Frances Brooke, The Old Maid

Laura Moss (University of British Columbia)
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The Old Maid

appeared weekly from 1755 to 1756 and addressed topics ranging from marriage, to politics and theatre. Although, Brooke claimed to have had the assistance of a loyal group of correspondents, including a nobleman and others who wished to remain anonymous, it is evident that most of the voices represented in the periodical belong to “Mary Singleton, Spinster,” the pseudonym under which she wrote. In the first issue, “Mary Singleton, Spinster” describes herself as an old maid (almost 50) who was once secretly engaged to a man but who had her heart broken when he chose to marry someone else. Although not a mother herself, and therefore not “fulfilling her patriotic duty”, she has looked after her niece, Julia, since her sister died in childbirth. Although she and the…

864 words

Citation: Moss, Laura. "The Old Maid". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 08 January 2001 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=17, accessed 19 March 2024.]

17 The Old Maid 3 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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