Red Pottage

Mary CholmondeleyProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

4.1

Word count: 644K words
Chapters: 65

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Red Pottage by Mary CholmondeleyAuthor: Cholmondeley, Mary, 1859-1925,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Feb 2, 2005

Editor's review

Red Pottage is a novel by the English writer Mary Cholmondeley and a classic of late-Victorian social satire and female coming-of-age fiction. Centered on two women—the devout but impoverished Hilda and the wealthy but marriage-bound Rachel—it uses their contrasting circumstances to examine women's economic dependence, the marriage market, and moral hypocrisy of the time. Cholmondeley's touch combines satirical edge with emotional warmth; the dialogue is witty and the characters vividly drawn, and her depiction of religious hypocrisy and social-climbing snobbery is especially incisive. As a free Project Gutenberg eBook, the original English text is easily accessible and well suited as supplementary reading for English literature courses or as advanced English reading material. Readers will appreciate the force of the satire behind the social critique if they first understand the situation of British women in the late nineteenth century. The plot advances through dialogue and psychological description, with a slower pace, making it suitable for readers willing to read closely and follow the inner lives of the characters.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Literary readers interested in late-Victorian British fiction and women's writing
English majors who need original English literary texts for close-reading practice
Readers concerned with women's economic dependence and marital circumstances in the late nineteenth century
Readers who enjoy social satire and witty dialogue and do not require fast-paced plotting

Not a good fit for

Readers of genre fiction who prefer strong plots and fast-paced narratives
Readers with weak English reading skills who cannot yet read long nineteenth-century English sentences smoothly
Readers with no interest in religious and social satire

Reading tips

First read a short introduction to the background of women's property and marriage law in late nineteenth-century Britain, then begin the text.
Follow the contrast between the Hilda and Rachel storylines, and note the key differences in their circumstances as you go.
When you encounter long stretches of dialogue, read passages aloud to feel the rhythm and wit of Cholmondeley's satirical tone.
After finishing, revisit the opening description of the characters' social circle and reassess the satirical foreshadowing the author planted.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

What English proficiency level is this book suitable for?

The original is a late nineteenth-century British novel with long sentences, fairly formal vocabulary, and extensive dialogue and social-scene description. It is recommended for readers with CET-6 or above reading ability, or experience reading one or two Victorian English novels. If it is difficult at first, read a Chinese translation to grasp the plot, then return to the English original.

What are the features of the Project Gutenberg edition?

Project Gutenberg offers a free electronic edition of a public-domain book; the original English text is legally and freely available and suitable for reading on an e-reader or computer. This edition is plain text and contains no modern scholarly notes or introduction, so readers who need background material must supplement it themselves.

What does the title "Red Pottage" mean?

The title alludes to the biblical story in Genesis in which Esau sells his birthright for a bowl of red pottage, symbolizing the sacrifice of something more precious for immediate gain. The novel uses this to suggest the choices and costs characters face regarding marriage, faith, and money; as you read, notice which characters make a bargain over the "red pottage."

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About the author

Mary Cholmondeley Author · British · 1859–1925

Mary Cholmondeley (1859–1925) was a British novelist, born in 1859 at Hodnet in Shropshire, the daughter of a country clergyman. Because she cared for her ailing mother and suffered from asthma herself, she lived mostly at home until the age of thirty, and this rural experience later fed into her writing. In 1899 her satirical novel Red Pottage became a bestseller in Britain and the United States, mocking religious hypocrisy and the narrowness of country life and establishing her reputation. Her other major works include The Danvers Jewels, Diana Tempest, The Prisoner, and The Lowest Rung; eleven of her works are held in this collection. She never married and died in London in 1925. Public information is limited and many details of her life remain uncertain, yet her cool-eyed observation of late Victorian social manners retains scholarly value.