The Victim of Prejudice

by Mary Hays, Eleanor Ty (Editor), Jean-Jacques Rousseau (Contribution by)

Librarian's Note: This is the second edition - ISBN 13: 9781551112176

“This early feminist novel should be read by anyone interested in the literary history of the sexualized female, in women’s studies, or in British Romantic Literature.” — Anne K. Mellor, UCLA

Genres: Classics, Fiction, 18th Century, School, British Literature, Feminism, English Literature

260 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1799

Reviews

[Leslie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really compelling short novel about a woman who fights the world and loses--but loses with dignity.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

Honestly, failed romance in the Regency/Victorian period is usually hilarious. Somebody sees somebody else's ankle, or swoons and winds up emigrating, or their cousin turns out to be a rake, but this is deadly serious. Mary Hays is another of MaryWollstonecraft's friends and her second novel, A Victim of Prejudice, blows away people like me who read Gothic romances ironically. As Sir Peter Osbourne would say, "D–mn." I hate Sir Peter Osbourne. Mary Hay's protagonist, Mary (they didn't have a lot of names back then) begins as the happy child of a loving foster father called Mr. Raymond. Mr. Raymond takes a pupil called William who grows up alongside Mary in idylls of childish bliss until he induces her to steal grapes from the neighbor's hothouse, wherein Mary first meets Sir Peter Osbourne, who tries to kiss her. Mary has her first negative emotion, and from then on, Sir Peter makes a hobby of sexually harassing the neighbor kid whenever he runs into her, which is often enough. But Mary has William as her companion and protector, until Mr. Raymond pulls Mary aside and tells her that she's seventeen now and, though his heart breaks to do it, he must send her away because she cannot marry William, as he will inherit a title of rank and his father would be loathe to see him marry someone so base as herself. Mary goes, William follows, and they pledge themselves to each other and tell Mr. Raymond, whereupon he explains that Mary is the illegitimate daughter of a murderess who died on the scaffold, which is even worse than being a poor orphan, and William's father sends him to the continent for two years, during which time all Mary's friends in the world die or emigrate. Mary makes her way to London where, summoning a hackney cab to take her to the address where she's been recommended as a lady's companion, she finds herself led into the house of... Sir Peter Osbourne.

Mary refuses to marry Sir Peter Osbourne, destitute and friendless though she is, so he locks her in his house for nine days and rapes her in one of the most violent scenes ever come from a Regency novel. She doesn't even swoon. After the rape, Sir Peter makes it clear that, now that she's ruined, she has nothing more to lose and might as well marry him, but Mary escapes and rushes out onto the London street, destroyed and penniless, and bumps into her William, William!, who returned from abroad and didn't bother to tell her. He takes her to a lodging and nurses her while she suffers PTSD and fever. When her health is recovered, he confesses all. He did dabble in worldliness abroad but never forgot his Mary, and inquiring of her when he returned, he found that Mr. Raymond was dead, and her whereabouts unknown, where, when his father arranged a loveless match for him, he married the lady just three weeks prior. He sort of suggests that Mary becomes his mistress, but Mary's pride will not let her and she runs out into the street again with ten pounds William gave her for immediate expenses. Here, Mary's financial troubles begin. Mary's creed is "Death before dishonor," but most people who say that are in a position to die quickly by sword; Mary isn't so lucky. Mary's an archetype like Mary Magdalene or Sonia in Crime and Punishment or Nell from Oliver Twist, the ruined woman still pure of heart. Mary maintains her pride, and her name, which is a terrible idea, because Sir Peter Osbourne has been telling everybody that Mary Raymond is such a loose, disgusting woman that she'd even have sex with Sir Peter Osbourne. No one will hire her as a lady's companion or a governess. She finally finds a job at a print shop, and pays William Pelham back his ten pounds. SERIOUSLY, MARY! WILLIAM IS A LANDED NOBLE. HE LOVED YOU. HE LOVES YOU STILL. HE CAN AFFORD TEN POUNDS. She's constantly doing things like this after her ruin. At her next financial exigency, she nearly gets thrown in debtor's jail, and, later, she does. Sir Peter Osbourne writes her a check for fifty pounds, and she returns the money in a blank cover and runs, forgetting that she owed a neighbor fifteen pounds, and the neighbor has her locked up. KEEP THE MONEY, MARY! PRIDE IS GREAT, BUT YOU SHOULDN'T GO TO JAIL OVER IT! YOU COULD HAVE EARNED ENOUGH TO PAY BACK SIR PETER OSBOURNE DURING THE FOUR MONTHS YOU SPENT IN PRISON, AND THEN, THEN!, YOU COULD HAVE THROWN IT IN HIS FACE! In 1799, it must have been important to Mary Hays to show that her heroine would not debase herself one iota by taking unearned money, but I hope no one followed Mary's principled example in real life. Her tale is feminist, and Mary has an incredible amount of discernment and agency for a woman of her time and class, and it's class that kills Mary as much as Sir Peter Osbourne does. William Pelham's class prejudice sets Mary on a road that, as an unprotected woman, she's already halfway down when her rape occurs. Does anybody remember the terrible movie The General's Daughter? No? Good. In the trailer, a raspy-voiced soldier says, "Do you know what's worse than rape? Betrayal." It's not, but in a world where principles are more important than eating, it's nearly as bad.

