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Published in 1813, The miser married is an epistolatory novel based on a series of letters from Charlotte Montgomery to Harriet Castlemain, in which Charlotte not only describes her own romantic affairs, but those of her mother, a rather unprincipled spendthrift who has just married the miser of the title. The story is seen from other viewpoints as well, including those of the miser John Winterdale, and his domestic servants Martha and Ralph, who also carry on a voluminous (and extremely badly spelt) correspondence.
A sample chapter of The miser married is available to view or download by following this link.
The full text can also be read online or downloaded free of charge. It is in XHTML format, like this page. Please note the file size is 641kb and it may take some time to open-up if you choose to read it online. Downloading for reading later may be the preferred option and this can be typically achieved by calling up an option box. If you have a mouse and it is configured for left click to select, right clicking the link may give you this option. Link to the full text of The miser married.
Catherine Hutton, in her preface to the book, explains how she came to write it.
"I had been reading a celebrated Novel, written by a celebrated Lady, which appeared to me of that kind called prose run mad. Beauty, sentiment and description, rose to such a pitch, that their effect was reversed. What should have excited admiration, became burlesque; and I found myself obliged to laugh, where it was intended I should have wept. "Surely," said I, as I laid down the book, "Surely I could write as well as this!" I tried, and believed I had not been mistaken."
Certainly "beauty, sentiment and description" are in there, but so are satire, literary criticism, and a fair amount of drama. The characters, both those writing the letters and those who feature in them, are clearly delineated, especially the comic creations Mr. Sharp and Mrs. Thacker.
Page created 19 November 2002 and last
updated 19 November 2002
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