SOURCE: “Marriage,” in Susan Ferrier, Twayne Publishers, 1984, pp. 40-65.

In the following essay, Cullinan reads Susan Ferrier's novel as a satiric commentary on the conventions of courtship and marriage.

The Planning of Gi; the Planning of marriage =~ Smarriage

Susan Ferrier and Charlotte Clavering began to plan a novel in 1809. Their letters form a fascinating study of processes leading from germinal ideas to a published work; they also contain some of the most lighthearted aspects of the relationship between the two young women.

They first conceived of the literary work as a joint effort that would be carried out through their letters and infrequent meetings. Ferrier writes: “Your proposals flatter and delight me, but how, in the name of postage, are we to transport our brains to and fro? I suppose we’d be pawning our flannel petticoats to bring about our heroine's marriage, and lying on straw to...