http://surfeitofbooks.blogspot.com/20...

[Stephen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although it's both a misery-memoir and also the most over-wordy bit of prose I've ever read, I quite enjoyed aspects of the book, especially when taken as a piece of historical context (it was published nearly 15 years before Austen's work).

[jordan]

Jesus christ this is the most depressing book i have ever read

[Dominick · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a useful edition of a book with perhaps more historical importance than literary merit. As a proto-feminist novel deploring the hypocritical social standards about female chastity (once tainted never redeemable, according to the book and to a large extent according to history), regardless of how said chastity is lost, this novel raised legitimate questions about the plight of women (or genteel ones, anyway; it is hard to read in 2016 a book in which the deplorable social conditions affecting genteel women are coupled with the protagonist's own horror and repugnance at the mere thought of falling into--ugh!--servitude, without rolling one's eyes at least a little bit), but it does so in a rather ham-fisted and implausible way. It is a polemical novel with a clear thesis, so it is perhaps not surprising that it games the situation to maximize the plight and suffering of our narrator/protagonist Mary, but the third time (in a book of only about 200 pages) that her apparent rescue from a life of degradation is cut short by the untimely death of a benefactor (two actually, in the third instance) is at least one time too many. Hays seems to want to insist on the unwavering rectitude and moral probity (one childhood incident excepted) of her heroine and her inevitable destruction at the metaphorical hands of a mostly uncaring and evidently malicious society. She does so by effectively stripping Mary of agency, of making almost every key plot development depend on either a coincidence (and again, after three or four of these in a row, the device begins to pall), apparent active malignancy (of a remarkably persistent and pertinacious kind by the villain, who seems willing to devote--on and off, anyway--literally years to the persecution of our poor heroine), or a combination of both. Nothing here is impossible, of course, but I think Hays might have made a better case if she had opted for rather more plausible plot devices. Most eye-rolling, perhaps, is when Mary not only takes up residence on the estate of her rapist/persecutor (admittedly, the succour of the providently arriving saviour in this instance pretty much necessitates her doing so--though that in itself is a fairly obvious plot contrivance) but also seems insensible to the possibility that wandering around on the property is a very good way to increase the likelihood of running into him. Hays's depiction of this fellow is also problematic. Since we only ever see through Mary's eyes, it is perhaps not surprising that he comes across as flat and as, essentially, opaque in motivation, but Hays's choice to make him repeatedly offer Mary various sorts of redress for the crime he committed against her (including in one instance a full payment of debts she owes, with no strings attached--or so he claims) is . . . well, bizarre. Mary's refusal to accept some of these--e.g. his repeated offers of marriage--is completely understandable, and presumably her refusal even to let him pay her debts is designed to reinforce her absolute moral purity, but if so, that device is less successful. As a result of how the story is told, it is difficult to determine how genuine either his affection or remorse is, and whether much of what happens to Mary emerges from accident or design (though Hays seems to intimate design, there is no way to be sure). Again, perhaps this is part of Hays's intention, to focus narrowly on the consequences of being raped for Mary rather than on other matters, but if so, again, for me it is not a successful device. Perhaps the clearest reflection of this is in the selection of contemporary reviews, one of which does not even seem to recognize that the rape is in fact the genuinely significant moment, not Mary's insufficiently doctrinaire conformity to Christian piety. Bad/imperceptive reviewer? Undoubtedly. Nevertheless, one must wonder whether, had the book been less thesis-driven and more plausibility-driven, such a review would have been impossible.

