di Maria Edgeworth

During the 1790s with Ireland in political crisis Maria Edgeworth made a surprisingly rebellious choice in Castle Rackrent her first novel she adopted an Irish Catholic voice to narrate the decline of a family from her own Anglo Irish class Castle Rackrent s narrator Thady Quirk givesus four generations of Rackrent heirs Sir Patrick the dissipated spendthrift Sir Murtagh the litigating fiend Sir Kit the brutal husband and gambling absentee and Sir Condy the lovable and improvident dupe of Thady s own son Jason With this satire on Anglo Irish landlords Edgeworth pioneered the regional novel and inspired Sir Walter Scott s Waverly 1814 She also changed the focus of conflict in Ireland from religion to class and boldly predicted the rise of the Irish Catholic Bourgeoisie With her satire on Anglo Irish landlords in Castle Rackrent 1800 Maria Edgeworth pioneered the regional novel and inspired Sir Walter Scott s Waverley 1814 Politically risky stylistically innovative and wonderfully entertaining the novel changes the focus of conflict in Ireland from religion to class and boldly predicts the rise of the Irish Catholic bourgeoisie