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Loading... Roxana: The Fortunate Mistress (1724)by Daniel Defoe
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. In many ways this is like Moll Flanders and is typical of the 18th Century in the decadence of the aristocracy and the rise of the middle class based on trade and individual effort. Roxanna is the name the heroine takes to perform in her Turkish outfit which only occurs once in the story, but the reputation lingers. We never discover her true name, although the suggestion is that it is Susan, as this is the name of one of her five children. Like Moll Flanders she acquires her wealth though men, but unlike Moll she does not marry all of them, preferring to maintain her independence as a mistress. After suffering poverty, you can understand her need for security and control of her own wealth. This has its own problems trying to preserve her reputation and ensure the resulting children are taken care of, children that one day will return to make life difficult for her. Her liaisons include a jeweller, a banker and there is a suggestion that she was mistress to the king of France. She therefore travels not only in England, but France and the Netherlands. It is also interesting to see the different religions represented, at one point she is accused of theft by a Jew, and she represents herself as a Quaker after being befriended by one of their members, before returning to her old ways. Amy her maid is an interesting character as she not only aids her mistress in her endeavours, in the end she suffers for it. The reader can not help thinking Amy is used very badly by her mistress, being drawn into her seedy world, without any of the real benefits. Most people will find 18th century novels too long and drawn out with insufficient pace for a modern audience, but they did reflect the changing times in what was a tumultuous century. Another book from the 1001-list read (or rather, listened to). It seems, that I'm not so very fond of books like these. In itself it is interesting to learn how things went in these days, when a woman comes to be alone after her husband leaves her. I am, though, not very fond of the story of her life. Going from man to man, town to town, giving birth to one child after another. I'm not so interested in the kind of dresses the main character wears, or how much income she has (I have no idea what a pistol (?) is worth, or the other measures of money). What I miss in this part, is a translation of these amounts or concepts of former (foreign) currency. no reviews | add a review
Belongs to Publisher SeriesThe Abbey Classics (22) Biblioteca moderna [Mondadori] (164-166) BUR: L [Rizzoli] (934) Limited Editions Club (S:43.09) — 5 more
Classic Literature.
Fiction.
HTML: British writer Daniel Defoe is credited with being one of the first writers to dabble in longer-form fiction, eventually leading to the development of the novel format. His final work, published anonymously, follows the life of a remarkable woman who flouts the social strictures of the eighteenth century and takes up with a series of men in order to ensure the survival of her familyâ??but always on her own terms and in a manner consistent with her own unique code of ethics. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)823.5Literature English English fiction Queen Anne 1702-45LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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Na de itt jön az ambivalencia. Mert ugye Defoe hĂvĹ‘ keresztĂ©nykĂ©nt azt is tudja, hogy a házasságon kĂvĂĽli szex (pláne ha a nĹ‘ műveli) egyben halálos bűn is, nota bene ha egy kurvát teszĂĽnk meg fĹ‘szereplĹ‘nknek, akkor azt is Ă©reztetnĂĽnk kell az olvasĂłval, hogy a bűn vĂ©gsĹ‘ soron mindig elnyeri bĂĽntetĂ©sĂ©t. ĂŤgy hát a szerzĹ‘ szerĂ©t ejti, hogy szereplĹ‘je idĹ‘nkĂ©nt lamentáljon egyet-kettĹ‘t bűnei nagyságán, Ă©s gondoskodik arrĂłl, hogy Roxána ne Ă©lvezhesse ki azok gyĂĽmölcsĂ©t - magyarán miután elĂ©r sikerei csĂşcsára, letaszajtja Ĺ‘t a mĂ©lybe*. EbbĹ‘l pedig a legbutább olvasĂł is megĂ©rtheti, hogy hiába utal minden az ellenkezĹ‘jĂ©re, a prostitĂşciĂł rossz, Ă©Ă©Ă©rtem?
Ugye jĂł háromszáz Ă©ves szövegrĹ‘l beszĂ©lĂĽnk, szĂłval mai szemmel nĂ©zve nem igazán tűnik regĂ©nynek. Sokkal inkább erkölcsi pĂ©ldabeszĂ©d a műfaja, annak viszont enyhĂ©n erĹ‘ltetett. Nem lehet persze eleget mĂ©ltatni Defoe-t, amiĂ©rt felhĂvja a figyelmet a nĹ‘i kiszolgáltatottságra, de bevallom, ezt a sok indokolatlan moralizálást, a vontatott konfliktusleĂrásokat Ă©s kommentárokat Ă©n már nehezen tudtam tolerálni. RendkĂvĂĽl Ă©rdekes szöveg a maga nemĂ©ben, de kĂ©ptelen voltam nem unatkozni rajta.
* Az 1724-es elsĹ‘ kiadásban ezt az egĂ©sz bukás-dolgot Defoe lerendezte egyetlen zárĂłbekezdĂ©sben. Aztán Ă©rezte, hogy ez nem lesz jĂł Ăgy, Ăşgyhogy a következĹ‘ kiadásban kifejtette bĹ‘vebben - de ezzel sem tudott meggyĹ‘zni. ( )