ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the particular textures and peculiarities of thought in five celebrated works of fiction, written from 1600 to 1850. It finds a web of text-based, interrelated ideas that are attributed to the Enlightenment, and yet that existed well before the early-modern period, and in many cases, that lasted into our own time. Ideas about the sphere of influence of children, women, and men in society, and ideas ascribed to later thinkers—John Locke on private property in the very late seventeenth century, to give just one example–can be found in much earlier works of fiction. The chapter presents this analysis through close textual examination of five famous works of European fiction; each represents a distinct culture, intellectual milieu, and literary tradition. It argues that access to political and economic theory by way of fiction made it possible for any person, even someone beyond traditional scholarly circles, to become part of an ongoing, vital academic debate.
