Mary Davys

Martha F. Bowden (Kennesaw State University)
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Mary Davys is best known for her contribution to the early development of the novel in English. Her three best works,

The Reform’d Coquet

,

Familiar Letters Betwixt a Gentleman and a Lady

, and

The Accomplish’d Rake

, are distinctive for their adroit formal structure and witty dialogue. She was conscious of the need for form in fiction, notable in a period when the novel was often episodic rather than structured. As she explains in the Preface to her collected works:

I have in every Novel propos’d one entire Scheme or Plot, and the other Adventures are only incident or collateral to it; which is the great Rule prescribed by the Criticks, not only in Tragedy and other Heroick Poems, but in Comedy too. The Adventures, as far as I could order them, are wonderful and probable; and I

1529 words

Citation: Bowden, Martha F.. "Mary Davys". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 10 August 2005 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=1166, accessed 19 March 2024.]

1166 Mary Davys 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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