The Politics of Truth and Deception: Charlotte Smith and the French Revolution

Authors

Judith Davis Miller, Sacred Heart University

Document Type

Book Chapter

Publication Date

2001

Abstract

William Godwin, in "An Enquiry Concerning Political Justice" (1793) shares the radical vision of political philosophers such as Condorcet, who, directly involved in the French Revolution (and victim of its shifting political winds), prophesies in his “Sketch for a Historical Picture of the Progress of the Human Mind” (1793) that the principles and practice of “liberty, knowledge, and reason” will eventually spread throughout the world as a result of the revolution in ideas taking place in France and sweeping across Europe.

In her five French Revolutionary novels, Charlotte Smith reveals herself to be the philosophical companion of Godwin and Condorcet.

Comments

ISBN 9780791449691 (ebook); 9780791449707 (pbk.)

Recommended Citation

Miller, J. D. (2001). The politics of truth and deception: Charlotte Smith and the French Revolution. In A. Craciun and K. E. Lokke (Eds.), Rebellious hearts: British women writers and the French Revolution (pp. 337-363). State University of New York Press.