Castle Rackrent Essay example -- Literary Analysis, Maria Edgeworth

The story of Castle Rackrent as told by Maria Edgeworth has many diverse characters that are sometimes over looked for the main character Thady. Kit Kincaide, an author who voiced his opinions of Thady as a person who has no understanding of the true reasons for the events that goes on around him. Kincaide states; â€Å"Thady is a narrator with so little understanding of the events he recalls, and with no ability at all to see any perspective but the narrowly defined, ill-informed viewpoint from which he interprets these events, that he cannot fathom the irony the reader elicits from the text his words create† (Kincaide 251). Kincaide shows what kind of man Thady is, and by explaining how Thady is unimportant for the story. The most important character is in fact Thady’s son Jason, if he was not in the story many of the events would not have transpired. In light of the acts that were going on in the 1790’s such as the 1798 Rebellion and the Act of Union, one can easily see why Jason personality is one of self-preservation and elevation. It is difficult to understand why Edgeworth would not spend more time developing a character as important as Jason, who provides momentum to the story. Yet as one farther reads in to the text they will find more about Jason from what is not said, such as what kind of Irish men Jason is. Though it is hard to tell what aspect of the Irish Edgeworth uses Jason to represent because of his numerous traits, it could be argued that Jason shows the more clever and ruthless side of the Irish. As the story of Castle Rackrent unfolds, many key events are able to happen with the help of Jason, the cunning and unfeeling Irish man who was able to trick his Anglo-Irish counterpart. Since the story was meant for the ... ...s of him, even to the point where his father disowned him. Yet if one looks deeper in to the role Jason played one could see that he set many things in motions. If he did not become a lawyer, he probably would not have done the books for the Rackrent estate. Then he would never have become aware of the debt the Rackrents were in, and if that had not have happened he would not have bought the whole estate and Sir Condy would have drowned in his debt. The Rackrents would have ended one way or another because of their frivolous lifestyle, Jason was just helping it along. Edgeworth being Anglo-Irish herself may have purposely given Jason these traits to show how the Irish must be taken care of by those with the power to do so. Jason was not a scoundrel in the story; he was just a man who sought to gain power for him even if it meant stepping on some toes to get there.