Laetitia Pilkington
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Laetitia Pilkington | |
---|---|
Born | c. 1709 |
Died | 29 July 1750 |
Genre | poetry |
Notable works | Memoirs |
Laetitia Pilkington (born Laetitia van Lewen; c. 1709 – 29 July 1750) was an
Life
This section may contain information not important or relevant to the article's subject. (June 2020) |
Early years
Laetitia was born of two distinguished families: Her father was a physician,
Marriage
In her teenage years she married
The assignment to London was a turning point for the couple. When Laetitia visited in 1733, she found her husband had become involved in numerous political schemes, neglected his clerical duties, and enjoyed the pleasures of the West End.[1] Matthew attempted to lure Laetitia into adultery by introducing her to James Worsdale, a painter. Matthew organised a weekend visit to Windsor for his wife and Worsdale. Laetitia spent the carriage ride there fighting off Worsdale's advances and returning to London the following day.[1]
In 1734, Laetitia returned to Dublin with her husband, who was arrested for corruption. In another attempt to rid himself of her, Matthew encouraged the young poet William Hammond to make advances on her.[1]
Divorce
By 1737 Laetitia tired of her husband's behaviour, and considered herself to have been released from her marriage vows. She started an affair with Robert Adair (who would later be surgeon general of England). Eventually Matthew caught her and Adair in her bedroom in the presence of twelve witnesses.[2] He immediately banished her from the house and prevented her from seeing her children or taking any money or possessions.[2] Their divorce was granted by a Dublin court in February 1738, and cost Laetitia money, her friendship with Swift who damned her "as the most profligate whore in either kingdom", and Adair.[2]
She began to write and sell her productions. She sold Worsdale poetry that he claimed for himself. In 1737, she wrote a feminist prologue for Worsdale's A Cure for a Scold as well as a performed but unpublished opera farce called No Death but Marriage.
Move to London
To escape her suitors and infamy, she returned to London in 1739. During the journey she had been propositioned first by a wealthy man who wanted her to be his mistress and later by a Welsh clergyman.[1] She took up residence under the name of "Mrs. Meade".
In London,
After being released from prison she approached Richardson at his home and was invited in for lunch and dinner. As well as passing on Delany's money Richardson also contributed two guineas of his own and encouraged her.[1] Richardson later consulted with her on aspects of his novel Clarissa.
In 1743, she followed Cibber's advice and began seeking subscribers for her Memoirs. Her ex-husband Matthew ensured that the Memoirs would not be published in London.
Return to Dublin
Laetitia, with Richardson's financial assistance, moved back to Dublin in May 1747. With the manuscript of her memoirs barely begun, little money, and in poor health, she caught the attention of Robert King (who soon became Lord Kingsborough) by sending a general-purpose eulogy praising him to his town house.[2] Pleased with what she had written he soon began financially supporting both her and her son John. John bragged about the relationship and a rumor reached King that the Pilkingtons had spoken disrespectfully of him. King arrived at Laetitia's residence and demanded his letters back. As the letters had value, she and John copied them before returning the originals.[2]
The first two volumes of the Memoirs appeared in 1748, and a third volume was unfinished at her death, although her son, John Carteret Pilkington, had it published in 1754. One influence on the Memoirs is contemporary poet Alexander Pope; critic Annie Persons has displayed how Pilkington's Memoirs seek to "reconfigure literary hierarchies" by putting herself within Pope's literary history.[3]
Laetitia died on 29 July 1750, most likely of a bleeding
Some years after her death her son John published Sir Robert King's letters in an appendix to his autobiography, The Real Story of John Carteret Pilkington.
Notes
- ^ ISBN 978-0-00-828568-5.
- ^ a b c d e f Clarke, Norma (5 March 2013). "Laetitia Pilkington (c. 1709–50): scandalous woman and memoirist". History Ireland. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
- S2CID 224838040.
References
- Backscheider, Paula. "Inverting the Image of Swift's 'Triumfeminate'." Journal for Early Modern Cultural Studies Vol. 4, No. 1, Women Writers of the Eighteenth Century (Spring/Summer 2004), pp. 37-71. JSTOR. Accessed 9 Sep. 2022. <https://www.jstor.org/stable/27793777>
- Clarke, Norma. Queen of the Wits: A Life of Laetitia Pilkington (Faber and Faber, 2008), .)
- Doody, Margaret Anne. "Swift Among the Women." The Yearbook of English Studies 18 (1998): 68—92.
- Elias, A. C., Jr. "Laetitia Pilkington," in Matthew, H.C.G. and Brian Harrison, eds. The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. vol. 44, 321–323. London: OUP, 2004.
- Thompson, Lynda M. (2000). The 'scandalous Memoirists': Constantia Phillips, Laetitia Pilkington and the Shame of 'publick Fame' (Hardback). Manchester: Manchester University Press. ISBN 978-0-71905-573-7.
External links
- Laetitia Pilkington at the Eighteenth-Century Poetry Archive (ECPA)
- Memoirs of Laetitia Pilkington Online reading and multiple ebook formats at Ex-classics