Tales and Novels — Volume 05 Tales of a Fashionable Life

"Tales and Novels — Volume 05" by Maria Edgeworth is a fictional collection written during the mid-19th century. This volume includes the tale "Manoeuvring," which explores intricate social dynamics and the push and pull of family relations amid ambition and artifice. The narrative primarily revolves around the character of Mrs. Eugenia Beaumont, a cunning widow who employs stratagems in her quest to secure advantageous marriages for her children amidst various societal expectations and personal aspirations. The opening of "Manoeuvring" sets the stage for a complex examination of relationships marked by manipulation and concealed intentions. We are introduced to Mrs. Beaumont through a note expressing her regret at missing a family celebration and her concern over potential illness in the community, which quickly reveals her artful and strategic nature. Her conversations with her daughter, Miss Walsingham, and her son, Mr. Beaumont, reveal familial tensions and differing views on Mrs. Beaumont's parenting methods, particularly regarding the upbringing of her children. Miss Walsingham's candidness contrasts sharply with her mother's secretive, manipulative ways, especially concerning plans for the marriage of her daughter Amelia. As the plot unfolds, secrets and schemes surrounding Mr. Palmer, a wealthy relation, and the interest in securing marriages for Amelia and her brother Edward add layers of intrigue, setting the tone for a tale that promises both comedic and critical insights into fashionable society of the era. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Maria Edgeworth was a prolific Anglo-Irish novelist of adults' and children's literature. She was one of the first realist writers in children's literature and a significant figure in the evolution of the novel in Europe. She held critical views on estate management, politics, and education, and corresponded with some of the leading literary and economic writers, including Sir Walter Scott and David Ricardo. During the first decade of the 19th century she was one of the most widely read novelists in Britain and Ireland. Her name today is most commonly associated with Castle Rackrent, her first novel, in which she adopted an Irish Catholic voice to narrate the dissipation and decline of a family from her own landed Anglo-Irish class.