Sexual Innocence and Economic Experience: the Problems of Amelia and Ophelia

  • Gillian Skinner
Chapter

Abstract

David Simple and The Countess of Dellwyn demonstrate how criticism and modification of the sentimental system can take place via an economically able, but still sensible, woman. This pattern becomes, in slightly different ways, a crucial feature of both Henry Fielding’s Amelia (1751) and Sarah Fielding’s The History of Ophelia (1760). In this chapter, I explore ideas of femininity and the nature of their relation to economic activity. As these novels illustrate, the relation between these two is not only complex, it is also in the early stages of a process of change — a process which will, as the century progresses, enable connections to be made between areas where previously none was possible, thus altering the dynamics of the relationships among femininity, sensibility and economic activity.

Keywords

Economic Experience Economic Ability Matrimonial Home Virtuous Woman Constant Person 
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Notes

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© Gillian Skinner 1999

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  • Gillian Skinner

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