.
​     The word "subversive" is widely used in academia these days, often when arguing that the author has a message which she barely hints at, but i think introducing feminism in this way is truly subversive...