SOURCE: Scheuermann, Mona. “Hannah More and the English Poor.” Eighteenth-Century Life 25, no. 2 (spring 2001): 237-51.

In the following essay, Scheuermann disputes recent criticism that idealizes More's life and work, claiming that the author's conservative views, particularly regarding the poor, are offensive to most contemporary readers.

Hannah More was one of those fortunate human beings who fit precisely into their society and so garner much praise for their actions and much psychological comfort from their situation. She lived a marvelously successful life, celebrated for her goodness and talent. The ideology of her works, which sold in enormous numbers, reflects the dominant ideas of the influential strata of her society, who praised and made use of her talents toward what for them seemed immediate social and political needs. Her reemergence into importance in the work of today's critics is only a minor reflection of the fame she experienced in her own...