Francis Coventry Criticism
Francis Coventry, an English novelist, poet, and essayist, is best known for his novel The History of Pompey the Little; or, The Life and Adventures of a Lap-Dog (1751), which enjoyed significant popularity in the mid-eighteenth century. Despite the era's low literacy rates and expensive publication costs, the novel saw multiple editions, reflecting its widespread appeal. As noted by Robert Adams Day, Pompey the Little was an unconventional work during a time when the novel was still a novel concept itself. Coventry's work straddles the transitional phase of the novel's evolution, highlighting the genre's burgeoning place in fashionable culture while individual novels were often seen as ephemeral.
Born into a wealthy family in 1725, Coventry was educated at Eton and later Magdalene College, Cambridge. He became acquainted with the poet Thomas Gray during his studies, which influenced the development of Pompey the Little. His other works included the poem Penshurst and various essays. Notably, his contributions to prose fiction were pioneering for their time, as he was among the first to recognize the novel's literary merit, as observed by Jerry C. Beasley.
Critically, Pompey the Little garnered mixed reactions. Thomas Gray deemed it a "hasty production," whereas John Cleland praised its humor and wit. Despite its early success, the novel fell out of publication after 1824, only to be revived in limited editions in the twentieth century, driven by renewed scholarly interest in the early novel genre. Coventry's novel is recognized for its unique narrative device of using a lap-dog as a central character, a commentary on social dynamics that resonated with contemporaries, as Lady Mary Wortley Montagu highlighted by drawing parallels to her social circle.
Moreover, Coventry's revisions in the later editions of the novel reflect his attempt to align more closely with the style of Fielding, differentiating the novel’s satire from earlier picaresque forms, as explored by Susan G. Auty. Coventry's engagement with the novel form was also a subtle critique of his era's literary tastes, as he noted in the preface to the third edition of Pompey the Little that some contemporaries dismissed prose fiction to preserve social hierarchies, a point discussed in The History of Pompey the Little.
Contents
- Principal Works
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Essays
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The History of Pompey the Little
(summary)
In the following preface from the third edition of The History of Pompey the Little, Coventry attributes his contemporaries' disdain for prose fiction to an attempt by educated males to maintain their privileged place within society.
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Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (letter date 1752)
(summary)
In the following essay, Lady Mary Wortley Montagu expresses her admiration for Francis Coventry's Pompey the Little, highlighting its accurate depiction of contemporary London life and recognizing characters resembling her acquaintances and herself, thus underscoring the novel's enduring relevance and insightful social commentary.
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An introduction to Pompey the Little
(summary)
In the following introduction to his edition of Pompey the Little, Day argues that Coventry's novel was an anomaly among anomalies—an unusual novel in an era when the novel was a non-traditional literary genre.
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Fielding's Followers
(summary)
In the following excerpt, Auty explores the differences between the first and third editions of Pompey the Little, demonstrating that Coventry was attempting to follow Fielding's example and differentiate the type of satire afforded by the novel from the satire of the earlier picaresque narratives.
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Fiction in the 1740s: Backgrounds, Topics, Strategies
(summary)
In the following excerpt, Beasley notes that Coventry was among the first critics to argue that the novel genre had literary merit.
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The History of Pompey the Little
(summary)
- Further Reading