Eliza Haywood was one of the most popular and versatile writers of the eighteenth century. The two novellas in this edition – The Rash Resolve (1724) and Life’s Progress (1748) – show her developing and adapting her ideas on the subject of passion and romance.
Though superficially presented as cautionary tales, Haywood introduces a feminist slant; gender roles are reconstructed, female sexuality is sympathetically depicted and marriage and domesticity are resisted.Not only are these works important for their use of female agency, but they also provide insights into Haywood’s politics. The Rash Resolve implicitly attacks the dominance of the ruling Whigs, and Life’s Progress implies support for the Jacobite cause. This is the first critical edition of both these works.