By the time that he wrote

in 1792, Robert Bage had established a reputation as an urbane, witty author who stretched the limits of what was already a decidedly baggy genre. Bage’s contemporary and fellow radical, Thomas Holcroft, greeted

in his

article (n.s., vol. 10 [March 1793], 297-302) by praising the book’s excursions “through the regions of metaphysics, politics, and even theology,” regions that he thought sadly neglected by “the young ladies who at present write novels.” Holcroft’s dismissive comments about young lady novelists suggest another key factor in Bage’s contemporary reception: he was perceived, like his near-contemporaries Fielding and Smollet (who both died much younger), as writing novels that could appeal to…

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Citation: Perkins, Pam. "Man as He Is". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 18 June 2003 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=3753, accessed 25 November 2024.]