Catharine Macaulay Criticism
Catharine Macaulay (1731-1791), an eminent eighteenth-century British historian, philosopher, and feminist, stands out as England's first renowned female historian. Known for her advocacy of political liberty and feminism, Macaulay's most significant work, the eight-volume History of England (1763-83), offered a republican narrative of British history, critiquing the British monarchy and championing revolutionary ideals, as noted in Catharine Macaulay: Eighteenth-Century Rebel. Her history challenged the writings of David Hume, advocating for popular sovereignty and critical of the monarchy's failure to ensure true liberty, themes she explored further through her political pamphlets. Despite her fall from social grace in England due to scandalous personal choices, her ideas continued to resonate in revolutionary France and America, where she was admired by figures like George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, highlighting her influence in shaping Enlightenment thought and reformist politics, as discussed by Mrs. Macaulay.
Macaulay also made significant contributions to early feminist thought. Her work, Letters on Education (1790), opposed prevailing notions of female inferiority and argued for equal education for women, influencing later feminists such as Mary Wollstonecraft. This work is celebrated for its pioneering call for gender equality and has inspired subsequent feminist discourse, as observed in Catharine Macaulay's Letters on Education: Odd but Equal. Modern scholarship has recognized Macaulay's innovative approach and critical perspectives, reaffirming her importance as a historian and advocate for equality, as detailed in Catharine Macaulay's History and her Catalogue of Tracts.
Contents
- Principal Works
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Essays
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The Celebrated Mrs. Macaulay
(summary)
In the following essay, one of the earliest critical commentaries on Macaulay's life and work, Donnelly argues that despite the many flaws in the historian's writings, Macaulay should be remembered as one of the great proponents of political liberty.
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Mrs. Macaulay
(summary)
In the following essay, Hobman argues that Macaulay was one of the most celebrated and influential women of the eighteenth century, as evidenced by the impression she left on men like Washington, Boswell, and Disraeli.
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Catharine Macaulay: Eighteenth-Century Rebel
(summary)
In the following essay, Beckwith discusses Macaulay's fame as England's first female historian and her radical defense of the American and French revolutions combined with an unwavering criticism of the British monarchy.
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Catherine Macaulay and the Seventeenth Century
(summary)
In the following essay, Bridget and Christopher Hill discuss Macaulay's History of England, which they praise for its detailed and perceptive interpretation of seventeenth-century English politics.
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Catharine Macaulay and the Uses of History: Ancient Rights, Perfectionism, and Propaganda
(summary)
In the following essay, Withey argues that Macaulay's History of England can be best understood by considering the author's social, political, and religious idealism, and notes that Macaulay considered historical analysis to be the best means for conveying the possibility of human political, moral, and institutional perfection.
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Catharine Macaulay: Historian and Political Reformer
(summary)
In the following essay, Florence and William Boos discuss Macaulay's History of England, which they call the first and most important Enlightenment history written by a woman, and her Letters on Education, which they regard as one of the earliest feminist attacks on gender inequality, slavery, and the education of England's children and poor.
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An Opportunity Missed: Catherine Macaulay on the Revolution of 1688
(summary)
In the following essay, Schnorrenberg details how Macaulay's History of England and political pamphlets were conscious corrections to the historical writings of David Hume and Edmund Burke and why, in particular, Macaulay believed that the Glorious Revolution of 1688 had proved insufficient in producing real liberty in England.
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Catherine Macaulay's History of England: Antidote to Hume's History?
(summary)
In the following essay, Siebert analyzes the differences between Macaulay's and David Hume's historical accounts of the execution of Charles I, and argues that each retelling shows how these writers used history as a tool to advance their own political convictions.
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Catharine Macaulay's History and her Catalogue of Tracts
(summary)
In the following essay, Bridget and Christopher Hill contest the charge leveled by critics like Lucy Matin Donnelly that Macaulay's historical work lacked scholastic rigor, pointing to the little-known Catalogue of Tracts that Macaulay assembled shortly before her death and which demonstrates her broad range of interests and unusually detailed scholarship.
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‘As Easy as a Chimney Pot to Blacken’: Catharine Macaulay ‘the Celebrated Female Historian’
(summary)
In the following essay, Mazzucco-Than argues that the principal fame Macaulay's History of England garnered in the eighteenth century as well as its subsequent neglect during the past two centuries is due to a single cause—a continuing emphasis on the gender of the historian herself.
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Catharine Macaulay's Letters on Education: Odd but Equal
(summary)
In the following essay, Gardener argues that Macaulay's Letters on Education should not be dismissed as a loose collection of the author's views on a wide range of subjects, but instead should be seen as a single, sustained argument for the perfection of society through, among other things, the equal education of women, an idea which greatly influenced the British feminist Mary Wollstonecraft.
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Catharine Macaulay: Patriot Historian
(summary)
In the following essay, Pocock analyzes Macaulay's History of England in the context of the age in which she lived, concluding that the greatness of her work was unfortunately overshadowed by the work of David Hume and Mary Wollstonecraft.
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The Celebrated Mrs. Macaulay
(summary)
- Further Reading