Maria Edgeworth's first novel, Castle Rackrent is presented as a memoir of the Rackrents, a family of Irish landed gentry, during the 18th century. The story is narrated by the family's loyal retainer, "Honest" Thady Quirk, who outlives a succession of Rackrent heirs while serving at the eponymous castle. This narrative is framed by the annotations of an editor who comments on Thady's version of events. And on his version of English.
The four Rackrent heirs take ownership of the estate one by one before each being consumed - sometimes very quickly - by their respective vices. Sir Connolly "Condy" Rackrent - the final heir and Thady's clear favourite - gets by far the most attention, with roughly half of the story describing his misadventures. Edgeworth uses these characters to highlight the failings of the land ownership system in 18th century Ireland, in the process poking fun at a bunch of acceptable (and maybe some less acceptable) targets.
First published in 1800, Castle Rackrent was a pioneering work in a number of ways: an early example of a historical novel that also helped kick off the entire genre of writing about the life in the "big house" in Irelandnote . It was also unusual at the time for its style of narration, telling its story through the eyes of an unreliable narrator who is also a mostly passive observer rather than a protagonist.
This novel contains examples of the following tropes:
- The Alcoholic: Sir Patrick Rackrent's particular vice.
- Amoral Attorney: Sir Murtagh Rackrent is known for threatening to sue anyone and everyone who might get in his way.
- By the end, Thady sees his own son Jason as this.
- Attending Your Own Funeral: Sir Condy tries this to see how people react to thinking he's dead.
- Blatant Lies: Sir Murtagh's wife gives various things to the local villagers "gratis" - as long as they do a lot of unpaid work for her.
- Book Ends / History Repeats: Sir Condy's death directly mirrors Sir Patrick's, while also referencing the other heirs' defining flaws.
- Death by Woman Scorned: Indirectly. Sir Kit is killed in a duel with the brother of a woman he wronged... after surviving two previous duels against the brothers of other such women.
- Domestic Abuse: Jessica is kept imprisoned by her husband for seven years. Thady's editor includes a footnote referencing a similar real-life event.
- Fair-Weather Friend: After Sir Kit's death, Jessica finds herself suddenly surrounded by well-wishers who claim to have only just realised that she's been a prisoner against her will for years, and who think her diamonds would look better on someone else.
- The Gambling Addict: Sir Kit gradually loses a large amount of the Rackrent family's wealth and land gambling in England.
- Generational Saga: The story goes through four generations of Rackrents, although the final one, Sir Condy, gets significantly more focus than the rest.
- Greedy Jew: Averted. Jessica is hesitant to share her fortune with Sir Kit, for the perfectly good reason that he's a compulsive gambler and utterly irresponsible. It's Sir Murtagh's wife who ends up being defined by her greed.
- Idle Rich: Sir Condy manages to lose what remains of the family fortune by being too lazy to properly manage money (and, according to Thady, too nice to ask anyone for the money they owe him).
- Karmic Death: The first three heirs suffer this.
- Sir Patrick, the alcoholic, dies of over-indulgence in alcohol.
- Sir Murtagh, the belligerent litigator, dies of sheer indignation over the perceived injustices wrought against him.
- Sir Kit, the gambler and womaniser, dies in a duel with the brother of a woman he wronged.
- Despite not really sharing their vices, Sir Condy's downfall references all three. Financially ruined due to legal mismanagement, he takes a bet to drink from Sir Patrick's old drinking horn, and dies as a result.
- Loop Hole Abuse: To increase his share of the vote in an election, Sir Condy turns some of his tenants into freeholders over tiny piles of dirt.
- Meaningful Name: (Anglo-)Irish landowners of the period had a reputation for charging their tenant farmers torturous rates of rent: hence, "rack rent".
- Sir Murtagh Rackrent's wife is notoriously mean; her maiden name is given as Skinflint.
- Ms. Red Ink: Isabella, Sir Condy's wife, is blamed by Thady for spending money the family doesn't have.
- Oireland: Played with; the character of Thady is a satire of a certain stereotype of Irishness, while his son Jason averts those stereotypes.
- Pet the Dog: After a lifetime of reckless gambling, womanising and abusing his wife, Sir Kit manages to show that he isn't quite all bad during his second-last duel, when he refuses to shoot a helpless opponent and reconciles with him instead.
- Servile Snarker: Possibly unintentional on Thady's part; he can never seem to bring himself to directly criticise his masters, but when it comes to innocently implying...
- Undying Loyalty: Thady is devoted to the Rackrent family and is heartbroken to see the estate sold.
- Unreliable Narrator: Although apparently not intentionally on his part, Thady is both naive and heavily biased in his relating of events.
