“Cannot an Irishman be a good man?”: Maria Edgeworth’s “The Limerick Gloves” (1804) as a Tale of Irish Identity

Abstract

This paper explores the representation of the Irishman in Maria Edgeworth’s “The Limerick Gloves” (Popular Tales 1804). By using Homi K. Bhabha’s theory, I argue that in this tale, sexual and colonial oppression are coupled together. Edgeworth questions racial stereotypes, and more specifically the idea of “Irishness” as opposed to Englishness. The use of irony and the narrator’s desire to introduce Ireland to the English reader are in consonance with Edgeworth’s enlightened philosophy and both reveal her rejection of sectarianism. “The Limerick Gloves” also shows Edgeworth’s early reliance on the Union and is particularly interesting since it was relatively free from Richard Lovell Edgeworth’s tutelage.