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SOURCE: Nardin, Jane. “Avoiding the Perils of the Muse: Hannah More, Didactic Literature, and Eighteenth-Century Criticism.” Papers on Language and Literature 36, no. 4 (fall 2000): 377-91.
In the following essay, Nardin evaluates More's attempts to balance the demand of her critics for morally uplifting material with the requirement of her readers for quality fiction.
In 1761 a pious teenager named Hannah More sat down to write a play. As a teacher at her sisters' school, More had noticed that few plays available in English were appropriate for performance by schoolgirls. If she could write such a drama herself, she might both advance the cause of morality and establish a reputation as a poet. The result of her labors was The Search After Happiness: A Pastoral Drama for Young Ladies, which circulated briskly in manuscript. Published in 1773, the play launched More upon a long and successful writing career.
What made so many...
This section contains 5,290 words (approx. 18 pages at 300 words per page) |
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