Romancing the Self: Mary Robinson’s Memoirs and the Sentimental Tradition
Romancing the Self: Mary Robinson’s Memoirs and the Sentimental Tradition

Summary/Abstract: Mary Robinson began writing her Memoirs to vindicate herself from the backlash that tarnished her reputation. The reason for her notoriety was her status as a former mistress of the Prince of Wales (future George IV), her various alleged liaisons, radical sympathies, and camaraderie with political figures such as Charles James Fox. All these factors contributed to the scathing criticism directed at her, transforming her into an object of derision in caricatures and period satirical writings. The Memoirs aimed to present a truthful account of her life and counter the persona that society has constructed for her as a fallen woman. However, what is peculiar about Robinson’s life writing is her decision to narrate her story through the lens of sentimental fiction, portraying herself as a sentimental heroine, thus blurring the boundaries between fact and fiction. This article focuses on the Memoirs’ appeal to readers as seeking to engage their sentiments, not only to garner sympathy but also to encourage a moral understanding that would legitimise Robinson’s virtuous character through familiar literary and cultural tropes. It positions Robinson’s autobiographical writing within the context of moral sentimentalist theories, such as David Hume’s Treatise of Human Nature, to demonstrate how Robinson’s self-representation as an autobiographical subject in the Memoirs is narrativised in a way that produces a textual self which is to be construed via the reading habits of her audience.

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