Reviewed by:

• The Origins of the English Marriage Plot: Literature, Politics and Religion in the Eighteenth Century by Lisa O’Connell
• Laura Thomason (bio)

This book explores a topic, the development of the marriage plot in eighteenth-century English literature, that has been well examined—so well examined that a reader might wonder what is left to learn. Lisa O’Connell answers that scepticism handily: The Origins of the English Marriage Plot is thoroughly researched, meticulously organized, and written with refreshing clarity. Oriented toward political rather than social history, it handles complex and potentially unfamiliar material with ease. A reader specialized in literature and literary scholarship comes away with an expanded context for the rise of the marriage plot and a much deeper understanding of the political and religious circumstances that occasioned that rise.

O’Connell argues convincingly that the English marriage plot is neither a primarily literary phenomenon nor a pure expression of secular social concerns about marriage. Rather, she explains, the marriage plot rose to primacy as it did and when it did “in response to changing relations between the Anglican church, the English state, and the commercial sphere” (3). Lord Hardwicke’s Act for the Better Preventing of Clandestine Marriage (1753) becomes central to those changing relations. The Hardwicke Act is already familiar to scholars of the eighteenth century as a check on impetuous young lovers, as a backstop against stolen fortunes, and as a complete redefinition of what constituted marriage. O’Connell deepens these situation-specific understandings: The Hardwicke Act, she argues, was the most successful of a handful of major laws that enacted the Court Whig project of “consolidat[ing] the state’s role in the lives of the people often, but not always, by turning to the church” (17). In other words, the Anglican marriage ceremony mandated by the Hardwicke Act makes marriage simultaneously a civic and a religious duty, using the Church to standardize a then-disorganized aspect of social order. Marrying according to the rules of the Established Church would make one a proper spouse, a better person, and an English patriot. This book’s value lies in, among other things, its ability to explain the ways in which evolving conceptions of marriage served both sacred and secular ends, rather than one or the other. It ties political history to literary criticism in detailed ways that would make it an asset to scholars in either field, as well as to students looking for a better understanding of the interconnected world of eighteenth-century culture and an explanation of the marriage plot’s primacy. Because it summarizes a complicated philosophical and political situation that involves some strange bedfellows, this book—especially the opening chapter or two—could be a challenging and dense read for nonspecialists. But O’Connell handles the material deftly, moving from the [End Page 478] ideological stance of the Court Whigs to its expression in the Hardwicke Act to the Act’s public reception without leaving the reader behind.

Neither does O’Connell leave literature behind. The book pivots smoothly from political and religious history to an impressive series of close readings tracing the evolving depiction of marriage in literature. The evolution begins with Gay and Fielding’s stage depictions of “mock marriage” before 1740 and their connections to the dubious marriages for sale in the Fleet marriage market and available at Scotland’s Gretna Green. Here, O’Connell introduces an intriguing examination of eighteenth-century beliefs-cum-superstitions about the depiction of marriage on the theatrical stage, illustrating that in the public understanding, considerable slippage existed around the question of what made a marriage legitimate. As marriage was standardized via the Hardwicke Act, the Licensing Act “organized the distribution of marriage tropes across the mid-century stage” in such a way that the theatre could reinforce what was—and was not—a proper marriage (77). O’Connell thus lays the groundwork for the novel’s marriage plot as legitimating specifically Anglican marriage in the public imagination. From that starting...

审核人：

• 英国婚姻情节的起源：丽莎·奥康奈尔（Lisa O'Connell）在18世纪的文学，政治和宗教
• 劳拉·托马森（生物学）

本书探讨了一个主题，即18世纪英国文学中婚姻情节的发展，该主题已经过深入的研究—如此深入的研究，以至于读者可能会想知道该学些什么。丽莎·奥康奈尔（Lisa O'Connell）轻松地回答了这一怀疑论：对英国婚姻情节的起源进行了彻底的研究，精心组织和清晰明了地撰写。面向政治而非社会历史，它可以轻松处理复杂且可能不熟悉的材料。专门从事文学和文学学术研究的读者会为婚姻情节的兴起提供广阔的背景，并对造成这种情况的政治和宗教环境有了更深入的了解。

奥康奈尔令人信服地指出，英国的婚姻情节既不是主要的文学现象，也不是世俗社会对婚姻的关注的纯粹表达。她解释说，相反，婚姻情节像它一样，并在“响应英国国教教堂，英国国家和商业领域之间关系的变化”时上升为首要地位（3）。哈德威克勋爵的《更好地防止秘密婚姻法》（1753年）对那些不断变化的关系至关重要。《哈德威克法》早在18世纪就已经为学者们所熟知，它可以用来制止浮躁的年轻恋人，作为抵御被盗财富的支持，以及对婚姻构成的重新定义。奥康奈尔（O'Connell）加深了这些针对具体情况的理解：她认为，《哈德威克法案》（Hardwicke Act）这是在执行《法院辉格计划》的少数几项主要法律中最成功的一项，该计划“经常但不总是通过求助于教会来巩固国家在人民生活中的作用”（17）。换句话说，根据《哈德威克法》（Hardwicke Act）规定的英国国教结婚仪式使婚姻同时具有公民和宗教责任，使教会能够规范当时混乱无序的社会秩序。如果按照既定教会的规则结婚，将使一个人成为合适的配偶，一个更好的人和一个英国爱国者。本书的价值尤其在于它能够解释不断发展的婚姻观念既服务于神圣目的又适用于世俗目的的能力，而不是其中一种。它以详尽的方式将政治历史与文学批评联系起来，这对于任何一个领域的学者来说都是一种财富，以及希望更好地了解18世纪文化相互联系的世界并解释婚姻情节至高无上的学生。因为本书总结了涉及一些奇怪的学者的复杂的哲学和政治情况，所以这本书（尤其是一两章的开篇）对于非专业人士而言可能是具有挑战性和密集性的阅读。但是O'Connell从[完第478页]法院的思想立场辉格党在《哈德威克法案》中的表达对法案的公众接受程度，而没有将读者抛在后面。

奥康奈尔也没有留下任何文学作品。该书顺利地从政治和宗教历史转向一系列令人印象深刻的近距离阅读，以追踪文学中婚姻的演变。演变始于盖伊和菲尔丁（Gay and Fielding）在1740年之前对“模拟婚姻”的舞台描写，以及它们与可疑婚姻的联系，并在弗列特婚姻市场上出售，可在苏格兰的格雷特纳·格林（Gretna Green）购买。奥康奈尔（O'Connell）在戏剧性舞台上对18世纪有关婚姻描写的迷信和迷信进行了有趣的考察，这表明在公众的理解中，围绕使婚姻合法化的问题存在着很大的滑移。由于婚姻是通过《哈德威克法案》（Hardwicke Act）标准化的 《许可法》“在整个世纪中期组织了婚姻倾向的分配”，以使剧院可以加强什么是-不是什么适当的婚姻（77）。因此，奥康奈尔（O'Connell）为小说的婚姻情节奠定了基础，因为这在公众的想象中明确地使英国国教婚姻合法化。从那开始...