Maria Edgeworth – Castle Rackrent (1800)

Review by Justin Tate

There’s a curious reference to Castle Rackrent in The Great Gatsby. Nick invites his cousin Daisy over for tea, instructing her not to bring her husband. The plan is to privately re-introduce her to Gatsby. When Daisy greets Nick, she says “Are you in love with me?…or why did I have to come alone?” to which Nick responds, “That’s the secret of Castle Rackrent.”

It seems Fitzgerald assumed his 1920s audience would be familiar with Maria Edgeworth’s novel, originally published over a century earlier in 1800. Daisy, at least, doesn’t seem confused. Then again, perhaps the allusion means to be unusual, inspiring readers to pick up the old classic to find out for themselves. That’s what happened to me.

Despite its Gothic-sounding title, Castle Rackrent is a rather ordinary novel. Melodrama is largely subdued and remains rooted in realism. The characters are flawed but not cartoonish. Such authenticity was apparently a major reason for its popularity. The story is an Irish family saga that’s honest and occasionally humorous, but without the usual bag of stereotypes and buffoonery so commonly used to depict the Irish in literature. There are wealthy characters, poor characters, poor characters who become wealthy and wealthy characters who become poor. I could go on, but in 1897, notable author J. Fitzgerald Molloy (no relation to F. Scott that I’m aware of) described it best. Here’s what he wrote when he reviewed the novel for a “Women Writers of the Victorian Era” segment in the Hartford Courant:

[Castle Rackrent] dealt with Irish life, and pictured it with relentless faithfulness…In these pages the Irishman was shown to be neither the clown nor the buffoon he was represented in fiction and on the stage. Maria Edgeworth depicted him as she saw him, not concealing his faults nor exaggerating his virtues, but setting both down. The knowledge of the scenes described, the human nature her characters displayed, were striking. They who read laughed and cried almost in the same breath, as indeed may those who read today, for her stories have that touch of genius which makes their interest evergreen.

Indeed, the novel’s “evergreen” charm continues to be its day-in-the-life education of what it was like to be Irish at the turn of the nineteenth century. It’s surprising how many everyday phrases rooted in Irish life continue to thrive. Some stereotypes are re-affirmed but many become debunked through the course of the novel. Yes, there are several mentions of the all-important potato.

As for why it shows up in Gatsby, I’m still mystified. As is the literary community it seems. There are some arguing that the ending of Castle Rackrent is mystifying, so Nick’s reference is just saying their meeting is as unexplainable as that. But I didn’t find the ending strange at all. It lacks a final “point” perhaps, but it is not unsatisfactory or particularly elusive.

Others suggest the reference draws structural comparisons, since Nick and Thady (the narrator of Castle Rackrent) are both less socially significant than the characters they write about.

Then there are even theories that the reference is a nod to feminism, since Maria Edgeworth was a rare example of a successful female author at this point in history.

None of these explanations are particularly satisfying to me. Not that I have anything better to offer. The only alternative theory crossing my mind is that both Castle Rackrent and The Great Gatsby show characters who are frivolous with their money and quickly gain and lose wealth. Perhaps Fitzgerald found some cross-inspiration in that?

In any case, though the Gatsby allusion remains a mystery, I’m glad Fitzgerald included it. Otherwise I doubt I would have stumbled across this obscure classic.