Smollett's Women

This study attempts to show that for each of Smollett's fictional women (heroines, victims, and comic or grotesque), his treatment of them depends upon the fictional purposes that these characters serve in his novels.

Although Smollett's obvious masculine sensibility has become a commonplace in criticism of the 18th-century novel, the basis and particularities of that sensibility have never been examined. This study attempts to show that in each category Smollett's treatment depends on the fictional purposes that these characters serve in his novels.

Although Smollett's obvious masculine sensibility has become a commonplace in criticism of the 18th-century novel, the basis and particularities of that sensibility have never been examined. In actuality, his treatment of women--heroines, victims, and comic or grotesque--proves far more complex than conventional commentary suggests. This study attempts to show that in each category Smollett's treatment depends on the fictional purposes that these characters serve in his novels.