Peculiar Dearness: Sentimental Commerce in Maria Edgeworth’s “The Bracelets”

This article explores the didactic ambiguities of Maria Edgeworth’s story, “The Bracelets.” Tracing the course of the protagonist’s trials at a girls’ school, the essay reveals the tale’s problematic “lesson” of gender-specific limitation on ambition and achievement. Edgeworth suggests that while such limitation is intrinsic to femaleness, it requires educational enforcement as part of feminine inculcation. The sentimental economy governing the school’s feminine society is also investigated as it relates to Edgeworth’s didactic purpose. The system’s workings pose a seemingly insurmountable challenge to the otherwise intelligent protagonist; her inability to master sentimental commerce and femininity itself devalues her scholarly achievements, calling into question her self-regard and right to ambition.