41. EBB to Mary Moulton-Barrett
As published in The Brownings’ Correspondence, 1, 33–34.
[?Hope End]
[ca. 1817] [1]
Ma chere chere Mama
Oui J’en conviens que Caroline [2] est la perfection[.] J’avoue qu’elle n’est pas former tout-a-fait d’etre heroine– Non elle à trop de sens d’esprit–
Le petit nombre de nouvelles que J’ai lue m’assurent de ce pensé—pour exemple Rob Roy—l’ame elevée et sublime de Diana Vernon nous frappe l’admiration et la seule maitresse de nos coeurs elle oublie les devoirs de femme en le caractere d’homme elle est une heroine Caroline ne l’est pas—elle voulait remplir le caractere qu’elle portait la douleur en oubliant ses plaisirs pour ses parents m’a plue beaucoup mais quand Lady Jane est malade quand elle s’empresse de secourir son amie alors Caroline est ellememe. Je vous assure ma chere Maman que J’en fus plus frappée que de presque toute cette ouvrage– Quelle belle caractère est cette Madame Hungerford en verité J’en suis charmée [3] – <***>
Publication: None traced.
Manuscript: Berg Collection.
Translation:
My dear dear Mama
Yes I agree that Caroline [2] is perfection. I admit that she is not entirely made to be a heroine. No, she has too much sense of mind.
The few novels I have read confirm this thought—for example, [in] Rob Roy—the lofty and noble soul of Diana Vernon strikes us with admiration and, the only mistress of our hearts, she forgets womanly duties in the personality of a man; she is a heroine, Caroline is not—[when] she chooses to fill the character she sustains [with] grief for her parents, forgetting her pleasures, it pleased me greatly, but when Lady Jane is ill, when she hastens to help her friend, then she is Caroline herself. I assure you, my dear Mama, that I was impressed by nearly the whole of this work. What a beautiful character is that Madame Hungerford—truly, I was charmed by her–
1. Dating assumptions the same as for letter 37.
2. In this letter, EBB continues her comments on Mrs. Edgeworth’s characters, Caroline in Patronage, Lady Jane Granville and Mrs. Hungerford in Manœuvring. She also speaks of Diana Vernon in Scott’s Rob Roy (1817).
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