Written by Irish novelist Maria Edgeworth (1768-1849) and published in 1801, Belinda remains one of the landmark works of the late Restoration novel and a precursor of the realistic novel of the mid-19th century. Its purpose is made clear by Edgeworth herself in a brief preface that begins the novel: “The following work is offered to the public as a Moral Tale” (1). Edgeworth was distressed by the glut of frivolous novels that sought only to entertain the public, most often educated women with leisure time. These popular novels were little more than titillating, exotic tales of romance or elaborate thrillers about murder and mayhem. Edgeworth saw the novel as an opportunity to educate her reader in the ways of moral and upright behavior. Belinda, then, is a moral tale that explores the right and wrong ways of the heart, the intricate dilemmas involving love, courtship, marriage, and family.

As a moral tale, Belinda uses multiple storylines and a wide cast of characters to instruct the reader in how a young woman of intelligence and bearing makes the most suitable and the most advantageous marriage. Belinda Portman is a young, beautiful 17-year-old girl with an independent spirit whose well-intentioned aunt seeks to arrange the best possible match for her comely niece. Throughout the narrative Edgeworth explores what it means to be a woman and the duties and obligations of being a wife and a mother. Edgeworth’s argument is often in radical disagreement with the prevailing assumptions of her own time, such that Belinda, although written in a style that can seem opaque and even intimidating to the modern ear, still speaks to a contemporary audience.

The edition used for this study guide is the 2011 Digital Reads edition.

Plot Summary

When young Belinda Portman reaches marrying age, her aunt, Mrs. Stanhope, sends her to London to live with Lord and Lady Delacour. There, she will be introduced into the city’s best social circles. Impressionable and a bit uncertain of herself, Belinda is initially enthralled by Lady Delacour’s charm and wit and by her glamorous circle of wealthy friends. Quickly, however, Belinda sees the dysfunction of the Delacour family. She sees how the wealthy are motivated by self-interest and greed. Lady Delacour herself is plagued by depression and feels isolated from her husband and from her own daughter. Belinda is introduced to handsome Clarence Hervey. Although the two have radically different temperaments, they strike up a friendship over their mutual interest in helping Lady Delacour. Even as the two move hesitatingly toward genuine affection, a careless misunderstanding at a masquerade ball convinces Belinda that Hervey is not for her.

Belinda cultivates a friendship with Lady Delacour, who reveals a distressing secret: Months earlier she was involved in a foolish duel with another woman over her reprobate husband. Lady Delacour was accidentally wounded in the breast and now she is certain the festering wound has become cancerous and she is dying. She refuses any medical help, fearing the revelation of the duel. She has been seeing a notorious quack who prescribes increasingly stronger doses of opiates. It is only on Belinda’s counsel that Lady Delacour agrees to see a reputable doctor whom Hervey recommends.

Meanwhile, a jealous suitor Belinda rejected begins a scurrilous rumor that Belinda has set her sights on Lord Delacour, a lie that Lady Delacour too readily believes. Belinda is sent packing to the estate of the Percival family, where Lady Delacour’s sister lives. Years earlier, Lady Delacour sent her daughter Helena there to be raised. Belinda is welcomed by the loving and maternal Anne Perceval. Lady Perceval believes that Augustus Vincent, a visiting wealthy West Indian planter, would be an ideal match for Belinda. The two meet and become friends, but there is no spark, no romance. Given the conventions of the day, Belinda enters into a marriage agreement.

Once Lady Delacour realizes the perfidy behind the rumors about Belinda, she sends word for Belinda to return to accept her apologies. Belinda returns determined now that she has met Helena to bring the mother and daughter back together. The doctor now treating Lady Delacour dismisses the idea she has cancer and reassures her that her previous doctor was simply feeding her drugs that made her feel dopey and sluggish. Belinda directs a reconciliation between Lord and Lady Delacour and then affects a reunion between Lady Delacour and Helena.

Belinda, still uncertain over her attraction to Hervey, deals with the difficult revelation that Hervey adopted a young girl, known only as Virginia St. Pierre, some years earlier after the girl’s grandmother died. Hervey raised the young girl in his remote estate in the country to create from her an ideal wife, a perfect woman unfazed by the moral compromises and frivolous distractions of London society. Hervey, after meeting Belinda, understands his obligation to go through with what has become a de facto arranged marriage, but his heart belongs to Belinda. Only when he discovers that Virginia herself is pining for a sailor she briefly met before coming to live with Hervey, and only after that sailor is located and the two are reunited, does Hervey feel finally free to return to Belinda and pursue his troth. For her part, Belinda ends her marriage agreement with Mr. Vincent when it is revealed he squandered a considerable fortune at local gaming tables. Both unencumbered, Belinda and Hervey pledge their love for each other and prepare to begin their life together.