Love and Life: An Old Story in Eighteenth Century Costume

Metadata

Gutenberg ID

5700

Title

Love and Life: An Old Story in Eighteenth Century Costume

Language

en

Book source

Project Gutenberg

Description max 80 words

Charlotte M. Yonge reimagines the ancient myth of Cupid and Psyche in eighteenth-century English costume. This romantic tale follows Aurelia Delavie, a spirited young woman imprisoned by her mother to prevent a marriage to a suitor she distrusts. Through trials of patience, faith, and love, she endures captivity and danger, ultimately finding her true soulmate and achieving a higher spiritual union.

Summary up to 500 words

Set in eighteenth-century England, Charlotte M. Yonge's *Love and Life: An Old Story in Eighteenth Century Costume* retells the classical myth of Cupid and Psyche within a domestic drama. The narrative centers on Aurelia Delavie, the youngest of three sisters, who is confined to a gloomy London house by her mother, Lady Belamour. Fearing the advances of Sir Amyas Belamour, whom her mother deems unsuitable due to his family's financial ruin, Lady Belamour isolates Aurelia to protect her from scandal. However, this confinement inadvertently shields Aurelia from the very dangers her mother fears, as she discovers a secret family recipe and finds solace in her faith and the companionship of her younger sisters, Fay and Lettice. The story unfolds as a battle between the jealous goddess Venus, represented by the manipulative Lady Belamour, and the god of love, Cupid, embodied by Sir Amyas. Lady Belamour, driven by envy of Aurelia's beauty and her own past sins involving debt and gambling, subjects Aurelia to impossible tasks and psychological torment. Aurelia must navigate these trials with patience and obedience, aided by the divine intervention of Cupid and other deities. The plot thickens when Aurelia, seeking her husband, descends into the underworld to retrieve a forbidden box, only to nearly succumb to the spirit of Death within it. Her husband rescues her, and Jupiter elevates them to divine status, symbolizing the triumph of true love over jealousy and despair. The novel concludes with Aurelia's quiet marriage to Sir Amyas and the family's relocation to America. There, Lady Belamour finds redemption, abandoning her frivolous London life to become a humble resident in the New World. Through this allegorical tale, Yonge explores themes of faith, the nature of true beauty, and the soul's journey toward a higher love, blending classical mythology with the moral sensibilities of the eighteenth century.

LLM editorial rating

4.2/5

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Categories

• Classics
• Fiction