aaaaaa This page intentionally left blank ALLEGORIES OF UNION IN IRISH AND ENGLISH WRITING, – In this book, Mary Jean Corbett explores fictional and non- fictional representations of Ireland’s relationship with England throughout the nineteenth century. Through postcolonial and feministtheory,sheconsidershowcross-culturalcontactisnegoti- ated using tropes of marriage and family, and demonstrates how familialrhetoricsometimesworkstosustain,sometimestocontest, the structures of colonial inequality. Analyzing novels by Edgeworth,Owenson,Gaskell, Kingsley,andTrollopeas wellas writings by Burke, Carlyle, Engels, Arnold, and Mill, Corbett arguesthatthecolonizingimperativefor‘‘reforming’’theIrishin anageofimperialexpansionconstitutesalargelyunrecognizedbut crucialelementinthe rhetoricalprojectofEnglishnation-forma- tion. By situating her readings within the varying historical and ideologicalcontextsthatshapethem,sherevisesthecriticalortho- doxiessurroundingcolonialdiscoursethatcurrentlyprevailinIrish and English studies, and offers a fresh perspective on important aspectsofVictorianculture.    is Associate Professor of English and AffiliateofWomen’sStudiesatMiamiUniversityinOxford,Ohio. HerpublicationsincludeRepresentingFemininity:Middle-ClassSubjec- tivity in Victorian and Edwardian Women’s Autobiographies (). Her work has also appeared in Criticism, Eighteenth-Century Life, ELH, StudiesintheNovel,andWomen’sStudies. aaaaaa ALLEGORIES OF UNION IN IRISH AND ENGLISH WRITING,   – Politics, History, and the Family from Edgeworth to Arnold MARY JEAN CORBETT           The Pitt Building, Trumpington Street, Cambridge, United Kingdom    The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 2RU, UK 40 West 20th Street, New York, NY 10011-4211, USA 477 Williamstown Road, Port Melbourne, VIC 3207, Australia Ruiz de Alarcón 13, 28014 Madrid, Spain Dock House, The Waterfront, Cape Town 8001, South Africa http://www.cambridge.org ©Mary Jean Corbett 2004 First published in printed format 2000 ISBN 0-511-03346-X eBook(Adobe Reader) ISBN 0-521-66132-3 hardback My family on both sides belonged to the toiling and dying types whomadeitovertoAmerica. AndonceinAmerica,peopledividedonceagain:youcouldsay theybecamethe poorand therich. The losersand winners.The artistsandscientists.Iftheywerecountries,they’dbeIrelandand England. CarolynSee,Dreaming:GoodLuckandHardTimesinAmerica Ofthenumberswhostudy,oratleastwhoreadhistory,howfew deriveanyadvantagefromtheirlabours! MariaEdgeworth,PrefacetoCastleRackrent MMMM Contents Acknowledgments pageix Introduction   Publicaffectionsandfamilialpolitics:Burke,Edgeworth, andIrelandinthes   Allegoriesofprescription:engenderingUnionin OwensonandEdgeworth   Troublingothers:representingtheimmigrantIrishin urbanEnglandaroundmid-century   Plottingcolonialauthority:Trollope’sIreland,–   England’sopportunity,England’scharacter:Arnold,Mill, andtheUnioninthes  Afterword  Notes  Bibliography  Index  vii aaaaa