[Matthew Collins · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. Great ending in my opinion. SPOILER ALERT. I like that nothing ended really happy. I felt that Hays did a great job portraying the issues women went through back then. I do admit a little that it does get tiring reading 18th century novels and having all the women fainting all the time, or randomly balling up into tears, but looking past that I actually liked the heroine of this novel, which is hard to say about some of the other heroine's from other 18th century novels about women. Anyway, I am currently working on a paper on this book to submit as my writing sample for grad school and I am sad that the book has been neglected for so long. I feel it is a worthy read for anyone interested in English literature, and at least necessary that people know who Hays was. Anyway, if you like books from this time period, give this one a try, it is a fast read. Don't expect anything like Pride and Prejudice though, Hays is infinitely more pessimistic (and more realistic) than Jane Austen was, not to mention a lot more liberal.

[Crystal · Rating 4 out of 5]

this was actually quite good? the style is very direct and concise, so the reading goes by really fast. maybe just in contrast to Pamela but I didn't think an 18th century novel could give me feelings. what a time to be alive

also because Mary is reasonable and smart but also emotional and realistic, Victim is so much more accessible than Pamela. Pamela is stupid and sucks, Mary would beat her in a street fight and also in Scrabble

it's not even that theres any new like groundbreaking feminist theory or anything? it really just makes you consider like. what if the rules about life that you consider to be true about the world, just weren't?? like i don't even mean science or anything. I mean like, if you go to someone's house for dinner, and they try to keep you there, they shouldn't be allowed to right??? You should just be able to leave right??? BUT NO!!!! the wildest thing is that these things can happen without violence or physicality. my girl Mary in the house of some dude who wants to rape her but she literally can't leave, not because he's restraining her, but because it's already dark out, she has no one else in the city, she has no money, and he's being sort of polite and says she can leave tomorrow so she stays, which honestly makes sense??? and that's how you end up trapped in someone's house forever dude

or like this REPEATED plot device where a girl gets into a carriage thinking she's going home but it actually goes to the house of some dude who wants to rape her??? idk why but that shit makes me batshit wild like thats not allowed!!!! but it just happens??? a carriage should go to where you think it should!!! this seems like a cardinal rule of the world right??? BUT NO
and once you're wherever the guy has sent you like what you gonna do, call da police?? WALK hundreds of miles back home?? you're just stuck there!!! that shit crazy

it's just wild because like. even in this day and age, i would 100% let myself be manipulated into being trapped in someone else's house, socialized as I am to be courteous and not make a fuss, and to always assume it'll be okay, someone won't let this happen, someone will stop this???? but if someone was actually out to get me this mindset would be exactly what lets it all happen

anyways this rant doesn't make sense but now i am mortally afraid of getting onto public transportation

[Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

Something about this book just really clicked with me. Perhaps it's because I came off of reading a few of Wollstonecraft's disappointing works - Hays' feminism is much more in alignment with mine (in the sense that it is more radical than Wollstonecraft's and caters to men much less) so I enjoyed the messages of this text much more. The protagonist's steady decline was intense enough that it was heartbreaking, but none of the plot developments felt jarring (ie. someone dying wasn't a random, sudden death, but a slow and gradual decline of health). I much preferred this writing style because it increased the sense of hopelessness and helplessness of the protagonist, as well as feeling more realistic and less like "ok, seriously, another shitty thing?" I also never lost hope for Mary, believing her when she thought she could constantly get back on her feet. The ending felt profound and I think did an excellent job at getting across the feminist points. Occasionally some of the messages were a bit on the nose (like Mrs. Neville suddenly having a 'lucid' moment and in academic detail describing the fault of her sensibility). But the plot was still strong and the series of disasters that Mary faces due to her birth, her gender, etc. felt powerful and was really enjoyable to read because it showed the world so accurately, something many people of Hays' time were afraid to do.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this for my Restoration and Eighteenth-Century Literature class and, of course, enjoyed the analysis! I appreciate the feminism! A lot of issues in the book are still present today, especially employment for impoverished women or women in horrible situations. Although the ending is sad, it’s realistic and fits with the overall message of the book.

