Mary Davys

Martha F. Bowden (Kennesaw State University)

Ed. by Janet Todd, University of Cambridge
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.05: English Writing and Culture from the Glorious Revolution to the French Revolution, 1689-1789.
Vol. editors: Paul Baines (University of Liverpool), Daniel Cook (University of Dundee), Pat Rogers (University of South Florida), Nicholas Seager (University of Keele)

Dates

Born c. 1674
Died 1732
Activity 1702-1732

Places

Born in Ireland, Republic of (Eire)
Active in England; Ireland, Republic of (Eire)

Activities

Primary

Novelist
Playwright / Dramatist

Other

Story-writer

Resources

Davys' Works

Save to Bookshelf

Mary Davys is best known for her contribution to the early development of the novel in English. Her three best works,

The Reform’d Coquet

Familiar Letters Betwixt a Gentleman and a Lady

, and

The Accomplish’d Rake

, are distinctive for their adroit formal structure and witty dialogue. She was conscious of the need for form in fiction, notable in a period when the novel was often episodic rather than structured. As she explains in the Preface to her collected works:

I have in every Novel propos’d one entire Scheme or Plot, and the other Adventures are only incident or collateral to it; which is the great Rule prescribed by the Criticks, not only in Tragedy and other Heroick Poems, but in Comedy too. The Adventures, as far as I could order them, are wonderful and probable; and I

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1529 words

Citation: Bowden, Martha F.. "Mary Davys". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 10 August 2005 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=1166, accessed 22 November 2024.]