ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the economic underpinning of Saint Ronan's and comparable settings in the work of Jane Austen and Thomas Surr. It investigates why an increase in Scott's habitual artistic interest in financial matters should coincide with his only representation of contemporary life. The chapter suggests that Scott manages his discomfort with a feminine form by introducing a hard-nosed economic and legal discourse that operates as a substitute for history and is in tune with the gender ethos of his immediate audience. Scott is rehearsing the same debate as Opie over masculinity, though his presentation of femininity is differently nuanced. The use of an oriental tale is an oblique reference to the increase of free capital as a result of colonial trade; the most wealthy and financially secure character in the novel is the Nabob, Touchwood.