[mina ♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

interesting read that begins as an entertaining story about childhood friends to lovers and then spirals into something that is so dark and depressing. mary hays intertwines her ideas of women’s education and rights into this one, reflecting late 18th century radical political thoughts of women empowerment. a good read if you want to understand what women went through in the 1790s

[Leila]

Didn't rate because I read it for class, but I found this a compelling and compassionate 1790s feminist text. Good counterpart to Wollstonecraft (and her blatant hatred for women she deems not virtuous, namely those forced into prostitution)

[Ross Dorianycc · Rating 2 out of 5]

Scrittura bellissima, quasi poetica ma è stata una tortura da sopportare. Liberate questa povera donna dai perpetui dolori. Uomini: insignificanti. Si vede che è improntato alla denuncia/saggistica, non all'intrattenimento.

[amy]

i need to know what mary hays’ relationship w her father was like

[z · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5, heartbreaking but very poignant

[Brenda · Rating 5 out of 5]

*Potential spoilers (the "spoilers" I write about are written in the back cover of my book... but maybe you don't want to know)*

Looking for English literature classics, I found this book. I'd never heard of Mary Hays before. She was an intellectual radical who published "The victim of prejudice" in 1799.

What are the life choices available for an educated woman with no fortune or contacts? Only servitude or prostitution. All other doors are closed for her. Without a (male) protector, she is lost.

How much is it worth to sacrifice in the name of virtue? If every door towards a decent living was closed in your face, if you were constantly harassed to marry your rapist, if every light you saw was darkened by your oppressor, if you were isolated from all love and friendship, what would you do? Would you stand strong?

The main character was a strong weak woman. She would cry and faint. She would take weeks to compose herself after emotional episodes (oh! the pain!). And yet, she would keep firm: Virtue over anything else.

Instead of having a comfortable life, yielding to her rapist's desires, she chose to find her own way... and fight... but... how successful can you be in a close society that lets you have no career, no means to support yourself?

"I put in no claims either for happiness, for gratification, or even for the common comforts of life: yet, surely, I had a right to exist!" It seems that life itself was more of a privilege for lone women...

The writing style is not the best. Yet, the underlying ideas are quite interesting for the era.

[Helen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I understand where Hays is coming from. She is trying to reveal the double-standards of her contemporary society in which a woman who "falls," whether it is her free choice or she is assaulted, is automatically condemned to the margins of society. Without character or credit and persecuted by a ruthless villain, the heroine Mary has nothing to do but expire, filled with the conviction that she knows herself to be irreproachable, not matter what the world may say. The annoying thing about any didactic novel is that in teaching a lesson characterization is sacrificed. Mary is presented as a strange mixture of emotion and absurdly stubborn adherence to abstract principles, and though her plight is to be sympathized with and Hay's moral project was important at its time, this novella does not hold up well.

[Annaj · Rating 5 out of 5]

It took me a long time to get through this book. The language required me to go very slowly so that I could understand exactly what was being said. It was beautiful. "... guard her helpless youth from a pitiless world, cultivate her reason, make her feel her nature's worth, strengthen her faculties, inure her to suffer hardship, rouse her to independence, inspire her with fortitude, with energy, with self-respect, and teach her to contemn tyranny that would impose fetters of sex upon her mind."

[Diana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mary Hays is a writer that is often excluded from the canon. Although her writing can be a bit melodramatic and depressing at times, she also fiercely argues for the rights of women while illustrating the many injustices they endure. A friend of both William Godwin and Mary Wollstonecraft, it is not difficult to see the influence of their Romantic/feminist philosophies in Hays's fiction.

[Han · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pleasantly surprised by how similar this was to Jane Austen and works of that genre. I'm not sure why this book is rarely seen, both in schools and in the market. (There is only one edition available on Amazon and the Columbus library system owns zero copies, which I've never experienced before.) It's short and sweet (well, in some aspects...) and definitely worth the read.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have little interest in gender issues or politics, which made this novel difficult for me. However, I can say that it is well-written, though not necessarily complex. Hays presents the clear-cut argument in the atmosphere and debate of her own time. Simplicity, rather than complexity, may be what the debate needed at the time. It is a quick read, and interesting if you like gender issues.

[whitney Jordan · Rating 1 out of 5]

I HATED IT!

[Elizabeth Kiss · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pretty amazing piece of literature, especially since it was written in 1799. Definitely recommend to anyone interested in feminist literature.