traces the effects that a rash choice of lover can have on the life of a young girl. The protagonist suffers betrayal, physical fear and social exile because she does not recognize that the man she loves feels only lust for her. Eliza Haywood, one of the most prolific authors of the eighteenth-century, wrote the novel in the latter part of her career, during which time she wrote primarily “moral” works, in contrast to her earlier, more lascivious, romances.

exemplifies Haywood’s theory of moral writing evident in these later works. Where her contemporary Samuel Richardson argued that only the most virtuous characters should be represented on the page, Haywood wrote rather about characters that suffered from the unruly desires which she saw as…

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Citation: Kern, Bliss. "Dalinda: or, The Double Marriage. Being the Genuine History of a very Recent and Interesting Adventure. Addressed to all the Young and Gay of both Sexes". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 31 January 2007 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=19762, accessed 24 November 2024.]