There’s no shortage of female characters in 18th-century novels that have a rough go of it. But Emanuella, the protagonist of The Rash Resolve, has it especially tough. Published in 1724, Haywood’s novel centers around a hapless but tough-as-nails heroine who faces trial after trial. Emaneulla’s bevy of admirable traits — courage, resilience, intelligence — keep her from succumbing to the evil machinations that hide around every corner. But it’s not easy.
The novel begins in Puerto Rico, where she and her father, the governor, live a happy life. Upon his death, however, troubles invade her once tranquil existence. Her high standing and hefty inheritance become a curse rather than a boon. Indeed, her guardian, Don Pedro, plots a claim to her money immediately after her father’s passing. Never short of malicious plans, he first tries to get Emanuella to marry his son, Don Marco. A young man of integrity and respectable character, his appearance is a sight for sore eyes. But marriage isn’t on Emanuella’s mind, anyway. Her sole desire is to leave the island and start a new life in Spain, where she can enjoy a larger and more cultured society.
But upon her refusal to marry Marco, Don Pedro has Emanuella imprisoned. Utterly alone and clueless as to what will happen, she receives help from an unsuspected source, allowing her to escape to Spain. Unfortunately, a sea voyage and change in geography does little to ease her troubles.
Shortly after reaching Spain and experiencing a glimmer of hope, her problems are compounded. Don Pedro’s unceasing avarice — plus the unsparing jealousy of her cousin, Berillia — enmeshes the poor Emanuella in an agonizing web of duplicity. From here on out, Emaneulla’s life is the object of constant slings and arrows, with only transient moments of pleasure. Put into all sorts of tight situations, she’s forced to make critical decisions about love and independence, among other things.
Indeed, as the title hints, Emanuella makes at least one significant choice — one that could be characterized by rashness. However, Emanuella makes numerous critical decisions, and it isn’t obvious that there’s one far and beyond the others in terms of consequence. Likewise, there’s room for discussion about which of her decisions might be considered hasty and mypotic, and which shrewd and level-headed. What’s more clear in the pages of The Rash Resolve, is that Emanuella is a brave, self-reliant, and frequently admirable protagonist.
This fast-paced novel of twists and turns was written in the early part of Haywood’s long and prolific career. A multi-talented woman, she not only wrote in just about every conceivable genre, but lived a bold and exciting life — commenting on politics, acting on the stage, and starting a magazine for women. Her relatively long life of sixty-three years, combined with her estimable productivity, helped her create a diverse and large body of work — from Love in Excess in 1719, to Life’s Progress Through the Passions in 1748.
The latter work, which is joined together with The Rash Resolve in this Pickering and Chatto edition, was one of her last works of fiction. Appropriately enough, the novel tackles the life of a character named Natura, showing how his passions change and develop from his early days to his very last. Though the story’s focus is on Natura, the narrator points out that readers can find some degree of affinity with the protagonist — his history being neither one of impeccable virtue or unconscionable sin.
Full of philosophical insights (some more profound than others), Life’s Progress does indeed offer up a kaleidoscopic picture of human nature. Everything from sloth and pride, to revenge, jealousy, love, and despair come up at one time or another. Like Haywood’s own life, there’s never much of a dull moment in the course of Natura’s time on earth.
Episodic in nature, Life’s Progress derives its energy from examining critical periods in Natura’s life — ones where a particular passion steers his actions. On numerous occasions, Natura’s motivations lose their raison d’être when an unforeseen event squashes the fervor of one passion and spawns another.
Natura’s early life is characterized by the loss of his mother (followed by the arrival of an ill-spirited stepmother), and various relationships. In a romantic instance of the latter, Natura finds himself knee-deep in anxiety after a passionate relationship turns into a nightmare. Duped by a scheming prostitute, Natura is unable to deal with the shame and financial quandaries which come about as a result. He makes preparations to leave England, but a series of fortuitous events calms the waves of his tumultuous inner state.
During the middle stages of Natura’s life, the animating force of the passions display themselves with particular vigor. During one stretch of time, ambition takes hold of Natura in an all-consuming manner. It guides his actions, fuels his inspiration, and injects his life with meaning. But when calamity strikes, he’s forced to drastically reorient his emotional landscape. These rollercoaster-type turns in the mind and spirit of Natura make for some of the most intriguing passages in the novel.
Natura’s ethos in Life’s Progress might remind of Thackery’s protagonist in The Luck of Barry Lyndon (published nearly a century after Haywood’s novel). Scenes from Stanley Kubrick’s film adaptation of the novel might especially come to mind. A memorable moment in the latter shows the enterprising and gloriously braggadocios Barry Lyndon brought to a state of motionless despondency after an unexpected death shatters his plans to pieces. Likewise for Natura, after a similar tragedy strikes: his soul becomes hollowed out, and his passions can’t function as they once did.
These grand shifts in Natura’s life might differ in content from major events in our own lives — or perhaps not. Either way, the powerful and controlling nature of Natura’s emotions will certainly resonant with many readers.
Though tedious in a few places, Life’s Progress is a nuanced and intriguing work, capable of both entertaining and instructing. Kierkegaard’s famous aphorism — the one about each of us being compelled to live life in a forward direction, yet only being able to comprehend it when looking back on it — seems especially apt in the context of Natura’s eventful and unpredictable life.
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Eliza Haywood.The Rash Resolve and Life’s Progress. Edited by Carol Stewart. Chawton House Library Series. New York, NY: Taylor & Francis, 2016.
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