SOURCE: "The Narrator of Castle Rackrent" in The South Atlantic Quarterly, Vol. 71, No. 1, Winter, 1972, pp. 124-29.

In the following essay, Edwards examines the role of the first-person narrator of Castle Rackrent.

Since Castle Rackrent was published in 1800, nearly all the critics have agreed that Thady Quirk, the narrator, is aptly described as "faithful Thady," an unintelligent or naïve servant with a "misplaced sense of family honour." Consistent with this is Ernest A. Baker's reference to Thady's "muddleheadedness and repugnance" and George Watson's assertion that "this absurdly loyal family retainer" has a simplicity which makes him a butt. Many other critics have reinforced this view.

Thus James Newcomer's "The Disingenuous Thady Quirk" comes as a surprise. In his article Mr. Newcomer contends that Thady is "artful rather than artless," that he is always the realist, that he has a calculating mind which "shows itself in relation to his...