Margaret Wolfe Hungerford

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Margaret Wolfe Hungerford, née Hamilton, (1855 –24 January 1897), was an Irish novelist whose light romantic fiction was popular throughout the Englsih-speaking world in the late 19th century.

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[edit] Biography

She was born in County Cork, Ireland on April 27th, 1859[citation needed]. Her father was Canon Fitzjohn Stannus Hamilton, rector and vicar-choral at St. Faughnan's cathedral in Ross Carberry. As a child she enjoyed making up stories, and won prizes for her writing at school. She was educated at Portarlington College.

In 1872 she married Edward Argles, a Dublin solicitor, who died less than 6 years later. They had three daughters.

She wrote her first novel, Phyliss, when she was 18 years old. Soon after its favourable reception, she wrote Molly Bawn, which became her most well-known book.

In 1882 she married Thomas Henry Hungerford, of Cahirmore, with whom she had two sons and one daughter. They lived at St. Brenda's, Bandon, County Cork. By contemporary accounts, she enjoyed country life and was an avid gardener. She rarely travelled far from home.

She was one of the few women in Victorian times who was both a prolific author and mother of a sizeable family.

She approached her writing methodically, setting aside three hours every morning for it. The room where she did her writing had neatly organized manuscripts at her desk, surrounded by many reference works, novels, and other books.

Mrs. Hungerford died of typhoid fever.

[edit] Writing

Her books were first published anonymously, and later as by "Mrs. Hungerford". In the United States, her books were mostly published under the pen name "The Duchess". Some of her early books were published by William Tinsley, a major publisher at the time.

Often writing on commission, she wrote many novels, short stories, and newspaper articles. Her books continued selling as fast as she could write them.

Her plots follow the usual conventions of romantic novels of the day. They contain delicate love scenes that were never offensive to the ideals of Victorian morals. Her works are characterized as entertaining and charming, though usually not of great depth. She tends to have little in the way of character development, tending more towards flirtatious dialogue. She was adept at capturing the tone of her contemporary fashionable society, and sometimes used Irish settings.

[edit] Molly Bawn

Hungerford's best-known novel is Molly Bawn, the story of a frivolous, petulant Irish girl, a flirt, who arouses her lover's jealousy and naively ignores social conventions. Molly Bawn is credited as containing the first appearance of the phrase "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder".

Mrs. Hungerford and her book Molly Bawn are mentioned in chapter 18 of James Joyce's Ulysses:

"...Molly bawn she gave me by Mrs Hungerford on account of the name I don't like books with a Molly in them like that one he brought me about the one from Flanders..."

[edit] Works

  • Phyllis: a Novel, 1877
  • Molly Bawn, 1878
  • Airy Fairy Lilian, 1879
  • Beauty's Daughters, 1880
  • Mrs. Geoffrey, 1881
  • Faith and Unfaith, 1881
  • Portia, or by Passions Rocked, 1882
  • Loys, Lord Beresford, and other Tales, 1883
  • Moonshine and Marguerites, 1883
  • Rossmoyne, 1883
  • Doris, 1884
  • The witching hour, and other stories, 1884 (U.S.)
  • Fortune's wheel, and other stories, 1884
  • A Week in Killarney, 1884--reissued as Her Week's Amusement, 1886
  • O Tender Dolores, 1885
  • Mildred Trevanion, 1885
  • A Maiden All Forlorn, and other Stories, 1885
  • In Durance Vile, and Other Stories, 1885
  • Dick's Sweetheart, 1885 (U.S.)
  • Green Pastures and Grey Grief, 1885
  • Lady Branksmere, 1886
  • A Mental Struggle, 1886
  • The Haunted Chamber, 1886 (U.S.)
  • Lady Valworth's Diamonds, 1886
  • A Modern Circe, 1887
  • The Duchess, 1887
  • Undercurrents, 1888
  • Marvel, 1888
  • Honourable Mrs. Vereker, 1888
  • A Life's Remorse, 1889
  • A Troublesome Girl, 1889
  • A Born Coquette, 1890
  • April's Lady, 1890
  • A Little Rebel, 1890
  • Her Last Throw, 1890
  • A Little Irish Girl, and other Stories, 1891
  • The O'Connors of Ballinahinch, 1892
  • A Conquering Heroine, 1892
  • Nor Wife Nor Maid, 1892
  • A Conquering Heroine, 1892
  • Lady Patty, 1892
  • Nora Creina, 1892
  • A Mad Prank, 1893
  • The Red House Mystery, 1893
  • Lady Verner's Flight, 1893
  • An Unsatisfactory Lover, 1894
  • Peter's Wife, 1894
  • The Hoyden, 1894
  • The Three Graces, 1895
  • A Tug of War, 1895
  • The Professor's Experiment, 1895
  • Molly Darling an Other Stories, 1895
  • A Lonely Girl, 1896-- (American title: A Lonely Maid)
  • A Point of Conscience, 1896
  • An Anxious Moment, 1897--(Stories)
  • Lovice, 1897 (posthumous)
  • The Coming of Chloe, 1897 (posthumous)

[edit] External links