Masters and Servants: Political Discourse in Richardson’s A Collection of Moral Sentiments
John A. Dussinger, University of Illinois
Volume 5, no. 3, April 1993
©McMaster University, 2015. All articles published on the Eighteenth-Century Fiction website are protected by copyright held by Eighteenth-Century Fiction, a journal published by the Faculty of Humanities at McMaster University.
ABSTRACT
Compared to Defoe or Fielding especially, among the early novelists Richardson seems to have been the most cautious about divulging his political loyalties, so much so that the most careful biographical readings depend largely on speculation. Even in his A Collection of the Moral and Instructive Sentiments, Maxims, Cautions, and Reflexions, published in 1755 at the end of his writing career, where various opinions are sifted from his novels and listed alphabetically, not only does Richardson eschew overt partisan politics, but he sometimes provides quite contradictory stances as if to imply that his role here is that of a “compiler,” just as in his novels it was that of an “editor.” Despite the lack of reference to contemporary political issues, however, Richardson’s focus on governance within the family does reveal some clues about how his novels were intended to ratify certain social attitudes in his readers. The proper management of servants, for instance, which was of obsessive interest throughout the eighteenth century, is a major theme of his Collection as well as of his three novels and informs the discourse on power relations in his society as a whole.
Other ECF articles on the topic of “Samuel Richardson” include:
Richardson’s Hands
by JAMES ROBERT WOOD (ECF 26.3, Spring 2014)
A Case for Hard-heartedness: Clarissa, Indifferency, Impersonality
by WENDY ANNE LEE (ECF 26.1, Fall 2013)
“Glorious Perverseness”: Stoic Pride and Domestic Heroism in Richardson’s Novels
by ANNA DETERS (ECF 26.1, Fall 2013)
©McMaster University, 2015. This copyright covers the exclusive rights to reproduce and distribute the article, including in electronic forms, reprints, translations, photographic reproductions, or similar. While reading for personal use is encouraged, Eighteenth-Century Fiction articles may not be reproduced, broadcast, published, or re-disseminated without the prior written permission of Eighteenth-Century Fiction at McMaster University. Republication, systematic reproduction, posting in electronic form, such as on a web site or in a searchable database, or other uses of this material is not allowed. The copyright in this website includes without limitation the text, computer code, artwork, photographs, images, music, audio, video, and audio-visual material on this website and is owned by McMaster University. ©McMaster University 2015.