Hannah More Biography

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Dictionary of Literary Biography on Hannah More

Hannah More's claim to the title of novelist rests on a single work, Coelebs in Search of a Wife (1808). This book represented to many a remarkable divergence from More's literary practice and a potential contradiction of her frequently articulated objections to the reading and writing of novels. In Strictures on the Modern System of Female Education (1799), More had condemned contemporary novels derived from French models as a "pernicious source of moral corruption" and particularly regretted their growing popularity with young working-class women. But Coelebs in Search of a Wife , which depicted the courtship of a religiously principled young couple, was written to counter the questionable ethics of sentimental novels, and its didactic purport rescues More from any charge of inconsistency. From the beginning of her career she had aimed to improve literary culture and to raise moral standards through the medium of literature. A protégée of David Garrick and Samuel Johnson, who conceived of the stage as a vehicle for ethical instruction, she later collaborated with William Wilberforce, whose commitment to reforming the "manners and morals" of the English people became particularly urgent during the years of the French Revolution.

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