The Delicate Distress
The Delicate Distress by Mrs. Griffith (Elizabeth) is a revised edition published by the University Press of Kentucky on April 17, 1997. This 267-page work delves into the challenges women face after marriage, particularly regarding financial independence, interfaith relationships, and marital fidelity. At its core is the story of Emily Woodville, a newlywed grappling with suspicions of her husband’s infidelity, set against the contrasting backdrops of rural England and Paris during the ancien régime.
Readers will find a rich exploration of ethical dilemmas surrounding love, marriage, and morality through the correspondence of two sisters and two men. The narrative reflects on the roles and responsibilities of wives and husbands, as well as the tension between passion and reason. The Delicate Distress stands out as an early examination of character psychology, emphasizing the inner lives of women who observe and reflect on their circumstances without engaging in grand public actions. This edition presents a feminist perspective on the epistolary novel, drawing inspiration from the traditions of Samuel Richardson and Jean-Jacques Rousseau.
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The Delicate Distress (1769) focuses on the problems women encounter after marriage – the issue of financial independence for wives, the consequences of interfaith relationships, and the promiscuity of their husbands. At the story’s center is the deep distress of Emily Woodville, a virtuous young newlywed who suspects her husband of infidelity with a French marchioness from his past. Against a backdrop of rural England and Paris of the ancien regime, Elizabeth Griffith takes the epistolary novel of sensibility in the tradition of Samuel Richardson and Jean-Jacques Rousseau and re-imagines it from a feminist perspective that centers on strong, intelligent, and virtuous women. Two sisters exchange letters about urgent ethical questions concerning love, marriage, morality, art, the duties of wives and husbands, and passion versus reason, while two men correspond about the same subjects. The Delicate Distress is one of the earliest novels to explore the psychology of characters who observe and reflect but engage in no grand public actions.
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