Castle Rackrent (Masterplots, Revised Second Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Maria Edgeworth
- First Published: 1800
- Type of Work: Novel
- Type of Plot: Regional
- Time of Work: Eighteenth century
- Setting: Ireland
- Principal Characters: Honest Thady Quirk, Sir Kit Rackrent, Sir Condy Rackrent, Isabella, Judy Quirk, Jason
- Genres: Long fiction, Social realism, Regional fiction, Satire
- Subjects: Tradition, Social issues, Class consciousness, Oppression, Eighteenth century, Upper classes, Duty, Inheritance or succession, Loyalty, Castles, Landlords or tenants, Servants, Aristocracy or aristocrats, Ireland or Irish people, Satire, Nobility
- Locales: Ireland
The Story:
After the death of Sir Patrick O’Shaughlin, his fine and generous master, Honest Thady Quirk found himself working at Castle Rackrent for the heir, Sir Murtagh, a penny-pinching owner with a vicious temper. Lady Murtagh was also more interested in money than in the happiness of her tenants. After Sir Murtagh died in a fit of temper, she stripped Castle Rackrent of its treasures and went to live in London. The estate passed to her husband’s younger brother, Sir Kit Rackrent, a wild, carefree man. Finding the estate in debt and heavily mortgaged, Sir Kit went to...
[The entire page is 2663 words long]
