Adeline Mowbray

Synopsis

"Adeline Mowbray, or, The Mother and Daughter, is a novel by Amelia Opie that was published in 1804. The experiences of the heroine, Adeline, are loosely based on the unconventional life of Mary Wollstonecraft, an acquaintance of Opie. In the novel, Opie explores what might happen when a woman's idealistic philosophical beliefs conflict with society's notions about female sexuality. The philosophically minded Adeline decides that marriage is an outmoded institution. She refuses marriage to Frederic Glenmurray (modeled on William Godwin) and instead chooses to live with him as his sexual equal. Although Adeline is honorable, clever, and honest, she faces social condemnation. She is disowned by her mother and respectable friends and harassed by men who assume she is sexually available. After Glenmurray dies, Adeline seeks protection by marrying the abusive Mr. Berrendale, who ultimately abandons her and their daughter, Editha. At the end of the novel, the ill Adeline is finally reunited with her mother. Adeline repents having transgressed society's expectations of women and, before she dies, leaves instructions on how Editha is to be educated."