Old Wife Bio

The Corvey Novels Project at the University of Nebraska

— Studies in British Literature of the Romantic Period —

Mary Meeke

Mrs. Meeke. The Old Wife and Young Husband. a Novel

London: Minerva Press for Lane, Newman, and Co. 1804.

Biographical Information about Mary Meeke

Biographical information about Romantic author Mary Meeke is relatively scarce. Very little is known about who she was, what she was like, and why she did what she did. Through the very few facts that do exist about the novelist, some conjectures can be made suggesting possible explanations for why she did what she did, which in turn illuminate who she possibly was as a person.

It is known that Meeke died in 1816 and used the three names of Gabrielli, Anonymous, and Mrs. Meeke throughout her writing career. The first carries six titles, the second five, and the third, sixteen, totaling in enough titles to be considered one of the most published authors of the Romantic period (Magnani). We do not entirely know why she chose to use a variety of names. Michael Page observes the "Gabrielli novels are thought to be more exotic than the ones published under her own name, and many of the Gabrielli novels are much longer: all four deckers, except Something Odd". Roberta Magnani observes the "pseudonymous novels mainly indulge in Gothic tropes and intriguing plots, the 'Mrs'-pattern focuses on poetic justice and the celebration of morality." Meeke did not wish to confuse her readers by writing under the three names. Magnani follows a trail through Meeke's novels showing no concerted effort to disguise the relationship between the three names. Did she select the Gabrielli pseudonym as a way to masquerade her well known British presence with a more foreign and exotic persona which in turn would engage her reader in a supposed venture away from British familiarity than 'Anonymous' or 'Mrs. Meeke' was capable of doing? In a similar regard, did she publish gothic tropes anonymously as a means to embody the mysterious nature typical of the genre? And was the attachment of 'Mrs. Meeke' to the morality tales a move to appeal to the social assumption the institution of marriage was morally sound like her characters?

Although the motive behind the three names is unclear, Meeke was undoubtedly one of the most popular and productive authors of the Romantic period. Page notes Minerva Press' statement explaining, "[Meeke's] books were well-known, well-read, and well-liked." Like Magnani notes, Meeke was most likely well aware of the demands and social pressures present not only in the print industry, but also in being a highly productive woman author. Perhaps "the threefold authorship [was] an editorial strategy, or 'game' to avoid the increasing hostility of the reviewers towards 'over-productive' women novelists, and to renegotiate and appropriate the coercive rules of the market" (Magnani). As stated before, the connection between the three names is easily made and therefore allows one to easily assume Meeke seemed to negotiate within social expectations, but not doing it enough to completely camouflage her success as a woman.

This kind of half-hearted subversion surfaces again in her novel, The Old Wife and Young Husband (1804). Her frivolous character, Jane Bennet, mocks the over productive women novelists who have nothing better to do than make fun of others and write worthless literature. Jane "rail[ed] most unmercifully against all female scribblers-nay, the whole tribe of authors, who merely lived by exposing and ridiculing even the most innocent actions of the great, to every body who deigned to read their stupid books" (2:247). Ironically, Meeke has the most undesirable character of her book make this judgment on women novelists, revealing a kind of tongue in cheek jest about the socially precarious role of women novelist.

It seems Meeke is not threatened by the social rules regarding her profession. On the surface she abides by them, as is evident through the tri-fold authorship and by presenting Jane Bennet's ridicule in her text, but in actuality, through her easily identified authorship and choice of character to express such ridicule, she is commenting on the pettiness of such socially gendered rules.

Although her novels and choices of when and where to disguise or not disguise suggest much about Meeke's views, very little is known about her personal life. The majority of her biographical information references her associations, such as her husband Reverend Francis Meeke, rather than her own self. As Page acknowledges, "she is listed in almost all recent literary encyclopedias, her life outside of her books is little known, and the information these encyclopedias provide is little different from the DNB entry of a century ago."

Her husband was a Staffordshire clergyman, dying fifteen years prior to his wife. Page suggests Meeke was born sometime between 1755 and 1775 due to her first novel being published in 1795 and a portrait analysis. We can not be completely sure, however, whether this suggestion is correct and are therefore unable to ascertain exactly how old she was when she began publishing, much less how old she was when she died. In terms of her persona, Magnani conjectures Meeke "founded her respectability upon her marital status rather than her own name, which is always concealed, as if her husband's social position could guarantee the moral and artistic value of her works more effectively than if they issued from the pe of an autonomous and independent female self." If this is the case, then Meeke is once again negotiating her place as a productive woman writer in a socially restrictive space. She may loosely place three versions of her name in the leaves of her title pages, making her easy to trace, but she never personally acquaints herself with her reader past the formal 'Mrs. Meeke.' Her husband is a protective cover for ridicule directed her way and, by calling on the social safety net marital status presents, Meeke aligns herself with the proper social ideology attributed to women by never venturing past 'Mrs.' to something more specific and potentially isolating.

Although the specifics of Mary Meeke's life history remain vague, the few obvious moves she made as a productive woman writer in her literary career suggest she was aware not only of her role as a popular novelist, but also as a woman who had to negotiate when and where to situate herself in and out of societal prescriptions.

Works Cited

Magnani, Roberta. 'The Mysterious Mrs Meeke: A Biographical and Bibliographical Study', Cardiff Corvey: Reading the Romantic Text 9 (Dec 2002). Online: Internet (12 April 2006): <http://www.cf.ac.uk/encap/corvey/articles/cc09_n04.html>.

Meeke, Mary. The Old Wife and Young Husband. 3 vols. London, 1804.

Page, Michael. "Studies in British Literature of the Romantic Period: Bio-Critical Essay on Mary Meeke." The Corvey Novels Project at the University of Nebraska. (Nov 2002). Online: Internet (12 April 2006): <http://www.unl.edu/Corvey/html/Projects/CorveyNovels/Meeke/Something%20Strange%20bio.htm>.