Memoirs of Miss Sidney Bidulph

by Frances Sheridan, Patricia Köster (Editor), Jean Coates Cleary (Editor)

Memoirs of Miss Sidney Bidulph is at the center of many important currents in the eighteenth-century novel. It is a sentimental classic, a love story of great moral complexity, and also a probing example of conduct-book fiction. Sidney's story takes the cult of female distress into the
conjugal relationship, showing the tortures that the virtuous mid-eighteenth-century woman suffers when she tries to live her life according to the period's laws of proper conduct. This is the only fully annotated edition of the book available, and it offers an introduction that examines the
literary and social climate in which it was written.

Genres: Classics, 18th Century, Fiction

Paperback

First published January 1, 1761

About the author

Born in 1724 (as Francis Chamberlaine), Irish novelist and playwright.

Reviews

[Sotiris Karaiskos · Rating 4 out of 5]

A story of troubled love from the 18th century that shows us a lot of things about the customs of the time. The book's heroine knows love at an early age but quickly realizes that her beloved is not exactly the knight with the shining armor. This perception then follows her as she understands that the difficulties of life, especially when dealing with love relationships and marriage, are significant, especially when luck intervenes in a negative way. Of course, in our case, the fluctuations of fortune other times bring her near happiness and sometimes far. The final lesson, however, is that we must endure everything that life brings us. An interesting book that will certainly be appreciated by anyone interested in the literature of such a distant epoch.

Μία ιστορία προβληματικού έρωτα από τον 18ο αιώνα που μας δείχνει αρκετά πράγματα για τα ήθη της εποχής. Η ηρωίδα του βιβλίου γνωρίζει σε νεαρή ηλικία τον έρωτα αλλά γρήγορα καταλαβαίνει ότι ο αγαπημένος της δεν είναι ακριβώς ο ιππότης με την αστραφτερή πανοπλία. Αυτή η αντίληψη την ακολουθεί στη συνέχεια καθώς καταλαβαίνει ότι οι δυσκολίες της ζωής, ειδικά όταν αφορούν τις ερωτικές σχέσεις και το γάμο, είναι σημαντικές, ειδικά όταν παρεμβαίνει η τύχη με αρνητικό τρόπο. Βέβαια στην περίπτωσή μας οι διακυμάνσεις της τύχης της άλλες φορές την φέρνουν κοντά στην ευτυχία και άλλες φορές την απομακρύνουν. Το τελικό δίδαγμα, όμως, είναι ότι πρέπει να αντέχουμε ότι μας φέρνει η ζωή. Ένα ενδιαφέρον βιβλίο που σίγουρα θα το εκτιμήσει όποιος ενδιαφέρεται για την λογοτεχνία μιας τόσο μακρινής εποχής.

[Stacy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable 18th century melodrama about the romantic and economic trials of a "good" woman in a wicked, chaotic world; although obviously, best suited for those who enjoy old-fashioned prose and pacing.

[Scribh · Rating 4 out of 5]

An unexpectedly gripping book, which reveals the inability of women in the 18th century to guarantee their own financial and emotional security despite their attempts to read male (and female character), practice virtue, and exercise judicious caution. Several times I was astonished by the plot twists and moved by the experiences of the heroine as she gradually learns the value of judging for herself instead of relying even on the opinions of "wise" individuals concerned for her welfare. A slow start, but definitely worth the read.

[Samuel Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

i read this after hearing prof. john bender digress briefly about it. he was right that it was emotionally tortured -- but so compelling, like an opera in letters. her exquisitely sensitive manners just make it that much more torture, in a way that reminds me oddly of the remains of the day.

[Hadley Stewart · Rating 5 out of 5]

i had to read this book for a class, and therefore was not super excited. little did i know it would be a wild ride with twists and turns, i would be laughing out loud in public, gasping in the middle of the night, and i just barely managed to finish it through my sobbing tears just now. ten out of ten, will read again.

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've given this book too many reads to count, since it's central in my dissertation. If you like eighteenth-century literature, this is a great text about a "woman in distress."

[Dystopian Mayhem · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was either written by an old woman, or a man. The writing style was tedious to say the least, it veered from the main characters toward other uninteresting characters and their stories. Add to that poor Mr. Faulkland, he was mistreated by Sidney and severely judged by the author. In conclusion, this story has the worst heroine I've ever read in a classic book.

[Edward]

"Mrs. Sheridan was a most agreeable companion to an intellectual man. She was sensible, ingenious, unassuming, yet communicative. I recollect, with satisfaction, many pleasing hours which I passed with her under the hospitable roof of her husband, who was to me a very kind friend. Her novel, entitled Memoirs of Miss Sydney Biddulph, contains an excellent moral while it inculcates a future state of retribution; and what it teaches is impressed upon the mind by a series of as deep distress as can affect humanity, in the amiable and pious heroine who goes to her grave unrelieved, but resigned, and full of hope of ‘heaven’s mercy.’ Johnson paid her this high compliment upon it: ‘I know not, Madam, that you have a right, upon moral principles, to make your readers suffer so much.’"
~James Boswell, "The Life of Johnson" (1791)

[Erica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sidney Bidulph Arnold gets increasingly more annoying throughout the book by continuing to do what's "proper" without enough information, therefore inadvertently screwing everyone over. She ends up dying unhappy, but it's cool because her reward will be in heaven.