Barbara Hofland

Mrs. Hofland. Self-Denial: a Tale.

London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green, 1827.

 

Synopsis of Self-Denial

Self-Denial is the story of Caroline Elphinstone as she overcomes some of life's many obstacles. She is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Elphinstone. Mr. Elphinstone is a finely respected man within the community who always is looking out for his family, and Mrs. Elphinstone dreams of fortune and consistency within the healthy lifestyle. Caroline grew up with her cousin Charles Ravensworth and her aunt Mrs. Ravensworth not too far away, and she was always quite close to her cousin Charles. Their mothers were sisters and Mrs. Elphinstone was always very proud and fond of her young nephew Charles because of his stunning looks, he reminded her of herself in her younger days. Mrs. Elphinstone one day dreamed of her daughter and her nephew being married. It is these expectations with which the story revolves around most though.

Charles Ravensworth's father borrowed a large sum of money from Mr. Elphinstone. Very shortly after this he was bucked from his horse and killed, thus leaving his son and wife with an unacknowledged debt to Mr. Elphinstone. All the while Mr. Elphinstone is away from his home to take care of his wife's family matters, and while he is away Mrs. Elphinstone manages to spend the families funds. Now that you have some background into what kind of characters we are dealing with we will plunge into the novel.

Lucy Maittland, a long time friend of Caroline's lies on her deathbed with Caroline and her lover Everrett by her side, Everrett acts on her every request and Caroline prays for her friend. As Lucy dies she asks Caroline to pray for her and to be Everrett's comforter.

The Ravensworths were generally looked upon as elite members of society, Mrs. Elphinstone makes it well known that she was a Ravensworth before she married. Charles Ravensworth and Caroline Elphinstone who had been life long companions start to sense love between them; everyone else sees this as well. Charles realizing that he needs her father's permission to move the relationship tries to make good on his name by telling Mr. Elphinstone that he will repay the debt that his father left. Not too long after this Mr. Elphinstone uneasily grants permission to Charles to address Caroline at the end of another year. Caroline states that her "ideal beau" is one that is not too unlike her father. She finds that Major Hamilton has taken a liking to her (a very respectable man and certainly more like her father than Charles), but she declines him for her heart is with another.

Hugh Osborne (the husband of Mr. Elphinstone's only sister) dies in the prime of his life leaving a big family and Mrs. Elphinstone worries because she realizes her husband is around the age of Mr. Osborne. Charles returns home from Oxford and tells Caroline that he is horribly in debt, Caroline although a little disappointed tells him that it is okay. Caroline also finds that Charles had been flirting with another lady, and still she decides to stay with and forgive him. Mr. Elphinstone's brother then dies leaving a fortune; this death too deeply worries Mrs. Elphinstone for her husband life and on another level, his money. Mr. Elphinstone finds out about Charles's behavior from his mother Mrs. Ravensworth, while he is being told this Mrs. Elphinstone continually sticks up for her nephew. Mr. Elphinstone allows the relationship between his daughter and Charles to carry on, but he advises Caroline to wait to marry. Mr. Elphinstone then leaves to find his brother's fortune and he urges Caroline to watch over her mother (and her spending habits) and Charles. As her husband leaves Mrs. Elphinstone begins to become excited at the thought of the money he may find, and she talks of all the things she wants to buy (the list is rather extravagant).

While Mr. Elphinstone is gone Caroline finds many temptations and persuasions to marry Charles early, even though it is against her husband's wishes Mrs. Elphinstone (along with Mrs. Ravensworth) is for the marriage. Caroline decides to wait for her father's return and Charles disagrees stating that her father may even be dead (a truly horrible statement); Caroline sticks to her guns though. While on a trip Charles is caught cheating on Caroline (this after he gave her a long talking to about trust), Caroline blames herself for loving "not wisely, but too well." She then becomes "the mistress of herself" and finds herself in good spirits after the burden of Charles is lifted from her shoulders. Still, some feel more sorry for Charles than of Caroline. After all of this a letter arrives from Mr. Elphinstone stating that he may shorten the marriage time if Charles's good behavior continues (he did not know of Charles's doings when writing this letter).

The Elphinstones (accompanied by Mrs. Ravensworth) who miss their father and husband very much decide to meet him in France, where Caroline is the only who can speak the language fluently. After the fact that her nephew and daughter would not be getting married set in with Mrs. Elphinstone she realizes that all she had planned for self-improvement was now blowing up in her face, she even states that if they were to marry they would probably still be as happy as Mr. Elphinstone and herself. When they arrive in France Charles is to have lodging and everything of that nature taken care of, of course it is not but they manage and find sensible lodging thanks to Caroline doing most of the dirty work. A decent amount of time passes while they are in France and they neither see nor receive any word from Mr. Elphinstone and they start to get worried.

All the while Mrs. Elphinstone has steadily decreased her funds and Charles (who supposedly won a good amount of money) offers to borrow some to her, but Caroline tells her mother to refuse it (which she does, but regretfully) and that she never wants to see Charles again. Caroline becomes sick with all of her stress and Mrs. Ravensworth takes care of her, while her mother attends to Charles who is very shaken up by Caroline's sickness. The first time Mrs. Elphinstone sees her daughter after her sickness she instantly tries to talk her into letting her accept the money from Charles, Caroline still refuses. Charles begins to worry that Caroline will find another, and Caroline thoughtfully states that she will not marry anyone, until he himself is engaged. When they return home from their stay in France Mrs. Elphinstone is relieved that her husband is not yet home for she is ashamed of what she has done, but she states she is relieved so that Caroline has time to take care of everything before he returns.

Caroline then alone finds out that a ship her father was on sunk and he was not among the survivors, she keeps this a secret at first knowing it would devastate her already weak mother. When Mrs. Elphinstone finds out about her husband's misfortunes she realizes that Caroline is a woman and cannot accept the estate and she calls Caroline a burden. Mrs. Elphinstone becomes sick with grief and Caroline goes to the church (on one of her few days off from attending to her mother) where she stops by her friend Lucy's tomb, she finds Lucy's lover Everrett there as well. Mervyn Everrett goes with Caroline for dinner and during dinner she finds out that Mervyn has become rich with his uncle's death, and not only that, he is now Sir Mervyn. Mrs. Ravensworth is jealous of Sir Mervyn for she sees him as a threat to her son Charles, who Mervyn is not too fond of. At this we see Mrs. Elphinstone speaking sternly to Caroline on her being single, but Caroline must wait for Charles to become engaged before she herself can.

Caroline starts to notice feelings for Mervyn, and word gets to the family that Charles had been shot running away with a man's sister who he was to wed. While Charles is on his death bed he continually states that "Caroline is my heir." Caroline with a choice to go to Charles or to follow Mervyn (who left to try and solve the mystery behind Mr. Elhpinstones's death) to Paris, she follows Mervyn. When Mervyn receives word of Charles he grows impatient to see Caroline. While in Paris, Benson (servant of the Elphinstones) and Mervyn find Mr. Elphinstone alive. When Mervyn tells Mrs. Elphinstone of this she becomes hysterical.

Although Mr. Elphinstone has not seen his family for two years he selflessly decides not to go to his family first, but to his sisters so that he can drop her off some money. Upon his return Mrs. Elphinstone throws a party, and Mr. Elphinstone is relieved that Caroline decides to marry Sir Mervyn. The story ends with Mr. Elphinstone marveling at his daughter's life and he is glad that he put into his daughters mind that "as a Christian, a daughter, and a woman, she must practice SELF-DENIAL."

-Prepared by Branden Craig Maslonka, University of Nebraska, December 2002