ABSTRACT
Hamilton held the position of lady-in-waiting until Caroline’s departure abroad in 1813; upon Caroline’s return in 1820, Lady Anne travelled into London with her in the same carriage. Indeed, Hamilton’s association with Caroline was close throughout the latter’s adult life. Though Hamilton’s poem is principally concerned with the mores of fashionable women, The Epics of the Ton also contains significant literary satire. As with much of the satirical verse in the period, Wordsworth and Southey come in for more than their fair share of abuse, though in Wordsworth’s case this is tempered by significant amount of praise. Southey’s Joan of Arc, Wat Tyler and his epic poem Thalaba the Destroyer are roundly abused for their lack of literary merit. Hamilton reserves her disgust for those women who cannot or will not govern their morals in a fashion that becomes their status as aristocrats.
